Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (28 page)

Gabbs nodded. “Mom,
are you going to be sad without Mace? Cuz I will be.”

Nina let go of a
corral full of bad words in her mind.
Stupid-ass SEAL.
“I’ll miss him, but he’s still our friend, and he’ll come
if we need him. I’m sure of that.” She planted Gabbs on her feet. “Now go wipe
that sticky stuff off your face.”

Nina swiveled toward
the kitchen, and her first thought was to call
Kayla.
She wanted to.
Badly.
No! It was time to prove that she
didn’t always have to lean on her friend. What she really wanted was to go find
Mace and smack some sense into him, but as much as he was handsome and brave,
he had a little stubborn streak in
him. He’d made his
mind up to abandon them for what he thought was morally right.

She outclassed Mace in
the stubborn department by a long shot. If Mace didn’t want to be in their
lives that was his choice, but she wasn’t going to let Wade in because of it
. Their love affair ended the day he sailed away. Although
he was still a handsome man, she knew the difference between love and lust.
They were separated by a big black hole, but only love could draw you in for an
eternity and leave you totally empty when
it was
taken away.

The phone rang and
Gabbs yelled out, “I’ll get it, Mom.”

A few minutes later
Gabbs ran in. “That was Dad.”

“What did he want?”

“He asked if Mace was
here, and I told him he wasn’t going to come see us anymore.”

A groan rolled up
Nina’s
throat, but she couldn’t be mad at her
daughter.
“And?”

“He said he was going
to come get us and help us look for stars.”

Just—fucking—great.
Nina flopped down on the leather
ottoman. “Great, honey.”

Chapter Seventeen

Tony yanked off his
cammi jacket
and flung it over his shoulder as he
headed toward the parking lot. For November, it was a blistering hot day. A
Santa Ana had rolled in and made the tourists happy, but working out on the
Grinder with a bunch of recruits, sweat pouring down his back and
hollering at the hopeful phase two class, not so much. It’d
been a long day. He and Mace were double-timing it, helping out the training
department.

Mace worked longer
hours taking on the night exercises too, and the recruits were getting the
brunt of one
very ornery SEAL. Mace said he and Nina
were on a break. Tony called bullshit. Mace had backed out of the picture and
left Nina to decide whether she wanted Cayson or Mace. Tony knew the answer
already. Nina wasn’t the kind of woman who could shut her hear
t off like a valve. He could see that, why couldn’t Mace?

“Hey, Tony,” a
good-looking Marine in a knee-length skirt with great legs waved at him from
across the road.

He waved back, but
didn’t recognize her.
Pretty girl.
He sighed. He needed a cold beer.

Since the night he’d
helped Mace and Nina overcome their hurdle, he hadn’t been the same. Little
Coady had chased him down a couple times since he’d left her on her front
doorstep, all rosy-cheeked and sweetness. He had taken her out, but he left her
how h
e picked her up—untouched. He felt like ripping
Mace’s head off for being an idiot. Mace was suffering through a self-inflicted
mental flagellation and here he was all messed up because he’d fallen in love
with Nina. No woman seemed to turn him on, except
for
the one he couldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Guilt hung around his
neck like a dead carcass. He couldn’t be responsible for his dreams, and they
were filled with Nina. He thought about going to visit her, maybe helping her
out with the new house, bu
t he’d stayed away because
he didn’t trust himself. Besides, Nina would backhand him if his longings crept
to the surface, and he would never betray Mace.

Tony rounded a Toyota
that needed a scrap yard versus a parking spot and stopped. The infamous Wade C
ayson stood with two other guys. Wade was in uniform, the
other guys in shades and suits. Mace had pointed out Cayson at the galley and
they had been introduced.

Tony shifted behind
the Toyota and observed the scene. Two things a SEAL could do were smell
fear and sense trouble. Both hit him at the same time. He
pulled his phone out and took a picture. The two guys looked like henchmen, and
they were right up in Cayson’s face. Cayson looked like he was trying to play
it cool, but his body language told anot
her story.
What the hell was going on?

He aimed for them and
with twenty feet to go yelled out, “Hey, Lieutenant, how goes it?”

The two suits turned,
said something to Cayson and then quickly jumped in their car, did a U-turn and
sped off. He took note of
the license plate and the
black Mustang they drove.

“Petty Officer Bale.”

Tony followed the car
with his eyes and then turned them on Cayson.
“Everything all right, sir?”

“Yes,” he said,
straightening his cap.
“Of course.”

Tony surveyed him, but
Cayson wou
ldn’t look him in the eye.

“Warm
day.”

“Yes sir, it is.” He
paused. “Those guys didn’t look like they belonged around here.”

“Tourists, asking for
directions,” Cayson said quickly.

“Huh.” Tony nodded.
“What were they looking for?”

The lights on Cayson’s
ca
r flashed as he unlocked the door.
“Hotel, on Orange Avenue.
They took a wrong turn.”

The other thing a SEAL
could smell was a lie, and Cayson reeked like a beached whale left out in the
sun for ten days. Cayson turned to make a quick getaway. “How’s Nina?
”

Cayson didn’t appear
interested in a chat. He slipped into the car and reached for his seatbelt.
“Good,” he said, giving him a fleeting
look
.

“I haven’t had a
chance to visit and meet Gabbs yet.”

“My daughter is
adjusting to life in San Diego.” He was ab
out to shut
the door, and then said, “Mace did the right thing by stepping back. Nina and I
want to make a new life with our daughter. It would have been confusing for
Gabriella if Mace intervened.”

You white-collared son-of-a-bitch!
“Yeah, that’s Mace. He
’s a gentleman at heart.” Cayson gave him a shallow smile.
“Not so sure it was the right thing though,” he said, lowering his voice.
Cayson’s smile disintegrated. Tony scanned the parking lot. “Nina has an entire
team of Navy SEALs watching her back. If th
ey smell
something not right, they won’t let it go.”

