Chapter 2

Teresa Carter didn’t thinkabout what seeing Angelo again would do to her already frazzled nerves. She definitely hadn’t been prepared for the man standing in her doorway.

How is it possible he’s even more handsome than he’d been in high school?

He wore a dark suit and a pristine white shirt. His black hair was short and cropped close to his scalp on the sides, with a little bit of length on top. A neatly trimmed beard that was more scruff than full, the same color as his hair, curved around his jaw. His shoulders were broad, along with his chest, and she longed to press into and have his arms curl around and keep her safe.

Such a stupid thought, when she hadn’t seen him in years. Even the picture his mother had shown her when she’d run into her a while ago hadn’t done him any justice. Now she was glad she’d paid attention and remembered his past employment history and the name of where he now worked.

She’d called his workplace as a last resort, not really expecting anything to happen, least of all him to answer the phone—but he had. Then Angelo Donatello had come without question.

Who did that?

“Angelo.” Teresa breathed his name and clung to the door with one hand, while the other still gripped her phone.

It took a second for her to register the body on the ground.

“Oh, my goodness. Phillip.” She squatted and touched her neighbor’s shoulder.

A groan came from him before he opened his eyes. “Teresa? Wh-what happened?” he asked groggily.

“I was hoping you could tell me that.”

Angelo’s question wasn’t an unreasonable one, but he didn’t sound polite or gentle. In fact, it was more like a barked out military order.

Teresa glanced up.

Angelo’s brown eyes were narrowed and his hand was gripping something at his side.

Phillip tried to sit up, and she scooped an arm under his shoulders to assist him. He smiled his gratitude.

At one time she’d considered dating Phillip when he’d moved in a few months ago, but when he had asked her out, she’d come up with an excuse not to see him.

She couldn’t put her finger on it—then or now. When he’d asked, it just hadn’t felt right.

It wasn’t as though he was ugly—not that she judged people by the looks.

He was tall, had a nice smile. Phillip wasn’t as muscular as Angelo, but then again, he’d told her he worked in corporate. He was always dressed nice.

In fact, Phillip was a perfectly decent man with a good job, but he didn’t excite her. Fortunately, he’d been gracious about her rejecting his dinner invitation and hadn’t asked again.

They were friends, and that made Teresa happy.

“Thanks,” he said, then groaned when he tried to move his head.

“Keep still. You’ve got a head wound.” Angelo grabbed his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling the paramedics now.”

“We should get him inside,” Teresa said, glancing at Angelo again. “Do you think you can stand and walk?” she asked Phillip.

Angelo was talking into his phone in the background.

“Don’t move him. The paramedics will be here shortly.”

Again, his brusque tone bugged her. Which was totally irrational, considering she’d called him for help.

Right this moment, Teresa’s emotions were seesawing between fear, anger, and a smidge of lust for the guy she’d had a crush on when she’d been in high school.

How had this become her day?

“We can’t leave him here in the hallway,” she protested.

“Tre, it’s best if we don’t move him, okay? He’s got a head wound.” This time Angelo spoke gently, as though he were soothing a skittish kitten.

“I really don’t think I can move anyway,” Phillip said. “I’m feeling pretty weak at the moment.”

Teresa glanced down at her neighbor.

His face was paler than it had been a few minutes ago.

Had she done the wrong thing by helping him sit up? Should she have insisted he keep laying on the ground?

“Do you want some water or something?”

Phillip shook his head and winced, his eyes drifting shut again, and his body slumped back to the ground.

Immediately, she grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse, relaxing a fraction when she felt the reassuring beat.

“I felt the same way too,” Angelo said beside her.

When had he moved?

“What?” She turned her head—big mistake, since Angelo was right next to her. If she wanted to, she could press her lips against his cheek.

Oh my God, what am I thinking?

Clearly the attempted break-in and the anonymous call she’d gotten were messing with her head, and her emotions more she’d acknowledged.

The way she was reacting to Angelo’s closeness was out of character.

Now wasn’t the time to examine the whys; Phillip needed help.

“Umm,” she leaned back. “I wonder how long the paramedics are going to be.”

“I meant I was relieved when I felt Phillip’s pulse when I arrived, and I’m not sure. Hopefully not too long.” Angelo shifted back, as if he got her silent I-need-space message.

It took a second for the first part of what he said to make sense. Finally, the faint sound of sirens reached her ears, and she blew out a breath.

“I’m going to check your place,” Angelo said.

Why was he doing that now?

Didn’t he hear the paramedics were almost there?

“I’m not sure why you need to do that. I didn’t see anyone when I came to the door and seeing as we’re all blocking the doorway, no one could get in without us knowing.”

“Not sure why you called me in the first place,” Angelo muttered before standing and shoving his hands in his pants pocket, the material stretching enticingly.

