Chapter 18

18

Hours later, after the police had left her apartment, and the EMT’s had told her she had a slight concussion and really should go to the hospital, she found herself in JT’s bedroom. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. Santinis filled the room. Sure, it was just two brothers and a sister-in-law. Worse, she knew her parents were on their way. She had told them not to come when Dante had called, but they apparently had been planning a trip to see them.

She sighed as she looked around the room. Dante was sitting in the chair beside the bed, Madison on his lap. Anthony had been brooding in the corner since she’d gotten there. And JT, well he sat beside her on the bed not saying much. With Santinis, they took double the energy to deal with. On a normal day, they were difficult to handle. At five-thirty in the morning after being attacked by a crazed O-4, she just wasn’t in the mood to deal with them. Add in the fact that her head was still throbbing, and she didn’t have the patience. She loved her family, but they were driving her up the wall. Besides, she had something she wanted to discuss with the dumbass she was in love with.

“Everyone out. Go away.”

Anthony frowned. “But, the EMT said you needed to stay awake.”

“I think we should leave,” Madison said.

Elena tried to offer her friend a smile, but she found it hard. Any movement made her head pound even more. She’d kill to have the lights out, but Anthony had deemed it unadvisable since he felt she needed to stay awake. Idiot.

Elena studied her friend. She looked well, but there were dark smudges beneath her eyes and she was still pale. Charlie hadn’t left her side since the incident. She was relieved that Madison was fine and hadn’t had an episode because of the stress of the night.

“Dante, take her home. She needs her rest.”

That was true. She didn’t know who had slept that night. Probably no one. The sun was coming up, and her friend looked ready to drop.

“We want to be here,” Anthony said.

She cut him a look. “Seriously, leave.”

Apparently, the look and the tone of her voice got to him.

“Come on,” Madison said to him. “You can tell me more horrible stories about my husband.”

He sighed and leaned over the bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Give him hell,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. It was probably as close to a blessing as she was going to get from Anthony. He had accepted the fact that they were involved.

Elena nodded and watched as he stepped out of the room with Madison. Dante kissed her in the same fashion.

“Don’t do shit like that again,” he said gruffly.

“What, save your wife and child?”

He sighed dramatically. “Damn, I am never going to be able to live this down. You’ll be bringing it up forever.”

She motioned to him to come closer, then she set her hand on his, which rested on the bed beside her.

“What hurts you wounds me.”

It was something their mother had always said, but for Dante and Elena, it had a special meaning. He nodded, apparently unable to speak. He gave JT a look.

“I almost feel sorry for you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Go away, butthead.”

He was laughing as the door closed. She looked at JT then.

“So, you want to be a coward?”

His eyes widened, then they narrowed. “Be careful the way you throw that word around.”

“What can I call you? You were going to leave me.”

His frown darkened. “Where in the world did you get such a dumbass idea as that?”

“You said you had something to talk about. It was definitely about us. And it was important. It happened just when Anthony showed up. So, you are a coward. You would rather throw what we have away so you can keep Anthony as your friend.”

Anger moved over his features and for the first time, she realized she might have misunderstood what he had been trying to say. She swallowed, but she refused to back down. She was going to fight him tooth and nail.

“I wasn’t trying to break up,” he said, rage practically dripping from every word. “You stopped me and I agreed not to talk over the phone. Where did you get the idea that I wanted to break up with you? That’s just stupid.”

“I thought…”

Her words trailed off as he loomed over her. “You stopped me because you were afraid. You , not me, were the coward.”

“That’s not true.” It wasn’t, was it? “Okay, I was afraid you were going to use your friendship with Anthony to drive a wedge between us.”

“When have I done that with anything?”

She frowned. “Always.”

“No. I avoided you because you were my best friend’s little sister and off limits. But from the moment we slept together, tell me who is the one who was trying to keep from being found out? Who is the one who wanted to keep our relationship a secret?”

“I didn’t want them nosing in.”

“Yeah? Well, why not?”

“Because I love you, dumbass. I wanted you all to myself so you could figure how perfect we were together.”

He blinked. “You really are stupid. Jesus, Elena, from the moment we slept together, I have been at your side. You can’t count my assignment.”

