Page 18 of Fast Vengeance

Oceane’s phone rang, breaking the easy atmosphere. Checking the display, she sighed. “That’s my cue to leave,” she said, her face falling. “Someone’s coming up to get me now.”

“I should call my team too,” Victoria said, reaching into her purse for her phone. She hadn’t spoken to them about this, had no idea what the plan or timeline was, but if Oceane was leaving, then likely Victoria would be too.

“I already cleared it with them for you to stay until six,” Brock said, causing her to look up at him. “If you want.”

She studied him. More time alone together? She wanted that. But if she stayed, wouldn’t word get back to WITSEC and maybe even the DEA that something was going on between her and Brock?

People talked. She didn’t care what anyone said about her. She just didn’t want to cause any trouble for Brock. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Positive.”

Well… Her other option was to return to the WITSEC center and spend the rest of the night alone in her room working on the outline for her novel. The thought made her feel lonelier than she expected. “Okay, then.” It would give them a couple more hours to further explore her proposition. And time was of the essence, so…

“I’d better head out too,” Lockhart said, climbing to his feet. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed his ball cap from the counter, tugged it over his dark blond hair and picked up his leather jacket. “See ya bright and early tomorrow, Cap,” he said to Brock.

“You know it,” Brock answered, and went to the door. The marshal arrived seconds later and Brock let Oceane and Lockhart out. “Have a good night.” Then locked the door and turned to face her, one hand still on the jamb. “How’re you doing?”

“Fine.” Tired, but glad to have time alone with him. Aching to feel his arms around her. Even if it was only for a little while.

He searched her eyes a moment. Then, without a word, he closed the distance between them and gathered her into a tight hug.

****

There was definitely something going on with those two.

Oceane glanced over at Gabe to drink him in as he walked beside her, both of them following the marshal down the hall toward the staircase entrance. “Is it just me, or did you feel like we were kind of interrupting back there?” she whispered, hoping the marshal couldn’t overhear her.

One side of his mouth pulled up, then he hid it and his expression went back to its usual setting of neutral. It was eerie, how he did that. Hiding what he was thinking and feeling. Was he naturally like that, or had he learned it in the military? “Nah.”

She frowned at him in annoyance. “Oh, please. You saw it too, you just don’t want to admit it.” She knew what she’d seen, and there had definitely been sparks flying between Brock and Victoria. Also, her friend was so sad. Oceane wished Victoria’s smiles would reach her eyes. Maybe Brock could help her with that.

She glanced at Gabe again, thinking about her own situation. Her experience with men was woefully inadequate. She’d had a few short-term relationships and two lovers, but that was it. Hard to date and keep a guy interested when you had armed bodyguards around you all the time, even on dates.

Harder still when everyone knew she was Manny Nieto’s daughter. His only child, by his mistress. And worse yet that they had known the truth about him when she hadn’t.

Gabe’s hands were in the pockets of his leather coat. The scent of it mixed with the fragrance of his soap, something masculine and spicy. She loved the way he smelled. His quiet, thoughtful intensity. They hadn’t seen each other since before his deployment, but things had become way easier between them than in the beginning, when he’d temporarily been assigned to guard her. Back then, he’d seen her as a spoiled, naïve cartel princess, as Manny Nieto’s entitled and corrupt illegitimate daughter. Now she got the sense that he saw who she truly was.

The one upside of all the tragedy she’d experienced was that it had brought her closer to Victoria, and by extension, Brock and Gabe. Whenever she met with Victoria, Gabe had usually been there too. His four-month-long stint in Afghanistan with the rest of FAST Bravo had seemed to last forever. She thought about him constantly, no matter how often she told herself to stop.

“What will you do now?” she asked him.

“Go back to taking the fight to the bad guys.” He glanced at her as they reached the stairwell. “You?”

“I don’t know.” She was in limbo for the time being. Not really a federal witness at this point, since neither her father nor Montoya were in custody, so there was nothing more she could give the government on them. She was still under threat, however, since her father seemed to have lost his damn mind and put a bounty of sorts on her head for anyone who could return her to him unharmed. She still needed the government’s protection.

Right now, she had no idea what the future held. If the government decided it no longer needed her, it would cut her loose. Might even send her back to Mexico.

Cold seeped through her veins at the thought. She wanted to stay here in the States, become a citizen someday. “I want to feel useful again.” Back home, before her life had been reduced to ashes, she’d been a successful financial advisor. She’d managed her mother’s sizeable estate and many other large accounts from wealthy clients.

Money and clients she now understood had come from her father. Was anything about her life real? Had she earned anything on her own merit? It was too depressing to think about.

He’d stolen everything from her. Her life, her identity, her trust. But worst of all, her mother, and in a horrific way that was seared deep into her brain forever. Oceane would never forgive him for it. As long as it took, she would see him in hell for that.

“You could start working on your financial advisor certification here while you wait to see what will happen,” Gabe suggested.

“Maybe.” But what was the point if they were going to boot her out and send her back to Mexico?

“Any new leads on Montoya?”

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