Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Carlos made it to Tia’s house in record time. His brother rode shotgun, trying to keep Carlos calm. It hadn’t worked. By the time he turned the curve in the road and could see her house, his anger had hit new levels.

She had called the police first. It was irrational to be upset over that. It was the smart thing to do. Level-headed actually. If there was one way to describe Tia, it was level-headed. Still, there was a part of him that had wanted her to immediately call him, first. Worse, Carlos had a feeling if she thought she could get away with it, she wouldn’t have called him. And that pissed him off.

He parked his truck behind hers and beside Sheriff Sampson’s squad car. As he approached the house, the front door opened and the sheriff stepped out. Arnold Sampson had been county sheriff for as long as anyone could remember. He had an affable demeanor that hid the Marine beneath. A lot of people probably thought the older man was a pushover. He was far from it. Years of dealing with anything from rustlers to militia groups had kept him on his toes.

“Oh, hey, Santini. Tia didn’t tell me she called you.”

He nodded. “This is my brother Nando.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sampson said. “Tia’s fine. Nothing was taken, and she’s not even sure if someone was in the house. We’ve had a few break-ins lately.”

“Yeah?”

“Nothing big. Petty theft. I assume meth heads looking for money. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

He walked off and Carlos found Tia standing in the doorway. She was frowning at him. What else was new? It seemed like the woman spent most of her time frowning at him.

“I told you not to come over.”

He snorted. “I ignored you.”

There was a sound next to him. It sounded halfway between a groan and a laugh. He was sure it came from Nando.

“Come on in.”

They followed her in. He had only been there a handful of times, but it looked the same. The same furniture, neat as a pin. Pictures littered the surfaces, mostly of her and Adrian, and of her barrel racing days.

“I think I left the door open.”

“No. You didn’t.”

She sat on the sofa. “How do you know that?”

“You don’t leave your doors unlocked.”

“Sampson thinks I did. Thinks my worries are due to an overactive imagination. And sit down, both of you. I hate hovering.”

Nando took the chair next to the sofa, and Carlos sat down next to Tia.

“So, tell me why it isn’t my imagination?” she asked.

He shrugged. “You don’t leave your doors unlocked. I know. I pay attention.”

“I could have had my mind on someone or something else.”

“But you didn’t.”

She sighed and offered him a small smile. “At least that’s something. I like living here, knowing the people most of my life. The problem is they all see me as a fourteen-year-old girl still. I know someone was in my house last night. I just know it.

The idea that she could have been there when the bastard had broken in sent icicles racing through his blood. She would have been sound asleep and not known someone was there before it was too late. “Then you need to come back to the ranch.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Tia, this isn’t about propriety. You can sleep in one of the empty rooms for all I care. But I don’t like that someone has been in your house.”

“And I should abandon it? What if they come back?”

He rolled his eyes. “Precisely my point.”

“How am I going to ever find out who it is if I run away?”

Carlos opened his mouth to tell her he didn’t give a damn who it was, when Nando interrupted him.

“Got a computer?”

She looked around Carlos to his brother. “A laptop.”

He nodded. “We can hook it up to record. There’s all kinds of apps to record pets. You can set it up and it will send video to your phone.”

“And I can record them stealing my computer.”

He chuckled. “That’s true, but you’ll have their faces at least. It will upload to your cloud. You have one, right?”

She nodded.

Carlos decided he owed his younger brother a big drink, or at least a nicely grilled steak. “There. It’s settled.”

She turned her attention back to Carlos. “What?”

“It’s settled. You can just get your stuff and move over to the ranch.”

She frowned. “I am not moving over. If—and it is a big if—I come over, it’ll be only temporary.”

Carlos opened his mouth to argue with her, but Nando saved him again.

“I’m going to go look outside. You said it was the back window?”

Tia nodded. “Yes, right outside the kitchen.”

“Be right back,” he said, before rising from his chair and wandering to the kitchen.

She gave Carlos a look of irritation. “I don’t like you bossing me around.”

“First, I’m not really bossing you around. It’s the smart thing to do. If someone was looking for something, they might come back. We’ll put up the doggie cam thing and then keep an eye out on it. A day or two, then you can easily come back to stay at night. Sampson isn’t doing anything, and I don’t like the idea of someone coming in here. I know you can protect yourself, but I’ve dealt with drug addicts before.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. We had someone in my unit who had an issue with drugs. He had a good career ahead of him. Everything he had worked for wasn’t as important as the drugs. He destroyed his life for them. Addicts will do anything to get a taste, especially meth.” She crossed her arms. “Just as a precaution, for tonight.”