Cayson grabbed the
door. Tony moved in with his knee, stopping him and leaned over. “You’re career
Navy, so you know that SEALs are finely tuned to a lot of things, and that
includes trouble. We protect
our own, sir. Nina and
Gabbs are in that family.” Tony locked gazes with him and Cayson’s filled with
worry. “Say hi to Nina for me.” He stepped out of the way. Cayson slammed the
door and backed out quickly. A distress alert began to flash in Tony’s gut.
Time for recon.

* * * *

Leaving NBSD
Naval
Base San Diego
,
Tony got on his phone.

“Mace
Callahan.”

“Buddy, what’s your
position?”

“On
my way back to the apartment.”

“Meet ya there.”

“Tinman.”
Mace let out a sigh. “Buddy, I’m
fucking done. Just gonna hit the sack.”

“Five minutes. I’ll
bring beer.”

“Can’t it wait until
tomorrow?”

“No, see ya in a few
minutes.”

Tony hopped in his car
and drove over the Coronado Bridge. Traffic was light at twenty
-one hundred hours. He’d been at NBSD for the last three.
He made a quick stop at a market and picked up a few brew
s
. He needed one more than Mace did. His throat was parched
from talking.

Throwing his car into
park he closed his eyes for a second to regro
up. If
what he’d found out about Cayson wasn’t enough to have Mace running to Nina’s
front door, he’d do it himself and drag Mace all the way there by his leg.

Clutching the six-pack
in the crook of his arm, he banged on Mace’s door. The door swung wide an
d they fisted each other. Tony slid out a bottle of beer
and handed it to him. “Sit down. I have something to tell you.”

Mace twisted the cap
off and tossed it toward the kitchen sink. Tony followed him in. The place
looked like Mace: a mess.

“What’s up?”
Mace said, after swallowing a long gulp.

“Man, you need to
listen to me carefully.” Maces brows pinched together. “I know you don’t want
me prying in your private stuff, but I had to settle a few things in my own
head.”

“Like what?” Mace
leaned forward res
ting his forearms on his thighs.

“Did
a little investigating on our above board LT.”

“You did what?” Mace
shook his head. “Tinman, this is about Nina figuring out what’s best for her
and Gabbs.” Mace got up and paced around the room, his hand flexing into
a tight fist. “The question is whether Nina is going to
form a family unit.”

“That wouldn’t be a
good idea.”

Mace stopped and
looked at him.

“He’s in deep, Mace.
He’s got a weakness for cards, and from what I’ve found out, he might even owe
money to some u
nsavory types.”

“Why do you think
that?”

“Because
two big fucking goons were getting in his face this afternoon in the parking
lot.
Cayson lied to me and said they were asking for directions.” Tony pulled out
his phone and shoved it under Mace’s nose. “The
y
don’t look like tourists to me. I think until we confirm or deny the rumors,
you need to get back in the ring with Nina.”

“You’re saying he’s
addicted to gambling?”

“That’s what I’m
saying, buddy. I didn’t want too many eyes drawing curiosity to why I wa
s asking, but he’s not exactly a favorite around his men. I
checked with some guys who worked with him on his last posting. He puts on an
act in front of the brass,
then
he’s a surly asshole to his crew. In
fact, I didn’t find one guy in the lower ranks wh
o
wouldn’t hand him an anchor if he was drowning.”

“Shit.” Mace rubbed
his face and took a couple rigid steps.

He surveyed his
friend. “You don’t look happy about this, but not in the way I expected.”

Mace flopped down in
the leather chair across from him.
“Should I be?
Gabbs likes the guy. This would be a big disappointment to her.”

“Never mind the
asshole in the whites. You need to figure out your relationship. That’s why I’m
here.”

Mace’s brow crumpled.
“Thought you came to tell me the bad
news.”

“That,
and to tell ya I’ll hang around while you take Nina out for
a night on the town.”

“I haven’t seen Nina
in three weeks.” Mace ran his hand across the back of his neck. “She wouldn’t
go out with me anyway.”

“Then square it off,
SEAL. Don’t think the Mace
charm has vacated the
premises yet.”

“You can’t babysit.
You don’t know anything about kids.”

He shrugged. “How hard
can it be?
Little versions of big
people.”

“Really.”
Mace chuckled.

“Nina needs to know.
If you’re not going to tell her, I will.”

Mace rea
ched for his cell.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll tell her.”

Tony lunged for his
phone and ripped it out of his hand. “No, you’re going over there and taking
her out.”

* * * *

A
day later Tony’s knuckles hovered at Nina’s front door.
Her voice seeped through the cracks
before he touched the wood.

“Mace, I’ve got an
early shift, I can’t. Besides
,
no one’s around to take care of Gabbs.”

“We’ll drop her off at
Cobbs.”

“Marg is packing.
They’re leaving in two weeks.”

“I know, but Gabbs an
d Kelsey have a lot of fun together.”

“And Marg is too busy
to watch them. I can’t ask her.”

“I can. We need to
talk,” Mace said gruffly.

“About
what, Mace?
We have nothing left to say, do we?”

“Babe, we do, at least
I do.”

Tony knew that tone of
voice. Ma
ce was losing faith, something that didn’t
happen often. His friend was pulling a noble act by stepping back and letting
Nina figure things out, but he was going insane at the same time. It wasn’t
Tony’s place to meddle in their relationship, but it was hi
s place to make sure all was on the up and up when it came
to Lieutenant Cayson. He didn’t trust the guy. His sixth sense told him while
Mace and Nina were locked in a tug of war in their emotions and doing the right
thing for Gabbs, they couldn’t see clea
rly.