A Second Past Midnight (The Sentinels)

by Melinda Hunter

He cut her off. “Sana stay with me and no matter what happens, don’t look back.”

  Arrigo led her around the perimeter of the lab in the dark and to the back exit that he knew would not be on the surveillance cameras. They passed into the dark hallway and through the stairway exit. He knew they had to be fast because the stairwell would be on the cameras, but he had a plan.

  Pausing at the top of the stairs, Arrigo pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the main security desk. The line rang and the guard answered.

  “This is Kane, Mr. Hess thinks he left a folder in the restroom on the main floor. Can you go check for it and call me back if you find it?”

  The guard agreed and Arrigo shoved the phone into his pocket. “I sent him on a wild goose chase. That will give us just enough time to get down to the garage and to my car.”

  Without any discussion, Sana followed along. He couldn’t help but notice how tight she held his hand and it made his heart beat wildly. He hadn’t touched a woman in two years.

  Arrigo wanted to tell Sana how much he had missed her, but he knew that she didn’t want him. She had made that very clear the last time that he had seen her and so he had left.

  Those memories flooded his mind as they moved down the stairs and within a few short minutes, they were at the basement level for the parking garage. It only took another minute before he had her safe in his SUV and casually leaving the premises.

  Arrigo waited to speed up until he was a few miles away from the labs. He wanted to get Sana as far away from there as possible. She rode silently staring out the window and he could only sense her chaotic emotions.

  One of Arrigo’s skills included his ability to sense another person’s emotions. He knew when someone feared him or was under great duress by their breathing, sweat, how they stood or walked or other body language. That ability alone had helped many times during life even before he had become an agent with The Sentinels, but it didn’t make him psychic.

  What he wouldn’t give right then to know what she thought. He also didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t touching her anymore, but he had no right to think that way. She hated him and he knew it. He would never be able to fix their broken lives.

  The twenty-minute drive to his house finally ended as he pulled into the gated entrance of his property.

  “I’ll get you back home as soon I think you’re in the clear. I just want to make sure they didn’t pick you up on any of the cameras.” Arrigo stepped out of his SUV and quickly darted around to let Sana out, but she had already opened the door and stepped down.

  “Thank you,” she replied. Her voice sounded weary now and Arrigo knew that she must be processing everything. She probably thought of him as a traitor, which would give her yet another reason to hate him. What bothered him most was why she was even there. He knew for a fact that Williams wouldn’t have sent her in there, let alone by herself. Knowing Sana, he wouldn’t get a straight answer from her so he decided not to even ask.

  As Arrigo led her inside, she remained silent. She had never kept her thoughts from him in the past and that disturbed him.

  They walked through the kitchen and into the living room where he dropped his keys and wallet on the end table.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked.

  “Just to get me the hell out of here. They’ll be expecting me back at the office come sun up so if you’ll excuse me I think I’ll be leaving.” Sana started toward the glass doors of the living room.

  Her spite didn’t surprise him, but it still stung.

  “Suit yourself,” he retorted.

  Shaking his head, he walked back into the kitchen. He needed a drink and bad. Opening the cabinet, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. Arrigo knew she would need to stay the night even if she didn’t want to. He poured a glass and as he took a drink, he heard Sana’s footsteps grow louder.

  “Give me that.” Sana walked over, snatched the bottle from the counter, and took a draw from it. The doors were not only locked but also secured with the best security system money could buy so there would be no way that she could leave unless he unarmed the system.

  Arrigo couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t changed a bit. She was still fiery, pissy and always refusing to accept help.

  “I’m going to ignore that smirk.” Sana took one more drink before she sat the bottle down on the counter.

  Arrigo stifled his laugh and straightened his stance. This wouldn’t be easy, but he felt he owed her the truth.

  “Well, I suppose you have some questions?” Taking the final drink in his glass, he waited for Sana to start the interrogation.

