A Santini's Heart (The Santinis Book 10)

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Tia. My brother is here.”

  He rose from the table and walked over to her. He was only wearing a pair of jeans.

  “You can come on in.”

  “Hey, Tia,” Nando said cheerfully.

  “Hey.” She looked back at Carlos. “I can’t sit down here dressed like this. Give me a second, and I will be right back.”

  She turned to hurry off, but he caught her hand and pulled her close. She frowned at him.

  “Good morning.”

  His voice rolled over the words, and she wobbled a little. Damn, when he spoke in that tone, she couldn’t seem to keep her knees from turning to jelly.

  “Good morning.”

  He kissed her then, soft, sweet, and just hot enough to send her head spinning. She sighed and leaned closer, wanting to deepen the kiss. Then, his brother cleared his throat. Carlos pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  She smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.”

  She backed away and then turned to run up the stairs. She hurried to get dressed, hating that she was at a disadvantage. The idea that she met Fernando in what amounted to her PJs embarrassed her. A lot of people probably didn’t care, but Tia did. After pulling on her jeans, she decided to just keep wearing the shirt. It smelled like Carlos and she liked that.

  After a quick look in the mirror, she started back out of the room as Carlos stepped in.

  “Hey, you don’t have to rush.”

  “I just hate that I met him this way.”

  He chuckled as he moved closer, then slipped his hands around her waist.

  “I have him cooking breakfast. Don’t worry.”

  She nodded and tried to untangle herself from Carlos, but he held on tight.

  “Carlos.”

  “Tia,” he said, humor lacing his voice.

  “We need to get down there.”

  “I agree, but I wanted to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “I was going to ask you to spend the night out here tonight, but with Nando here, I didn’t think you would feel comfortable.”

  “I have a house.”

  “And?”

  She frowned at him. “I think that while we took a step, we have to be careful about where we go from here. Our professional lives are intertwined, so let’s make sure we give each other space.”

  Truth was, she would happily have stayed another night. That scared her more than anything. She was a woman who liked her space and valued her privacy. One night with Carlos and she was ready to throw it all to the side.

  The frown he gave her told Tia that he wasn’t happy with her statement.

  “We’ll talk about it later. If we don’t get down there soon, he’ll eat the food all himself.”

  “And I can make some coffee.”

  “There’s coffee.”

  “Did you make it?”

  He shook his head. “Nando did.”

  “Then I might be able to drink it.”

  He chuckled and led her out of the room, but even humor didn’t quiet her worry. She was desperately afraid she was making a mistake with Carlos. At least with his brother here, she had a buffer. She would have to face the consequences of their relationship and what it meant to both of them later, but right now, she was going to just go with the flow.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Carlos walked her to her truck late that evening. For two people who had spent the previous night having mind-blowing sex, they barely spent any time together today. Both of them had been busy all day with clients, and Carlos had shown his brother around.

  “Mom was trying to convince Nando to come over to their house.”

  “I heard.”

  His mother had arrived, his father in tow, with the makings of a huge dinner. His mother had insisted Tia stay for dinner, and they’d spent most of the time telling stories of Nando. He loved that he could share this night with his family, but he was even more thrilled that Tia had been there with them.

  He carried a bag filled with containers of food for Tia to take home.

  “I was sort of sorry she didn’t drag him out there.”

  Tia shook her head. “Carlos. You should be embarrassed with yourself. Do you want him to be tied to your mother?”

  He shrugged, and used the line they all used with Carlos. “He’s the baby. He’s used to it.”

  “What kind of fun can he have at your mother’s house?”

  “Not like he’s going to have a lot of fun out here. I’m going to bed as soon as the sun sets. For some odd reason, I’m worn out today.”

  He had the pleasure of watching a fine blush spread across her cheeks. Tia Mendoza blushing. Damn. It made her even more attractive. All those contradictions just seemed to pull at him.

  They stopped at her truck. She took the bag and placed it in the floorboard on the passenger side. When she turned back to face him, she smiled at him. It was one of those smiles he had seen her use on people before. She was going to try and placate him.

  “What’s that for?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t give me that look.”

  “What look?”

  He snorted. “I’m not going to just pretend last night was nothing big.”

  Her smile faded. “I would never say that.”

  “I sense a but here.”

  She shook her head and looked over his shoulder. He followed her line of vision and found his mother watching them through the front window. Marcella noticed the attention and disappeared. He might just kill his mother.

  He turned to face Tia again. “So that’s why you gave me the little smile.”

  “What the hell are you babbling on about?”

  “You have this smile. You use it when dealing with difficult people.”

  She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “I do not.”

