Cocky Protector: A Hero Club Novel

by Kat Mizera

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ace

  I didn’t know what was going on, but one minute Shannon was calling my name and the next she was sliding to the ground. I caught her, of course, but she was so damn pale, her skin clammy as I tried to figure out what was going on with her. Someone from the boat had come running over to see if we needed help, and though I was fairly certain she’d had some kind of anxiety attack, I carried her back on board with Chance, Aubrey and her mother following us.

  Chance had told me to go, that he’d handle our luggage, so I’d been able to focus on Shannon, holding her hand and trying to keep her breathing steadily as she broke out in a cold sweat. Her mother was fluttering around us, unsure what to do, but I didn’t give a damn about her right now. I had to make sure Shannon was okay because seeing her freak out like this pissed me off. This was all her mother’s doing, and unless I was completely off the mark, she’d caused her daughter so much anxiety, she’d had a physical reaction to the stress.

  “I think she’s okay now,” I said, taking a wet cloth someone had brought me and pressing it against the back of her neck. She’d turned white as a ghost, but now that she was lying down, her color was slowly coming back.

  “I’m sorry for all the trouble,” Shannon told me quietly.

  I smiled. “You’re not any trouble.”

  “Perhaps the stress of the holidays, yes?” the cruise director suggested in her slightly accented English. “Has this happened before?”

  “No.” Shannon shook her head. “I’ve never had a reaction like this, not even when my father died.”

  “Sometimes, things hit us in ways we do not understand. Yoga helps me with this, but I know it’s not for everyone.”

  “Usually I run,” Shannon admitted. “But between final exams at the school where I work and then the cruise, I haven’t worked out at all.”

  “Well, you’ll be okay.” The cruise director patted her shoulder. Someone brought us some water and Shannon took a few sips.

  Chance and Aubrey paced like expectant parents and Samantha hovered, watching intently but not saying a word. It took about thirty minutes for Shannon’s color to return and for her to stop shaking, and at that point, she looked a little flustered by all the attention.

  “This is so embarrassing,” Shannon whispered, closing her eyes.

  “Honey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It happens. A lot more than you think.”

  “Yes, but right there in front of the boat and everyone.”

  “We just want you to be okay,” Aubrey said softly, reaching for her hand.

  “I’m better now. Really.”

  “Shannon.” Samantha’s shaky voice made Shannon look up and she finally sat up, taking the cloth off her neck and giving me a grateful look before turning to Aubrey and ignoring her mother altogether.

  “You’re going to miss your flight,” she said.

  “I already took care of it,” Chance said. “Don’t worry about it. We’re on a flight tomorrow.”

  “Oh, no. You’ve been so anxious to get home…” Shannon looked horrified.

  “The baby is fine. I’ve been a bit of a nervous Nelly, but he’s with family who adore him and are spoiling him rotten. He’ll be fine one more day.” Aubrey smiled.

  “But will you?”

  Aubrey chuckled. “Now that I know you’re okay? Absolutely.”

  “We have to go,” Shannon said abruptly, trying to stand up.

  I slid my arm around her waist. “Easy. Your body was trying to tell you you’re overdoing it. Just sit a little longer.”

  Shannon looked like she was going to protest but then nodded.

  “We’re going to give you all a little privacy,” Aubrey said, leaning into Chance. “We’ll be outside if you need us.”

  “Thank you.” Shannon squeezed her hand.

  Samantha sank onto the couch on one side of Shannon while I sat on the other.

  “This is all my fault,” Samantha said sadly. “I’m so sorry. I was just trying to do what your father asked of me, but as usual when it comes to you, I messed everything up.”

  “What Dad…” Shannon’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What are you talking about, Mom? What, exactly, did you do?”

  “I wanted… You were so unhappy… Your divorce…” Samantha sniffled and dug in her purse for a tissue, dabbing at her eyes. “I wanted you to be happy, to find love and have a family. Your divorce just proved that I was the wrong person to choose someone for you, so I…” She swallowed. “I followed your father’s advice.”