She would never do that. Duty was something almost sacred to a Santini. “I don’t.”

He sighed. “Why do you think I requested a break from UA’s?”

“You asked…”

Hope filled her heart as she felt something heavy lift off her soul.

“Yes. I couldn’t keep doing that. First, I’m getting too damned old for that. And secondly, when you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you don’t want to waste time pretending to be someone else.”

She struggled to sit up, and he was by her side in a minute to help. “Be careful.”

It came out as an order, and she slanted him a dirty look. He gave her one right back.

“You better change that attitude right now, woman. I can be mean with you because of the risk you took.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You could have hidden from him.”

“Would you ask one of my brothers to do that?”

“Of course not.”

“Sexist,” she spat out.

“No. When the woman I love is in danger, I have the right to want you safe.”

“I couldn’t hide with her. She needed to stay away from him. With her condition—besides the PTSD—I couldn’t let her become a target. You would have done the same thing.”

And she was happy to have known about it. If not, she probably wouldn’t have been such a bitch and insisted that her friend go hide. She had used it against Madison, and she would do it again in a heartbeat.

“So, how badly was he hurt?” she asked.

“He’ll survive.”

“You won’t be brought up on charges?”

“He was attacking you. What kind of asinine comment is that?”

“Well, maybe I want to make sure you aren’t going to jail, you dumbass.”

“Why would I be going to jail? You’re the one who beat the shit out of him. And, I am getting sick of being called a dumbass.”

“Then stop acting like one.”

He growled and paced away. “I used to have an easy life. Sure, people would shoot at me, and I had to hang out with scum who shouldn’t be able to walk free, but now…”

“What?” she asked when he didn’t continue.

He stopped walking and frowned down at her. “ You are a pain in my ass.”

JT looked at the woman he loved and waited for her to yell at him. He shouldn’t have said what he did, but he was so frustrated. In less than eight hours, he had been more terrified than he had in his entire career in the military and NCIS. He’d gotten shot three times during his adulthood and right now, he couldn’t remember the deep bone fear of those events. When he realized that Hickson knew were Elena was, and he was on his way to make JT pay for ruining his scheme, the fear that almost stopped his heart is something he would remember until the day he died.

Then, in a split second, she surprised him. Elena Michon Santini—the girl who never cried, even when she broke her arm in the seventh grade—burst into tears. And not just little tears. Big, sloppy tears and loud sobs. Wailing. He was sure he’d never seen anyone wail like her. The door burst open, and Anthony was frowning at him. JT held up his hands.

“What the hell is going on in here?” he growled.

JT shook his head. “I don’t know. She just started doing it.”

Anthony looked at Elena, then him. “Well, make it stop.”

He opened his mouth to tell him he didn’t know what to do, but Elena took care of it.

“Go get bent, Anthony,” Elena said.

Anthony studied her for a second, then he gave JT a nasty look of warning before he slammed the door shut.

“Mom always says Anthony was born in a barn.” On that, she drew in a long, shuddering breath and looked down at her comforter. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start crying like that and don’t mean to be a pain in the ass.”

“I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

He couldn’t lie and tell her she wasn’t. Elena was one of the most self-possessed people he knew. She understood her faults. And he loved every last one of them even when she was being a pain in the ass.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

“I thought you wanted to end everything. You sounded so definite on the phone, so I thought you decided not to be with me.” Her voice was so soft, and he knew she was ashamed. He knew her well enough to understand she was embarrassed by her vulnerabilities.

He settled on the bed beside her. “I had made a decision. I can’t believe you thought I was thinking of breaking it off with you. I don’t know where you get those insane ideas.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not an easy woman to live with. Ask any of my brothers. I’m difficult.”

“You’re an acquired taste.”

She rolled her eyes. “That sounds like a line from a movie, Jethro.”

He chuckled. “It’s true. Besides, I don’t want easy. I’m a Marine and an NCIS agent. Easy is boring as hell. I want pushy. I want a woman who kicks my ass when I need it. And I am pretty sure that’s you. I need you beside me at night and I need you to need me.”

She blinked as her eyes filled up with tears. “Oh, my.”