From her position on the ground, his crotch was in her direct line of vision and, well, Teresa had to force herself to look away.

It was official. She was losing her mind.

She’d gone from freaking out to lusting out in a matter of minutes. Could she be any flakier?

That was a question to remain unanswered, as the elevator doors opened, and two paramedics came rushing toward them.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Angelo greeted them and rattled off what injury Phillip had.

One medic squatted down and smiled. “Ma’am, I need to examine the patient. Are you able to give me some room?”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

A warm hand cupped her elbow and helped her stand.

A buzz of electricity sizzled from the contact and, like when she’d be on the ground, she gazed up at Angelo, getting lost in his brown eyes.

Vaguely, Teresa was aware of Angelo moving them into her apartment, but it was as though she’d fallen into a trance and was no longer in control of her mind or body.

Dammit, she was really losing it.

“He’s going to be fine. Probably just a concussion. He’s lucky it wasn’t worse. The hospital is likely going to have questions about what happened. Their protocol will be to call in the authorities.”

The mention of the authorities pulled her out of her trance. “No! He can’t talk to the police. It’s too risky.”

Angelo tugged, urging her to face him.

Teresa kept her gaze fixed on the small pearl button of his shirt. Maybe luck would be on her side, and he’d let it go.

Luck wasn’t on her side.

He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted it. “Why is it too risky?”

There was nothing commanding about how he asked the question, but it seemed that if she tried to put him off, he wouldn’t let Teresa get away with it.

Sighing, she pulled her attention from his shirt and his impressive chest. “Because it is. Just trust me. We have to find out what he saw before he leaves.”

She pulled out of his hold and headed back to where the paramedics were attending Phillip. She’d taken two steps before a hand on her arm halted her retreat.

“That’s not an answer, Teresa. What the fuck is going on?” Angelo had lowered his voice, and the gruff tone sent shivers rippling down her spine.

Was that the voice he used when he was trying to get information from the bad guys while he’d been a SEAL?

The temptation to give him what he wanted was high, but Teresa had no idea if she could trust the paramedics. If they weren’t on the cartel’s payroll.

She didn’t trust anyone—couldn’t afford it. The people she’d trusted had turned their back on her.

Here she was… Her neighbor was about to be transferred to a hospital after being hit on the head by some unknown person. Angelo, her high school crush, standing in her living room, looking like an avenging angel.

How the hell had her life got so complicated and…scary?

She wasn’t going to be defeated. She wasn’t going to let them intimidate her. During her career, she’d be in precarious situations, and she’d squared her shoulders and faced it head on.

This time was no different.

“I’m not intimidated by your tell-me-everything-now SEAL voice. What I am going to do is go talk to Phillip. You can come with me or not.”

Once again, Teresa shook off his hand and closed the short distance to where her neighbor lay on the gurney, stopping when she reached his side. “Hey how are you doing?” she asked.

A bitof color had returned to his cheeks. “Been better. I’ll be okay. But are you? You know.” He jerked his head in Angelo’s direction, wincing with the motion.

“Don’t move. And I’m fine. Angelo’s an old high school friend.” Not entirely the truth, and not exactly a lie either. “Did you see who hit you?” Teresa rushed the question out when she saw that the paramedics were getting ready to take Phillip away.

“What? You mean the guy trying to break into your apartment?” Phillip fired back, sounding more lucid than he had seconds ago.

She froze at the confirmation of what her gut had said had been happening, and it caused her brief spurt of bravado to deflate.

How had everything gone so wrong?

It didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was getting information from Phillip. A warm hand landed on her lower back, and she sank into the touch.

Angelo.

“Yes, the person attempting a break-in. Can you describe him? Teresa needs this information,” Angelo said behind her, once again using that gruff tone.

It worked on Phillip, and his eyes widened. “Um, he wore a ski mask. I think he had blue eyes, but the second I came up to him, he grabbed my arm and yanked me off balance. I fell, and then he hit me. I don’t remember anything else until you both found me.”

“Dammit,” Angelo said under his breath.

Teresa bit back her own expletive. “Okay, thanks for everything, Phillip. I appreciate you looking out for me.” She focused on the paramedics, who were watching the exchange with interest.

Were they taking notes so they could report back to whoever they were working for that the attempted break-in had been a failure?

Not everyone is a bad guy. They might be innocent.

And they might not.

Her internal argument would’ve been amusing, if she could get over the fact she was arguing with herself.

Mentally pushing aside her thoughts, she willed herself not to give away her inner turmoil.

“Just doing our jobs, ma’am. We’ll be taking him to County, if you want to check on him later.”

“Thanks for letting us know.” Again, Angelo answered for her.

Should she be angry at him?

Maybe, but at the moment, all Teresa wanted was to collapse into her bed and forget everything she’d found out and what was happening to her ever since she took on this assignment.

Only, her apartment wasn’t safe anymore.