  “Which was?” Shannon seemed as confused as I felt.

  “He knew you’d never forgotten Andrew, er, Ace, and before he got sick the last time, he’d been planning to get in touch with him. Maybe get you two in the same room again, like he did the first time. You see…” Her voice trailed off. “If he’d been old-fashioned like I was, and believed in arranged marriages, Ace would have been his choice for you. But he didn’t believe in that kind of thing and I didn’t approve anyway.”

  I choked back the emotion that filled my chest. I’d been close to my CO and heartbroken when I’d learned he’d passed away. Missing his funeral had gutted me, but I’d had no choice, and men who did what I did for a living learned early on that sacrifice was part of the deal. It helped knowing he felt that way about me, that he’d wanted me to be with his daughter, his only child.

  Shannon didn’t say anything, just watched as her mother struggled to continue. “Anyway, like I told you before, I didn’t want you to marry a soldier, a military man. I wanted you to have a man who would be around to help you raise your children, for the good and the bad times…so I discouraged this idea your father had about you and Ace. The night you two met at the charity dinner, when Shannon was finally an adult, I saw the way you looked at each other and did my best to intervene. At the time, I thought it was fortuitous that Ace was leaving on a mission and not coming back—” Her eyes widened as she realized how that sounded. “I mean, not coming back to live in D.C., not…”

  “It’s okay.” I gave her a small smile. “I know what you meant.”

  “So when Wayne was close to the end, after watching Shannon suffer through that horrible marriage I’d arranged for her, he told me my penance was to find a way to get the two of you together.” Her eyes filled with tears. “But you became so stubborn after your divorce. Once it was final and you had a little time to breathe, you moved to Germany. I didn’t know how to make this happen, but it was your father’s dying wish, so I came up with a plan.” She dabbed at her eyes again. “A bad plan, but one your father and I had loosely talked about.”

  “Finding someone to stalk me?” Shannon demanded.

  “Paying someone to pretend to stalk you,” Samantha amended quietly. “I know, in retrospect, it was stupid, but I was desperate. You weren’t moving home, Ace didn’t appear to be retiring, and though I didn’t know for sure he was in the CIA, I suspected. I knew it would take something serious to get him to go to you, so I came up with a plan. Sandra wasn’t supposed to hurt you or actually take anything, just do some annoying little things to worry you.”

  “Oh, Mom.” Shannon looked so sad, I wanted to reach for her, but this was between them and I had to let them hash it out, no matter how much I wanted to strangle her mother.

  “When you started to think you were going crazy, I called Ace because I didn’t want it to go on too long. I thought he’d show up in Cologne, you two would reconnect and the stalker thing would go away once I confessed my machinations. Except Sandra’s part in the plan escalated when she ransacked your apartment, and when I told her the gig was up, she behaved quite strangely. I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how, and then you two left to go on that cruise, so I thought I had a few days to sort it out.”

  “And what if we hadn’t reconnected?” Shannon demanded. “Were you just going to make her disappear and leave me thinking I was crazy?”

  “No, of course not. I was always going
to come clean. But everything happened so fast, and then you caught Ace on the nanny cam, which almost mucked up everything. You went away together, though, and once you told me you were involved—”

  “You mean when I told you we’d slept together.”

  Samantha flushed. “Yes. That. My plan was to meet you in Cologne once you got back and tell you what I’d done. I thought I had a fifty-fifty shot of you forgiving me if you and Ace were together, but of course, Ace’s colleague found my connection to Sandra and then you wouldn’t answer my calls… Everything spiraled and I’m so sorry.” She started to cry and Shannon started to cry and I sat there like an idiot, unsure what to do.

