Chapter 10

10

For a moment, Brando tried to find the humor in the situation. The fact that two of her brothers had said the exact same words to him was kind of funny. In fact, both of her brothers reminded him of Anthony. Big, loud, and obnoxious. Apparently, Kaitlin got all the sweetness in the family.

He wanted to tell the massive man to kiss his ass, but he couldn’t because of Kaitlin. From the looks of this one, he was Declan, the chef. His hair was too long for him to be a fireman. Telling her brother to kiss his ass would have felt good, but he was still trying to win the woman over.

“I’m assuming you’re Declan,” he said.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Come on in. Kaitlin is upstairs.” It was then that he noticed the box Declan was holding. “I doubt she will want to eat any of those. She’s under the weather.”

Declan stepped in, a frown still marring his features. Brando would give him crap about it, but he decided to give the man a break. He’d heard the story of Anthony showing up and finding his best friend at their sister’s apartment early in the morning. Brando thought he would give the guy a break.

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs in bed resting.”

Before he could finish, the behemoth put the box on the coffee table and made his way up the stairs. He sounded more like a herd of elephants.

“Kitty Kat,” Declan yelled.

With a sigh, Brando shut the door and followed him up the stairs. He heard Declan demanding to know what was wrong with her and just why the hell Brando was at her house. At least he could take some comfort in that. Apparently her brothers weren’t used to finding a man at her house. When he got there, he found Declan sitting on the side of Kaitlin’s bed.

“I’m fine,” Kaitlin said as she gave Brando a dirty look. He shrugged. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t hide the fact that she had been barfing just a few minutes before.

Declan looked at Brando, then back to Kaitlin. She still looked pale to Brando, but she looked much better than she had just a few moments earlier. “You look fine but soldier boy there told me you were sick.”

“I’m a Marine.”

He shrugged, much like Aeden had the night before. “Same thing.”

“No, there is a difference. Or maybe I should call you a short order cook.”

The look he gave Brando would have withered a weaker man. Of course, Brando was a Marine and a Santini. With an older brother like Anthony, not to mention a cousin like Vicente, Brando was able to put just about anyone in their place.

Declan turned around to face Kaitlin. “When is he leaving?”

Kaitlin rolled her eyes. “Quit being rude.”

“I’m just being me.”

She laughed. “Go downstairs. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I think you should stay in bed,” Brando said. “You had that dizzy spell last night.”

She gave him a look that was scarier than her brother’s. He was definitely going to pay for that later on.

“You were dizzy? What the hell, Kaitlin? Why haven’t you been to the doctor?”

“I was tired. Go downstairs, Declan. We’ll join you in a second.”

He didn’t want to go, but apparently, he wasn’t going to fight it. He hesitated for a moment, then he walked out the door. After they were finally alone, she crossed her arms.

“What in the world do you think you were doing telling Declan that I was sick?”

He shrugged, completely confused by the direction of the conversation. “Because you are sick.”

“The worst thing in the world is to tell any of my brothers I was sick.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “Of course you don’t understand. I was kind of a sickly child. The guys get a little overprotective when they find out I feel unwell. Add in my failed engagement, they can be horrible.”

“He’s just trying to look out for you.”

And while he might not like Declan and Aeden’s methods, he had to appreciate them. It spoke of a close family, and that was one thing a Santini understood more than anything. Family was everything.

“I know he is, and it is sweet. But I don’t need it. I’ve been kind of off the last couple of days, but I feel better now. I plan on spending today and tomorrow in bed for the most part.”

She gave him a sexy smile that told him she expected him to be there with her.

“So, let’s keep this under wraps if we can. If not, you’ll have all the idiots not on duty over here bugging us. We won’t get any…rest.”

He returned her smile. “Okay. Your brother had some donuts or something downstairs.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, he made me some yummies. Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Can you go down there and make sure he isn’t messing with anything? Like calling family members?”

He nodded and got dressed. She rose out of bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

She turned away, but he caught her and pulled her closer. “That’s not the kind of good morning kiss I like to give.”

She was laughing when he kissed her. He pulled in that joy, the happiness that she always seemed to offer and returned it in that one simple kiss. By the time he was finished, they were both breathing heavily. He rested his forehead on hers and tried to get his body back under control. Just a little kiss had his mind dissolving into a pile of mush. The woman was lethal to his control.

“I’m starting to hate your brothers.”

“I have a feeling they feel the same way.”

He laughed and kissed her nose. “I’ll go try and contain the giant.”

“Just use the names Marcy and Darcy on him. That will shut him down.”

He was shaking his head as he went downstairs. He found Declan in the kitchen talking on the phone. “I don’t know. And why didn’t you tell me she had a date last night?”

Silence.

“Well, you should have. I had to have some half-dressed soldier answer the door.”

Declan held the phone away from his ear, and Brando could hear someone yelling on the other side of the conversation.

He pulled the phone back. “Yes, he was here. Maybe because she’s over thirty and can handle her own life.” Then he laughed. “Yeah, it sounded good though, right? Anyway, she’s a little sick, so I’m going to stick around today.”

More silence as someone on the other side of the phone—presumably Aeden—talked.