  “Nope. I don’t have any questions. It’s pretty obvious what you do now and I’m assuming you faked your death to disappear and work for Tecktar?” If the venom in her voice could have killed he would have been dead a thousand times over, but he deserved it. He had hurt her and knew she would never forgive him.

  “Something like that.” Arrigo hesitated to tell her the truth because he didn’t know if it would matter.

  “Hmph,” she snorted. Sana leaned against the counter yet wouldn’t look directly at Arrigo. He knew this was her way of avoiding the conversation.

  “I’ll show you where you can shower and sleep. I’ll take you home in the morning, I promise,” Arrigo stated solemnly. He didn’t wait for her response this time as he turned and walked toward the doorway at the back corner of the room.

  “You coming?” he added coldly.

  He knew that if she asked why he would help her his stone cold demeanor would crumble. Finally, Sana started toward him and he continued on. If he stopped to watch her, he would only be reminded of how much he loved her and how much she hated him. Arrigo led her up the stairs and to a bedroom.

  The décor of the room surprised her. Unlike the rest of the house, it actually had a completely finished ensemble of furniture. The bedding looked soft and inviting and the draperies accented the room perfectly. A beautiful rug lay in front of a white stone fireplace and Sana had to keep her jaw from dropping.

  She couldn’t believe how gorgeous everything was and then her mind turned against her. She wondered if Arrigo did a lot of entertaining here.

  The idea of him with another woman made her stomach turn, but who was she to say anything. They had been apart two years and she had no right to say anything or think ill of him.

  “The bathroom is through that door and there are some clothes in the top drawer of the dresser that should fit you. I’ll leave you to clean up.”

  Just before he closed the door, he turned back to her.

  “Do you need anything to eat?” Arrigo’s voice echoed through her body and she couldn’t think of food right then. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her and him buried to the hilt inside of her. Swallowing hard, she steadied her voice and spoke.

  “I’ll just go to bed.” Sana didn’t fear anything in life, except Arrigo, so she had to sound stoic.

  Without another word, he closed the door.

  Sana stood there frozen. The truth was that she didn’t really fear him, but feared his rejection. She wanted to run to him and tell him that she still loved him, but she knew that he couldn’t possibly feel the same. Sana had pushed him so far away that he had turned to the enemy for solace. While he worked for Tecktar she didn’t get the feeling that he necessarily believed in what they did and that gave her some hope.

  Tugging off her boots, she then pushed off her pants. The thought of Arrigo alive still had her confused, but her heart muddled her rational thoughts. She pulled off her body armor and shirt until she stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror staring at herself. The only thing left on her body was the chain around her neck that she hadn’t removed in two years. On that chain hung Arrigo’s dog tag. Williams had given it to her when he told her that Arrigo was dead and she hadn’t taken it off since. Grasping it in her hand, she squeezed it. She would always love him. Even in death. But did he still love her? She now doubted it since he h
ad feigned his own death.

  Sana let the hot water of the shower relax her body and she didn’t leave the confines of the stall until the water started to turn cold. As she dried off and went back to the bedroom she remembered that Arrigo had told her there were clothes in the top drawer of the dresser. She hated the idea of wearing another woman’s clothes, especially if that woman had been to bed with Arrigo, but she didn’t want to put her sweaty body armor back on.

  Opening the drawer, her mouth fell open at the sight of what lay before her. The clothes inside were hers. The soft green chenille sweater that she had long ago forgotten about, as well as her jeans, had her heart racing. She rummaged through the drawer and found her hairbrush, a few hair elastics and a bottle of her perfume.

  The past rushed back with a vengeance. These were all things that she had left at their apartment. She had just assumed that he would have thrown them out.

  Maybe he still did have feelings for her. If he had kept everything this long then surely he did. Sana had to know if he wanted her.