  Her mother had done something over-the-top and stupid, but not malicious, and the end result had been that Shannon and I got together. At least I hoped so. But Samantha’s methods had been sketchy and Sandra had turned out to be an asshole, so everything was a big mess and poor Shannon was right smack in the middle of it. Where we went from here was anybody’s guess.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shannon

  I’d never thought my mother was capable of something so duplicitous, but she’d just admitted to hiring someone to pretend to be my stalker, all under the guise of doing something to make me happy. Of course, getting together with Ace did make me happy, so it was hard to be mad about something that had wound up making one of my dreams come true. I was still confused about a few things, though.

  “Why would Sandra have destroyed my apartment that way if she wasn’t supposed to do anything but annoy me a little?”

  Mom hesitated. “I’m honestly not sure. She acted like she was your friend and really excited to help in this matchmaking effort but the longer it went on, the more intense she got.”

  “You didn’t tell her what I do for a living, did you?” Ace asked cautiously.

  Mom shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m conniving but not stupid. I would never do anything to blow your cover or put your life in danger.”

  “Just mine,” I said dryly.

  My mother nodded sadly. “I’m sorry. I’m just a bored old woman with more time than sense these days.”

  “You’re not that old,” I said firmly. “So you can’t use that as an excuse.”

  “I couldn’t think of any other way to get you two together, and honestly, it was your dad’s idea.”

  “You could have asked me,” Ace interjected wryly.

  “And say what?” Mom was shaking her head. “Hi, this is the woman who thought you weren’t good enough for her daughter a decade ago, but well, things change, so now that said daughter is divorced, would you please come take her out because she still thinks about you?”

  “I suppose there’s that,” he admitted, trying to hide a smile at my mother’s sarcasm.

  “I don’t know what to say about any of this,” I said after a moment. “Reconnecting with Ace has been the best thing to happen to me in a long time, but the lengths you went to for it to happen don’t sit well with me.”

  “I suspect not and your father knew it wouldn’t.” She dug around in her purse. “This is for you. From your dad. He said I couldn’t give it to you unless and until you and Ace were together.”

  I took it from her numbly, staring at the handwriting on the outside of the envelope wistfully. I still missed him so much, seeing his familiar handwriting brought tears to my eyes and I’d been doing too much crying today.

  “I’m going to go back to my hotel,” Samantha said stiffly, getting to her feet. “I know I’ve hurt and upset you, but that was never my intention. I just wanted to do something to make up for the disaster of a marriage I forced you into.”

  “You didn’t force me to marry him,” I whispered, blinking back more tears. “I wanted babies. You provided an option for me to have them. It just didn’t work out the way we hoped.”

  “Yes, but it was a disaster that hurt you in the end, and you wouldn’t have married him had I not introduced you.”

  “Well, the thing with Douglas is water under the bridge. I don’t even think about him anymore.” And certainly not lately.

  “My colleague who’s in Cologne talked with Sandra last night.” Ace spoke up.

  “You heard from Chains?” I turned in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because he sent me the message while you were having your panic attack, so I just read it a few minutes ago.”

  “What did she say?” Samantha asked quietly.

  “Turns out she resents Shannon for coming in and becoming the new teacher’s pet, so to speak, with the administration and the other teachers. When Samantha contacted her about playing this little trick on Shannon, as she called it, she said it was the perfect opportunity for some payback.”

  “I thought she was my friend,” I muttered, shaking my head.

  “And I played right into her hands.” Mom looked a little shaken, more so than before, and I didn’t know whether to hug her or tell her to snap out of it.

  “Look, they probably want us off the boat,” Ace said. “Let’s go to the hotel and relax a little bit. Shannon didn’t get much sleep last night and then her panic attack probably didn’t help. Let’s spend the afternoon getting some rest and we can meet up in a few hours.”

  “Yes, that sounds like the best plan.” Mom got to her feet and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Shannon. I hope you know that.”

  I nodded numbly and watched her go. Then I rested my head on Ace’s shoulder. “I wish we could drive back to Cologne so I could sleep in my own bed tonight. I really need something familiar.”