  He nodded. “Especially when trying to work donors. You give them the “I’m Tia Mendoza, and I don’t have time for this crap” smile.”

  Her eyes widened. “I don’t.”

  “You do,” he said with a laugh.

  “Well, the smile wasn’t for you. It was for your mother, who is back, by the way.”

  He turned around and found his mother looking at them once again. “Good lord. Aunt Joey definitely has rubbed off on her.”

  “Anyway, I have to go.”

  Dammit, it was too soon. “I was thinking.”

  “Always a bad thing.”

  Carlos ignored the barb. “I thought maybe we could share a room this weekend. At the hotel?”

  She sighed. “No.”

  “Why not? It’s not like my brother didn’t just give my mother a play-by-play of what happened this morning.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “God.” She dropped her hands. “I’m not a prude, but I am kind of private about things. This is just...not my kind of thing. I’m not used to all of this.”

  “I’ll tell them to knock it off.”

  It was her turn to snort. “Like that will work.”

  “So, the room...”

  “I need space to get ready. If you’re there, you’ll be in my way.”

  He opened his mouth, but she stopped him by moving closer and brushing her mouth over his. He was so stunned by the action, he stopped talking. It was the first spontaneous kiss from her. He wrapped his arms around her body and deepened the kiss. About the time he was working out a way to convince her to stay, she pulled back.

  “I know I’ll probably end up in your room, but I need to get ready, and I don’t need you hovering.”

  The fact that she knew she would be in his bed that night placated him.

  “Okay.” He gave her one long, lingering kiss, then he forced himself to let go. “Drive safely.”

  “Always do.”

  She climbed into her truck and headed on her way. As he stood there watching, he heard someone walking up behind him. He knew it wasn’t his mother.
The tread was too heavy. When they were younger, his brother had learned to walk around like a damned ninja. It was because he wanted to play pranks on people, and it had worked. Still did. That left his father.

  “Nice girl.”

  “Beautiful woman,” he said.

  His father chuckled. “I have to say your mother raised you right. Just be careful.”

  He glanced at his father. “You already warned me once. No, wait, twice. Are you hoping three times is the charm?”

  His father shrugged. “She reminds me a lot of Elena. Your sister seems tough, and she is. But she’s that way because she wants to protect her soft heart. Just be careful you don’t bruise Tia’s.”

  “Damn, Dad, you know I will. I’m a man. We’re idiots.”

  “As I said, your mother raised you right.”

  Tia parked her truck in front of her house, happy the long day was over. She knew Carlos had wanted her to stay over, but she needed her space. Staying there, being with him, it was a little too much temptation for her right now. Thankfully, she had been able to use Nando’s visit as an excuse to run away.

  As she walked up to her porch with her arms full of leftovers, she admitted that much. The night she spent with Carlos wasn’t what she’d expected. Fun? Check. Hot, blow her mind sex? Check. But all the other stuff…that had scared the crap out of her.

  She wasn’t a woman who liked to back away from a fight, but at the moment, she needed to get her head screwed on straight. She needed to figure out just what the hell was going on with her. There were moments the night before when he had looked at her that she had melted. He didn’t even have to touch her, just give her that soulful look and she was a goner.

  The most amazing thing is he didn’t know it. He had no idea what it did to her. Every time it happened, she wanted to cling. Tia Mendoza was not a woman who clung. To anything. Well, except horses. They had been the constant in her life. Now, the thought of a day without Carlos, of not having that contact…it made her itch. Even when he had been in Hawaii, he had texted several times a day. Sometimes even with photos.

  With a sigh, she unlocked her door and stepped through the doorway. The moment she did, she knew there was something wrong. Nothing looked out of place, and the house had been locked up tight. But…her kitchen light was on. She never left her light on when she was gone. She stepped into the kitchen, placing the containers on the counter. She walked through the area trying to put her finger on what was wrong. What was making her freak out? Maybe she had left the light on. She walked through the kitchen again. Everything seemed to be in place.

  Still...

  She strode to her back door and found it unlocked. She knew she hadn’t left it unlocked. Carefully, she checked the rest of the house. Nothing disturbed, but the light being on...and her back door unlocked made her uneasy. She stepped out on her back porch and looked around. It was still, except for the first stirrings of nocturnal animals. It appeared normal. There wasn’t even a branch out of place or something to alert her that there was an intruder in her space.

  Tia dismissed it, and turned to go back into her kitchen when she saw it. Beneath her window, there were two definite footprints.

  She stepped down off the stoop and walked over. When she stood there, what she saw made her blood run cold. She knew no one had been there except her in days, and she hadn’t stood in this particular spot. That left her with one conclusion.

  Someone had been looking in her kitchen window.

  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 frowne
d. “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.”