Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

S heriff Carlos Santiago immediately had to bite his lips closed when the door in front of him opened. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

“Not a fucking word, asshole,” his older brother warned in a low, menacing voice. The threat, however, was dispelled by the red lipstick, green eyeshadow, pink blush, and multicolored nail polish his six foot-five older brother was wearing.

Even their mother, whom Carlos had brought over to Bulldog’s house, was having trouble keeping a straight face. Though she put a hand to her mouth, a muffled giggle still escaped.

“Daddy!” came shouting from behind Bulldog. He turned to find his six-year-old daughter rushing towards him. Lila was wearing a very odd outfit that somehow fit her personality perfectly. She was dressed in red leggings with a pink tutu and a blue bathing suit top. The devil-horned hairband held up the sparkly princess crown atop her head.

She put her hands on her hips and stared her father down like there wasn’t a three-and-a-half-foot height difference between them. “Your hair’s still not done for my tea party.”

Carlos’s eyes landed on his brother’s bald head.

Bulldog glanced at Carlos and said in a soft, pained voice, “She means the beard.”

The fact that Bulldog was able to translate his daughter’s statement told Carlos this wasn’t the first tea party his brother was attending. Bulldog was then dragged away by his daughter to complete his hairdo.

Chuckling, Louisa stood on her tiptoes and kissed Carlos’s cheek. “Thank you for the ride, mio figlio . Have fun shopping today.”

“I want pictures,” he whispered to his mom as she walked past him.

His mom just winked before closing the door.

Zoe watched from the passenger seat of Carlos’s police cruiser as he walked his mom to his brother’s front door. Her blood was still singing from the passion they’d shared the night before. She’d never in her life felt so cherished…and by essentially a stranger.

Looking back on her life with Davis, she wondered what had ever possessed her to marry him. The love that she thought she’d felt for her husband paled in comparison to the pull towards the man walking back to her now.

She wasn’t in love with the sexy sheriff, but she knew she easily could be. Carlos had shown her more kindness in the little time she’d known him than Davis had in the six-plus years they’d been together, from the time of their first date to the day she killed him.

Zoe’s eyes landed on the rearview mirror. Her nearly four-year-old son was playing with a dinosaur toy in his car seat, completely unaware that his mother had murdered his father. No matter how justified her actions had been, there would still be a day in his future when she would have to confess what happened to his father or that he was not safe from his paternal grandparents.

He would be free in fourteen years. The moment he turned eighteen, Davis’s parents would no longer have a hold over him. But she? Well, there was no statute of limitations on murder.

The sheriff climbing into the driver’s seat next to her knew that better than she did. And yet, he’d pledged himself to her yesterday. He’d gotten down on his knees before her and swore that, though the law had failed her, he would not.

Was she ruining Carlos’s life? His career? She knew him well enough to know that he loved being a cop. During their date the other night, he’d told her how he’d signed up to become a deputy the day of his high school graduation. He loved his town and he loved his badge. Was she dooming them both by being in his life?

And yet, despite her fears, a feeling of contentment washed over her the moment he picked up her hand and brought the back to his lips.

“Ready to go?” he murmured against her skin.

Zoe felt a shiver of anticipation course through her. He turned her on with such a simple touch—and in front of her son! She nodded, because she wasn’t sure she could form words without embarrassing herself.

Carlos gave her a knowing smile. He knew damn well what his touch did to her.

Putting the cruiser into Drive, Carlos drove slowly through the Via Daemonia property. The few members who were here and not at their day jobs waved as they passed. Since Carlos still had a grip on her hand, he could only raise a couple fingers off the steering wheel in acknowledgement or tip his chin in that manly nod men did.

The motorcycle club that had taken Zoe in was an oddity. First, they worked with the police. They weren’t criminals—yet they were willing to harbor one. And second, they had an honor code that extended beyond what the law limited. Family meant everything to them, even if that family wasn’t related by blood.

Looking over at Carlos as he pulled onto the road, Zoe wondered why Carlos hadn’t joined the club. She knew that he could ride a motorcycle, though he didn’t own one.

Carlos glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Can I help you, pretty lady?”

She tried not to smile. “Why didn’t you join the club? I know you’re not a veteran, but your brother surely would have bent the rules for you.”

Carlos gave a noncommittal shrug. “Six years ago, I’d just gotten my promotion as deputy sheriff. The club didn’t have the reputation in the community that they do now. I thought it better to support them without joining them.”

“Did you want to join?” she asked, curious.

“Not really. I enjoy riding my brother’s hog sometimes, but I’m not into riding as much as they are.”

Zoe nodded once. “I don’t think I’d enjoy it all that much either. Cars just feel safer.”

“For many of them, being inside a car is stifling. That’s why bikers call cars ‘cages’.”

“That makes sense,” she mused. “Still, I think it suits you better.”

“What does?”

She squeezed his hand. “The badge.”

As Carlos pulled into the furniture store parking lot, he shot her a wicked smile. “The handcuffs come in handy too.”

Flashes of their intimate activities from the night before crossed her mind. Zoe blushed, which only made Carlos grin wider.

When Bulldog moved out of their mom’s house, he left behind a king size bed frame. Carlos planned to turn his brother’s old room into Kyle’s new bedroom, but the four-year-old could not continue sleeping in a king size bed. They would figure something out to do with the frame. Maybe sell it at a yard sale or put it into storage. Kyle needed a twin bed, which would also make room for a toy chest, a desk, and anything else he needed.

Carlos was in no way trying to step into the role as Kyle’s father. He wasn’t ready for that, and frankly, neither were Zoe or Kyle. Zoe’s and his relationship was so new. They needed to find a rhythm for them before Carlos could take on any paternal figure role.

However, that did not mean Carlos couldn’t be Kyle’s friend or a man that he could look up to. Carlos knew his mom was already envisioning herself as Kyle’s grandmother. He didn’t want to dissuade her, but he also needed to be realistic. It might be a long time before Kyle was ready to look at him as a dad and Louisa as a grandma.

Carlos parked his cruiser and got out. He walked around to Zoe’s door to open it for her. She took his offered hand with a smile, which only prompted Carlos to lean in and kiss her gently on the lips. He loved that light blush on her cheeks.

He wasn’t in love with Zoe Rutterson, but he knew he was on his way to being so. He’d felt something that first day he’d seen her back in February. It had been like an inkling, a sense… It was only her obvious fear and discomfort that had kept him from pursuing her back then. She’d never been far from his mind.

As she stared up into his eyes, there wasn’t a trace of any fear. He saw only lust, trust, and joy.

A car pulled in next to them, breaking their trance. Zoe stepped further behind him, as if using his body to shield her from view. Carlos thought it unnecessary. He still had to have a talk with Keys to figure out the entirety of Zoe’s situation and who was looking for her, but he knew no one was legally looking for her in Mount Grove. He was the law in this town and no one had ever approached him about Zoe Rutterson, or her alias Clara Everwood.

Still, he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t much, but he pulled his sunglasses out of his front pocket and put them on her face. Then he took his hat off of his head and placed it over her brunette curls.

Her expression was startled before it turned grateful.

Carlos moved back so he could open the rear door and get Kyle out of his car seat. “Ready to get you a bed?”

Kyle nodded enthusiastically. “I want a dino bed!” He held up the toy T-rex he’d been playing with during the ride.

Carlos had never seen a dino bed before, but he was open to whatever Kyle wanted. As they walked into the furniture store, Kyle between Zoe and Carlos while they each held one of his hands, Carlos wondered what it would be like one day to claim that mantle of fatherhood. To have Kyle look at him like he was his personal hero.

It was certainly something to aspire to.