  “Then hang on and let me see if I can make that happen.” He jumped to his feet and ran after my mother. He was gone for about ten minutes and then he came back in. “Okay. Her driver offered to take us back to Cologne. We’ll ride together but she’ll stay at a hotel near your apartment and you can sleep in your own bed tonight. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

  “You’re very efficient,” I said softly.

  “I try.” He reached out his hands and I took them, letting him help me up. I felt better now, though still mildly nauseated.

  “We have to talk to Chance and Aubrey, tell them our plans.”

  “I already did. They’re going to stay here tonight and get on their flight tomorrow. So go say your goodbyes and let’s get out of here, okay?”

  “You and I have to talk too,” I said softly.

  “It can wait until we’re alone and you’ve had a little rest.” He kissed me. “Come on.”

  Five hours in the car with my mother could have been torture, but she seemed to sense that I wasn’t interested in talking and didn’t push the issue. I dozed for about half the time and we were almost in Cologne when Ace’s phone rang. He didn’t look happy as he answered, and I had a feeling it was his boss.

  “Ace Ross.” He rolled his eyes as he listened. “Come in where? To D.C.? Sir, I have—” He was quiet again, his jaw working in annoyance as he listened. “Fine. I’ll be there.” He disconnected and looked at me. “Something has come up. I’m going to need the driver to turn around and get me to the airport in Frankfurt. It’s only about fifteen miles from here but I’m on a flight out in just over an hour and I can’t miss it.”

  He reached for my hand but didn’t say anything and I couldn’t look at him. I was already emotionally drained after today’s events and now he was leaving me. I’d known he would go eventually, but not today, and certainly not right this minute.

  The driver pulled up to a terminal and Ace got out of the car after a quick goodbye to my mother. I got out after him and the driver gave him his suitcase just as Ace pulled me against him.

  “You’re thinking again,” he said as we stood there next to the car.

  “I wasn’t expecting you to leave just yet.”

  “I know. Me either. You going to be okay?”

  “Not until I deal with my mother,” I muttered. “I’m so upset with her, but at the same time, she brought you back to me,
supposedly at the behest of my father, which adds a detail I’m struggling with. It’s all so damn confusing.”

  “Kind of sweet and creepy at the same time, right?” He smiled, reading my mind, as usual.

  “Is this how you get bad guys to confess?” I asked him. “By reading their minds?”

  He chuckled. “Uh, no. That’s something I save for very special people.”

  “Am I special?”

  “You have to ask?”

  “Yeah, kinda.”

  “Shannon, come on. Haven’t we come further than this?”

  “I hope so.”

  “I have to go,” he said with a soft sigh, “but I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay.” I leaned up and pressed my lips to his, silently praying this wouldn’t be the last time, that my very convoluted and dysfunctional relationship with my mother hadn’t ruined everything before it even started.

  I got back in the car and we headed toward home. They were dropping me off first and I struggled with the idea of sleeping alone in my apartment tonight. I’d wanted to sleep in my bed but assumed Ace would be with me. Now that he was gone, the allure had faded. Chains was still here in Cologne and I was tempted to call and ask him to sleep on my couch. He would, which was the crazy part, but I hated being that needy. I was determined to get past this even though it was proving harder than I’d thought, especially now that Ace had left.

  “Are you all right?” Mom asked as we turned onto my street.

  “I will be.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No. I just need to get some sleep. Why don’t we meet for breakfast in the morning?”

  “Nine o’clock?”

  “Sure.” I nodded as we pulled to a stop in front of my building. The driver got my suitcase and I told my mother I would see her in the morning. I felt a twinge of guilt, even though I was both annoyed with and disappointed in her. She was still my mother, though, and her intentions had been sweet, even if her method was ridiculous. I hadn’t yet been able to process what she’d done to get Ace and me together, which made everything feel strange.