“Exactly. I’ve been walking around with that in my heart for months now. I knew the moment I touched you that God had made you for me. I just had to figure it all out.”

“What took you so long?”

“First some idiot thought we shouldn’t say anything to her family. Second, I really didn’t want to say anything to you until I talked to your father and Anthony about it.”

“Why would you want to talk to them?” she asked as he grabbed a tissue and wiped away her tears.

“I felt I needed their permission to ask you to marry me. I think Anthony already had an idea.”

“Marry you?” she asked, her voice a little stronger.

“Yeah,” he said, entwining his fingers with hers.

“Why would you need to talk to them?”

This was the hard part, because whenever he spoke of his connection to Anthony and her father…it was just difficult to express.

“My father is a bastard. You know that. Everyone knows that.”

She was blessedly silent for once and just nodded.

“Your father took me in as one of his own sons and treated me like part of the family. Your mother thinks of me as her son in a way. Before meeting them, I was never accepted for just being me. All of you gave me that.”

“She tells people she has six sons and one daughter.”

He smiled. “I had a bit of a crush on her when I first met her.”

She laughed. “Figures. I get my mom’s cast offs.”

He cupped her face. “I had to show them all respect. I needed them to know that I love you more than life, and where ever you go, I go.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, then she shook her head. “I can’t expect you to give up your career.”

“We’ll figure it out. I just wanted them to know how much I respected you, and how proud I would be to be your husband. I want you flying in that uniform, because I know it is part of you. I love that part, along with the one that seems to think she needs fifteen little doodads on her keychain.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

He nodded. “Plus, like I told you. You are pretty damned hot in your uniform. But I need to ask your father’s permission first.”

Then she motioned with her head behind him. “You can tell them now.”

He looked over his shoulder and realized her parents were standing there. Her mother was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, and her father was smiling.

“Sorry,” Tony said. “We’ll let you two have a moment alone.”

He ushered his wife out and shut the door.

JT closed his eyes and turned around to Elena. Of all of the asinine...when he opened them, he found her smiling at him.

“I can’t believe I screwed that up.”

“How did you screw it up? They looked pretty happy to me.”

“Your mother was crying.”

“Happy tears. You know Mom. If she gets sad, she gets pissed.”

He sighed because that much was true.

She said nothing else, but she kept smiling at him.

“What?”

“When do I get this amazing proposal?”

“I need to get a ring.”

“You need a ring? You were going to propose to me without a ring? That’s kind of tacky,” she said in an overly prissy voice.

“I take it back. I am not going to propose, we’ll just get married.”

Elena smiled. “I have to say, you do know how to make a Santini woman happy.”

He shook his head. “You’re crazy. All of you.”

She pulled him closer. “Yeah, and you’re one of us. Plus, you just said you wanted to marry me, so our blood will be mingled with our children.”

He brushed his mouth over hers but said nothing.

“Please tell me you want to have kids,” she said.

“Oh, yeah,” he said as he leaned her back. “I think we can definitely have as many kids as you want.”

He brushed his mouth over hers again. He needed this connection, to know that she was okay.

“Please, don’t ever do that again,” he said.

“What?”

“Be in danger.”

She laughed. “Oh, babe, you’re in so much trouble. You’re marrying a Marine.”

With that announcement, she pulled his head back down. He was seriously thinking about stripping her clothes off her when there was pounding at the door.

“I might say I am okay with this, but it doesn’t mean I don’t expect you two to behave while I’m here,” her father said from the other side of the door.

She made that rude sound he loved so much. “I am going to kill him. In fact, I might kill him, then use his body to kill Anthony.”

JT chuckled and set his forehead against hers. “I love you, Elena.”

“I love you, too.”

He kissed her and was losing himself again when her father knocked on the door again.

“I’m really not kidding.”

“They don’t listen at all,” Anthony said loud enough for them to hear.

“Oh, Anthony, don’t be a tattletale. No one likes those,” Mrs. Santini said.

“They’re discussing us as if we aren’t here,” he said, shaking his head.

“It will only get worse but you’re stuck now.”

“More than happy to be stuck with you,” he said as he bent his head to kiss her again. He ignored the rather loud argument her family was having on the other side of the door and went about celebrating his engagement.