She sighed. “Okay. I’ll get a bag ready. Be right back.”

She stood to leave, but he grabbed her hand and held on.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just glad you’re safe.”

She gave him one of those small smiles of hers that always sent his heart into overdrive, then she left.

Carlos went in search of his brother. He walked out to the kitchen and then out the back door.

“There was definitely someone here,” Nando said, shining the flashlight on his phone over the footprints. “Definitely a man.”

“Why don’t you show me this app you’re talking about so we can get it set up?”

Nando nodded and followed him back into the house.

“How did you know about it?”

“Dated a woman once who was kind of obsessed with her cats.”

He frowned at his youngest brother. “You’re allergic to cats.”

Nando sighed. “Yeah, but she was a really pretty woman.”

He chuckled. “You don’t change.”

“If I let some idiot cats get between me and a pretty woman, I don’t have the right to call myself a Santini.”

“Let me guess. You persuaded her to stay with you overnight with the use of the app.”

“Of course.”

“As I said, you never change. Let’s get this set up so we can get back to the ranch.”

Later that night, Tia was lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired. If she hadn’t had the long day of work, she still would be exhausted. She didn’t get much sleep the night before, thanks to Carlos. But, follow a strenuous night of lovemaking, along with a never ending day of work, then the break in at her house...she just wanted to escape into dreamland.

Wasn’t happening. All she could think about was Carlos across the hall. He hadn’t pushed her to sleep in his room. He had offered. She had declined. And he had been a perfect gentleman about it, dammit.

With a sigh, she lifted her head, turned her pillow over and then settled back down. She should have brought her ereader with her. Then maybe she would have something to do. Of course, Tia wasn’t really sure where she’d put it. It had been months since she had turned it on.

She should make a list of things she needed to look for. There were a lot of them. With determination, she sat up in bed and looked for her purse. She would write these things down and look into them. Her ereader was one of them, but she was missing other things as well.

“Where is a pen when you need one?” she said to no one in particular. It took her only a few seconds to realize she didn’t have one in her purse. Maybe she should go downstairs. Carlos was bound to have a pen down there. And paper. She needed paper.

She grabbed the robe she brought with her and was tying the sash when she realized what she was doing. Who in their right mind goes on a pen hunt at—she looked at the clock—two in the morning?

With a sigh, she sat on the bed. He had her losing her mind. She didn’t want to make a list of things. She wanted Carlos. Wanted to sleep next to him again. While she hadn’t gotten a lot of rest the night before, she yearned to feel his body heat next to hers. It was odd, because she had never been the cuddling type, except with Carlos, things were just different.

Why was she sitting in her room not getting any sleep? What kind of point was she trying to prove? That she didn’t need him? She didn’t need him, but she wanted him. Admitting that to herself wasn’t easy. Her relationships in the past had all been short. Very short. She didn’t have time to get tangled up with a man. They got in the way of her goals in life. Now though...she wanted to get tangled up and as much as possible.

It was stupid. Just sitting there in the middle of the night with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling. It didn’t prove anything, other than the fact that she was stupid. Before she could change her mind, she rose from the bed and marched to the door. She opened it, only to find herself face-to-face with Carlos.

They both said nothing for a long moment.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said.

“Oh, come on. We both need sleep.”

She brushed past him and didn’t look back as she made her way into his room. The soft, familiar creak in the floorboard told her he was following her. She stepped into the room and started for the bed. She wanted sleep. Before she could reach it, though, Carlos grabbed her hand. He spun her around, then pulled her into his arms.

“I just want it agreed to that both of us wanted this.”

She frowned. “I never hid the fact that I wanted you.”

He studied her for a long second. “That’s true.”

She set a hand on his chest and leaned closer. Without hesitation, he met her halfway to brush his mouth against hers. She parted her lips and took him inside, enjoying the feel of his tongue sliding against hers.

He walked her backwards and they both fell onto the bed. She was laughing when he kissed her next. When he pulled back, he had lost some of the humor, and it was replaced with something serious. Her heart started to pound against her chest as she tried to swallow.

“What?”

