“Yeah, yeah, I promise. Did you want to talk to Elena?” JT asked, as he closed his eyes.
Elena slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of his jeans, and he sucked in a breath. Her fingers brushed the tip of his erection. She glanced up and found him glaring at her.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”
He clicked her phone off. The look he gave her told her she was in trouble. Oh, damn. He was so sweet when he was mad like this. And delicious.
She removed her hand from his pants and took a step back from him.
“You are in so much trouble.”
Two seconds ticked by, then she screamed and ran. He caught up to her easily, and they fell on the bed together. Worries about work and family dissolved as they came together…beneath the setting California sun.
* * * *
Marcella stared out the window looking at the desert landscape, trying to come to terms with what she just heard in her daughter’s voice. She blinked back the tears. Her baby girl was in love, and with a man Marcella respected. When she had heard JT, she knew there was more than just going to dinner. The two of them might think they were fooling her, but they weren’t.
There had been a lot of close calls in the last few years, but she had always known Elena was waiting for someone. While her daughter had been content with some of her boyfriends, none of them had ever made Elena sound the way she did just now. There was so much happiness in her voice, Marcella could feel it over the phone.
Memories of the last couple of decades danced through her mind. She had known her daughter had a crush on JT for a long time, but somewhere, the stupid man had finally realized Elena was now a woman. And he was in love. He might not realize it, but Marcella knew that Jethro would never have slept with Elena if he wasn’t in love with her.
Since she hadn’t heard from any of her sons about this, she assumed they didn’t know. Well, except Dante. Twins had a different view of sibling relations. As a mother of two sets, she knew that was true. They shared confidences, even with Dante and Elena being different sexes.
Elena and Jethro. Oh, they were going to be a wonderful couple, if they didn’t screw it up. Of course, Jethro was a man, so there was a good chance he would. She had raised Elena to think for herself, so Marcella was certain that she would make sure JT fixed whatever he messed up.
“Hey,” Tony said as he stepped into her home office.
Her heart did a little dance when she saw him. It had been that way for over thirty-five years, and she knew it would be the same until the day she died. He had a few more lines around his eyes, and his hair was half gray, but he was still the sweet man who had made her believe in love again.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I think we need to make a trip soon. Check up on Dante and Elena.”
“We were just up there.”
“I know, but I think it’s important to pop up there. Truthfully, we both know we’re lucky to have both of them so close at the same time.
He cocked his head to the side. “Something you want to tell me about?”
“No.”
He smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I do have my ways of finding out what you’ve got going on up in that head of yours.”
She shook her head. “I think you are too sure of yourself.”
“Is that a fact?” he asked wiggling his eyebrows. With ease, he bent down and picked her up into his arms.
She laughed. “Put me down.”
“I will when I find a flat surface.”
She laughed as he carried her out of the room. The worries about her daughter could wait for now.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Elena poured the water for the coffee into her coffee maker when a knock sounded at the door. She frowned. It was more than a little odd that someone would come this early on a Saturday. Most of her friends were single and slept in on Saturdays. They also knew not to show up unannounced. Her first instinct was to ignore it. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone other than JT today. But the knocking was persistent.
With a sigh, she walked to the door and looked through the peephole. Her brother Anthony was standing there. Damn, she should have gone with her first instinct.
“Hurry up, Elena, I am tired as hell,” Anthony said through the door.
“Anthony, what are you doing here?”
“I’ll tell you when you finally open the damned door.”
She opened the door. Her brother smiled. “You make a guy think his sister doesn’t want to see him.”
Before she could react, he stepped over the threshold and dumped a duffle on the floor beside the door, stepped in and gave her a big hug, lifting her up off her feet like he’d done for as long as she could remember.
He set her back down and shut the door.
“Why didn’t you call?” she asked, glancing to make sure that JT hadn’t come out.
He shrugged in that annoying way he had. Anthony worked on his own schedule and expected everyone to fall into line. Her mother said it had to do with him being the first of six siblings. Elena thought it was because he was stubborn as a mule. A mule with horrible, horrible timing.
“I was planning on bunking at JT’s, but he isn’t answering his phone. I went by his place this morning, and he wasn’t there.”
Something behind her caught his attention, and his smile faded, and she didn’t need to turn around to know that JT had just walked out of her bedroom.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Anthony said, his voice shimmering with confusion and anger.