  Dressed in her old clothes, but barefoot, she walked down the hall to find Arrigo. The first door she came to was locked so she moved to the next one. She opened it to find a room with a pile of boxes in one corner, a sheet tacked to the wall covering the window and a mattress lying on the floor. An empty whiskey bottle lay next to the mattress and the sheets on it made it clear that Arrigo must have slept there on a regular basis. That discovery made no sense to her. Why would he have a fully furnished master bedroom but not use it?

  Sana backed out of the doorway and quietly pulled it to. Nothing added up. Her clothes, him sleeping alone in another room, his faked death. She didn’t understand. Heading down the stairs, she pondered what had prompted him to buy this house when he obviously lived alone. As she approached the final steps, she heard his voice.

  “Yes, she’s here. I’ll find out what she knows and then I’ll bring her to the office in the morning.” Arrigo sounded casual on the phone, but she didn’t like what she heard. He planned to interrogate her and then take her in to Tecktar in the morning.

  So, he had joined them.

  Her heart sank.

  She thought that maybe he might still be the same Arrigo that she knew years ago, but it didn’t seem that way. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her heart began to pound like the beat of a drum. She blinked away the tears and ignored her disappointment. Her defenses kicked in. Survival was her top priority.

  Looking down she remembered she didn’t have on any shoes. She had made it out of worse situations than this.

  There was only one way out of here now and that meant she might have to kill the man that had once loved her. Sana stopped and took a deep breath. She needed a weapon. She would have to make do with whatever she could find in the kitchen and she would have to be fast. Even at six-foot five, Arrigo could move quickly and of course was strong.

  Sana made her way down the rest of the stairs only to find the kitchen countertops bare. With no knives or other objects of choice there, she would have to find an alternate weapon. Most likely, he had a gun on him and she could take it from him if she moved fast enough.

  With her heart racing, she tiptoed through the doorway and stopped when she saw that he stood in the middle of the living room facing the opposite wall with the phone still to his ear. A quick glance found his gun lying on the small table a few feet away from him. She would have to attack to have any chance at all.

  Sana ran at him as fast as she could, charging him. When her body collided with his she felt as if she had run straight into a brick wall. The impact knocked her back causing her to stumble, but she kept upright. Arrigo had been jarred and stumbled as well, but caught himself on one knee. Quickly, he spun around and while his widened gaze captured her attention for a moment, she focused on her next move.

  It was on.

  Sana didn’t hesitate as she started for him again and took a swing at him landing a punch to his jaw.

  He grabbed Sana but she stomped his foot and twirled into a scissor kick, nailing him right in the gut. Arrigo doubled over in pain. She always did have a nasty kick and even when they were sparring she had laid him out on more than one occasion.

  As he looked up at her, he saw that she had retrieved his gun and aimed it at him.

  “Get away from me! You’re not taking me to Tecktar and let them use me as a guinea pig,” she hissed at him.

  Arrigo had no idea what she was talking about. He didn’t understand why she thought he would harm her. He could never hurt her.

  “What the hell are you talking about? I would never take you there.” Arrigo stood up and faced her.

  “I heard you on the phone you liar! You said you were taking me there in the morning and don’t deny it!” Sana stood a safe distance away from him with the gun still aimed at him.

  She had heard him on the phone with Williams. Arrigo burst into laughter.

  “What the hell is so funny?” Sana asked. But Arrigo couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Damn it Sana! I was talking to Williams.” He stood there holding his gut while she absorbed the information.

  “Williams?” Sana repeated. Her stance relaxed slightly.

  “Yes and if you don’t believe me call him yourself.” Arrigo tossed her his phone.

  Sana swiped the screen and hit the call button to see Williams’ phone number from the previous call. He watched as her fierce glare softened.

  “I don’t understand.” Sana lowered the gun and cocked her head to the side, which only had Arrigo wanting to hold her. While he knew she could kill a man without much effort, he also knew that she had a soft, vulnerable side and he missed seeing the two sides of her personality conflict with each other.