He shook his head.

“No. Tell me.”

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Carlos?”

“Sorry. I just...I was thinking how much it meant to have you here.”

She blinked. “I’m always here.”

“In my bed kind of here. Not just at the ranch.”

She knew he was trying to say something but wasn’t getting it out. Fear, laced with a healthy dose of panic, threaded through her blood.

He chuckled. “Oh, lord. The expression on your face is just priceless.”

“What?”

Again he shook his head. He leaned down to nibble on her bottom lip.

“Stop worrying and just feel,” he said as he started to kiss down her body.

She wanted to argue, and even opened her mouth to do just that, but all that came out was a moan. She decided to ignore her worries and, for once, listen to Carlos.

A couple days later, Tia found herself in the kitchen arguing with Carlos. It wasn’t a new experience, but this time, she was definitely going to win. The only thing that bothered her was there was a witness to it. Knowing the Santinis, Nando was probably texting a blow-by-blow of the argument to everyone in the family.

“I say you should stay here.”

“I heard you. It’s been two nights and nothing has happened. I’ve had new locks installed, so everything should be okay.”

He frowned. “I don’t like it.”

“Write to Dr. Phil so you can talk about your feelings. I am going back. I need to check on my house, my mail, make sure everything is going well out there. Hell, I have to make sure I don’t have stinky stuff in my refrigerator.”

“Be serious. You don’t have stinky stuff in your refrigerator. You’d have to keep food on hand for that.”

“I’m going. I have time before my next client to make it out there and back.”

He frowned, but said nothing else before turning and walking away. The fact that he had given up so quickly on the fight sort of surprised her.

“He’s worried about you,” Nando said as he sat down at the table with a sandwich. She thought Carlos ate a lot until she met Nando. The man never seemed to quit eating.

“He just wants me to stay here.”

“That’s not all he’s after. And you know it.”

She glanced at the younger man. Being the youngest of the family was never easy. There had only been her and Adrian, but still, it had been hard. Having four older brothers and one older sister could not have been easy. That was why, just every now and then, he would make a comment that would give her pause.

“Yes, I do, but I need my space. It makes me itchy being away from my own surroundings.” Not to mention the fact that she was falling in deeper with Carlos. She didn’t need to lose her head over the man, but it was happening and happening fast. “And I don’t think the danger is around anymore.”

“I agree. If it was a drug addict, they aren’t going to sit out there and wait on you. Add in that there have been no videos posted tells me nothing is going on. Carlos can’t think rationally when it comes to you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t be obtuse, you know he’s halfway in love with you. I can look at the situation rationally, but he can’t because you are involved. He cannot let anything happen to you. Ever.”

“What?”

He studied her. “You really don’t know? No Santini would get involved with someone at work, especially a partner, if he wasn’t serious. Just be gentle. As my mother likes to say, Santini men are hard-headed and soft-hearted for the women they love.”

She was still stuck on the halfway in love with you comment when Carlos came stomping back in.

He stood there for a long second, then he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. You can go home.”

She didn’t say anything at first. First, he was damned sexy when he was mad. Second, she couldn’t actually believe he gave her a freaking order.

“Oh, how gracious of you.” She didn’t even try to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

“But, I want to go with you right now. Just to be sure.”

Tia wanted to argue. She opened her mouth to argue, but Nando cleared his throat. She didn’t look at Carlos’ brother, but it reminded her of his comment.

“Sure.”

Surprise moved over his face, but he didn't smile. He just gave her an arrogant nod. “Let’s go.”

He turned and walked out of the room. She looked at Nando, who was smiling at her.

“I told you. Just falling down the hill into love. I can’t believe I’m the only single one left in the family.”

She sighed and grabbed her purse. When she made it out the front door, she found him sitting in her truck. So, he was at least going to let her drive. Taking her time, she walked around the hood, then climbed into the driver’s seat.

“I still don’t agree with you,” Carlos said.

“Okay.”

“You would be safer here.”

“Be reasonable. You and Nando need some time alone. If there is anything out of place, I’ll come back.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Thank you. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

She heard it there in his voice, the concern and the affection. Santini men might have soft hearts, but she had always thought hers was hardened. That was until Carlos used that tone.

With a sigh, she started up the truck. He might want to protect her from whoever had been on her property, but her big question was…who was going to protect her from falling for Carlos?