“You can’t control her, Aeden, and while I might not like meeting her boyfriend when he’s half naked, she did not seem like she was upset. So let it go.”

More silence.

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at the restaurant. We have a five-thirty game.”

Declan turned off the phone.

“I’m a Marine.”

Declan jumped and looked at him. “Damn, you surely don’t make any sound.”

“Comes with the training. I take it that was Aeden?”

Declan nodded.

“Great. Kaitlin is going to be pissed.”

“Don’t worry. He’s on today as are Emmet and Connal. Seamus is on a fishing trip. So no one will show up over here. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to have a talk.”

Brando wanted to tell her brother to go to hell and get out of her house. But the truth was, as an older brother, he understood. Brando wasn’t too sure of what he would have done if he had been the one to find JT with Elena, so he nodded.

“I need coffee first.”

When she was finally alone, Kaitlin sat on her bed dazed from the events of that morning. A woman shouldn’t have to deal with this much turmoil without at least a cup of coffee in her.

In the next instant she was up and out of bed. Panic was filtering through her now and she needed some help. The only person she could trust was Wendy. It was when she was bent over the toilet losing what little she had in her stomach that she realized something was very, very wrong.

“So, two of your brothers now have met him and not beaten him to a pulp,” Wendy said over the phone. “That’s good.”

“That is not the problem. Well, those idiots are going to cause me problems, but I have a bigger issue here.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m late.”

“For what? Why would you want to leave the house with a hunk of man to keep you company?”

Kaitlin closed her eyes and sank down on her bed. Wendy was a brilliant ER nurse, but when she was tired, her brain shut down. “I’m late, as in might be pregnant late.”

A beat of silence went by. “Oh. Now that is a big issue.”

“Really?” she asked sarcastically.

“Hey, don’t take it out on me. I didn’t get you pregnant. I was back here in Maryland being a good girl.”

“Yeah, right. Can you buy me a test? With Declan here and Brando, I can’t just run out and get one.”

“How late are you?”

She sighed. “Just a day or two. Or a week? Dammit, I’m not sure. With Brando coming here, I completely forgot, and there is always a chance I was just worried about that.”

Wendy chuckled. “Yeah, people tell themselves that. It’s rarely true.”

“Gee, thanks. You are the bestest friend I have ever had.”

Wendy ignored the sarcasm. “Didn’t you use protection?”

“Of course we did. Every time.”

A beat of silence. “How many times were there?”

“None of your business.”

Wendy tsked. “You’re being awfully rude to a person you called for help.”

“Okay. Three…yes, three.”

“Total?”

“For that night, yeah. Just three or maybe four. Dammit, I can’t remember.”

“Please tell me he has a single brother.”

“Three in fact, and one is a fraternal twin who owns a ranch.”

“Holy moly, a cowboy? Hmm, I like that. I’ll be there in thirty. I was on my way home, so I’ll swing by the drugstore and get one.”

“Thanks.” Then what Wendy said hit her. “You’re on your way home? Where were you last night?”

“No comment.”

“Wendy.”

“Let’s just say I did something kind of stupid, but I’ll get over it—and I am sure he will too. Oh, there’s the store. Good bye.”

She clicked the phone off and frowned. Wendy wasn’t a bragger about her sex life, but she had never tried to hide anything from Kaitlin.

Shaking her head, Kaitlin rose to go downstairs, but her phone rang. When she saw the number, she rolled her eyes. Damn Declan.

“Hi Mama.”

They were just finishing up the breakfast of sticky buns and fresh fruit when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Kaitlin said, practically jumping up out of her chair.

He heard a woman’s voice before she appeared. She was a little taller than Kaitlin, with long golden brown hair and smiling brown eyes.

“Well, I think I might want to rethink the sibling thing if I could have a brother bring me goodies in the morning.” Her gaze landed on Brando. “You must be Brando Santini.”

He stood, waiting for her to make her way to the table. Declan gave him a strange look.

“Yes. And you must be Wendy.”

Her smile widened. “That I am. I call dibs on one of those sticky buns, but I need to talk to Kaitlin for a second.”

He nodded and watched them as they practically ran out of the room.

“Well, I was pleasant during breakfast, but you and I are going to have a chat, Santini.”

“Really? You call asking me when I was leaving being pleasant?”

“I didn’t hit you.”

That much was true. Brando glanced at the stairs wishing Kaitlin would hurry up. He looked at her brother and sighed. He took his seat again. “Hit me.”

“Believe me, I would like to hit you. More than once, but my sister would be upset.”

“Are you going to ask me if my intentions are honorable?”

Declan studied him for a moment. “No, I don’t think I need to. Just so you know, I get to make the wedding cake.”

He smiled. “Deal.”

“Well?” Wendy asked from the other side of the door.

Shoot, shoot, shoot. She was staring down at the little window and the definitive proof that she was pregnant. Damn . Damn. Damn . Her heart tripped a few beats. She opened her mouth a couple of times, but only a squeak came out.

She opened the door and Wendy saw her face.

“Oh, boy,” she said.

Kaitlin walked over to the bed and sank down on it. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”