  Arrigo let out a deep sigh. It was time for the truth and he feared it would completely alienate her from him once and for all. Two years without her had been torture, but somewhere deep inside he had hoped that they might one day be reunited.

  “Can I have my gun back first?” Arrigo extended his hand and hoped she would return it before she decided to use it on him. Hesitantly, she handed him the gun.

  “Now, do you mind telling me what is going on?” Sana asked snidely. Crossing her arms, she cocked her stance and waited.

  “I’m undercover Sana. I have been for the better part of two years. You should be the one explaining what the hell you were doing at Tecktar, because I know for a fact that Williams would never have sent you in there.” Arrigo braced himself as he watched the stern expression on Sana’s face transform to that of anger. He’d seen it a hundred times before and knew that her wrath would soon follow. The emotional range that this woman could span never ceased to amaze him.

  “What? What did you say?” She scowled at him.

  Before he could say anything, she did exactly as he had guessed. Sana stormed toward him in a fit of rage and took a swing at him. Luckily, he was prepared for this one and ducked. Grabbing her around the waist, Arrigo spun her so that her arms were pinned against her body.

  “Let go of me!” she screamed. He struggled to hold her, but he managed even with her kicking and writhing in his arms. He had wanted to hold her again but this wasn’t exactly what he had had in mind. Still, his cock hardened and he wanted her more than ever.

  “I left because you told me to go to hell, Sana. I waited it out a few days, then a few weeks passed and I realized that you were never going to speak to me again. So I left.” Arrigo loosened his grip on her so that she wouldn’t hurt herself and she in turn quit fighting.

  Arrigo took a step back and watched pain blanket her face. He’d seen it before, but it tore through him like a knife.

  “I left on what I thought to be a typical surveillance mission only to find myself buried alive in the middle of the desert. It was kind of ironic really. I had spent so much time trying not to die that once it happened—” He stopped mid-sentence because he didn’t want to tell her that it had torn his heart apart to know that he had left her even
though she had instigated it.

  Sana’s eyes widened and he immediately saw them turn glossy. Her gaze dropped and she sank to the floor.

  “This is all my fault,” she sobbed. Sana buried her face in her hands and finally let the tears flow. The only other time she had cried like this was the first time he had talked to her. The realization that he had brought such strong emotions from her made his heart ache.

  Kneeling next to her, Arrigo gently ran his hand over her hair and down her back.

  “Shh. It’s not your fault,” he whispered.

  Sana looked up at him and in one fluid motion she knelt in front of him and threw her arms around his neck. Her sobs echoed through the room and while he wanted to comfort her, he remembered that she had pushed him as far away as possible. She had rejected him, but he couldn’t stop himself as he lifted her into his arms. She clung to his neck and with her face pressed against his chest, he carried her back up the stairs.

  “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about Sana. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Arrigo laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers up over her. “You’re just tired. Everything will be back to normal in the morning.”

  Arrigo hated to see her this way, but right now, he would rather have her crying than apologizing to him. All of the emotions he had buried had resurfaced and he needed time to process them.

  Fortunately, Sana had covered her face in her hands as he stroked her hair. He didn’t know if he could refrain from holding her if she had looked him in the eyes.

  As a few more minutes passed Sana’s crying stopped.

  With her hands still on her face, he wondered if she would lash out at him again, but he watched as her breathing became deeper and more even. She was asleep.

  Arrigo slipped out of the room and down the hall to his own room. A cold shiver ran through him as he stepped inside. In the time that he had spent in this room, he had never felt more alone than he did right then. His heart needed Sana, but she didn’t want him, no matter how much guilt plagued her.

  He plopped down on the mattress and threw his arm over his eyes. His cock ached and he wanted relief. He hadn’t been with another woman since he had left her and he began to think that it was making him crazy. He thought for a moment about taking a shower to relieve the pressure himself, but that wouldn’t really solve the problem.