“None of your damned business,” she said.
He hadn’t taken his gaze away from JT. She glanced behind her and inwardly winced. JT was wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else.
“I wasn’t asking you.” Every word was said from behind clenched teeth.
“I can explain,” JT said.
Anthony didn’t give him a chance.
“You bastard,” Anthony roared as he charged past Elena to tackle JT. He ignored her attempt to stop him as he flew past her. Both he and JT went crashing to the floor. As they rolled around on the carpet, they traded punches. The sickening sound of knuckles against flesh filled the apartment. Anthony continued to call his best friend the worst of names.
“Both of you stop it!”
They ignored her and rolled over and bumped her coffee table. A glass of water went flying onto the floor. Thankfully, it didn’t break. They paid no attention whatsoever. Growing up in a boy-filled household told her just what she needed to do. She’d had enough of their crap, and this was going to stop now. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the spray bottle she used to water her plants. She hurried back and started to spray the idiots with water.
JT had pinned Anthony to the floor, but it only took a little water for him to stop fighting. Anthony, never one to miss a chance to win, took the opening and gave JT a good, hard right hook.
“Anthony, stop it.” He was still ignoring her, so she used the only thing she had in her arsenal that would scare him. “I’ll call Mama.”
That had him pausing. His nose was bleeding and more than likely broken, but it was hard to tell. Anthony had broken his nose twice before—that she knew of.
She turned to look at JT. His lip was bleeding, and she was pretty sure he would end up with some bruises on his ribs.
She motioned with her head. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
“Hey,” Anthony said. It sounded nasally. Yep, a broken nose. Served the big idiot right.
She looked him. “You started it. Go over to the sink to clean up, and don’t bleed on my carpet.”
She led JT back to her bathroom. “I’m sorry.”
“I knew it would happen,” he said, weariness in his voice. She didn’t like the way that sounded one bit.
She shook her head and turned on the water before grabbing a washcloth. She wet it and dabbed at his lip. He winced.
“Sorry about that
too. And it’s stupid.”
He studied her for a long moment as she continued to clean his lip. When she turned to rinse off the washcloth, he said, “You don’t understand much about older brothers.”
“I don’t. They all have their own rules and regs for themselves, and a separate set for me. Even Nando gets their rules and he’s a baby.”
He sighed. “I want to stay, but I think your brother and you need to talk.”
“I think you’re right.”
He kissed her nose then winced again.
“I need to go back to my apartment anyway, check my mail.”
She nodded, but she didn’t like it. For some reason, she felt abandoned. No, that wasn’t it. She didn’t want to be separated from him. It wasn’t like her at all. She had never been the clingy type. And she knew he was right. She did need to talk to Anthony. For his part, Anthony needed to be hit upside the head a few times.
“Hey,” JT said grabbing her chin. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
She nodded again and watched as he grabbed a pair of jeans and stepped into them. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head.
“I was thinking about grabbing some more clothes and bringing them over.”
He said nothing else and seemed to be holding his breath. She knew he was asking permission. And usually she would panic right about now. Guys who wanted to spend more time with her made her uncomfortable. One date had tried to make brunch plans a week out, and she had freaked out. But, something about this just felt right.
She smiled. “Sure. Give me a couple of hours to calm the idiot down.”
JT sighed and she heard it then. Pain filled the simple sound. For JT, he would rather die than hurt Anthony.
“Hey, he’ll get over it. You know Anthony has a horrible temper.”
He shook his head. “This was over the line. I knew…”
“What?”
“For the last few years it has been hard to ignore you.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
He rolled his eyes. “Elena, you do know you’re damned beautiful. And it was hard to ignore you.”
Elena blinked. “Are you telling me you’ve been attracted to me for two years and didn’t ask me out?”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s against the code.”
“What code?”
“I know you aren’t stupid and you aren’t deaf. I told you. Guys don’t date their best friend’s little sisters. It’s not acceptable.”
“But you are. Well, you’re at least sleeping with me.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you regret it?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“Not a chance,” he said smiling. “I just think I lost Anthony as a friend.”
“You haven’t. Let me talk to him. And besides, you have me,” she said taking his hand and pulling him closer. She kissed him gently, mindful of his split lip. “And that’s more important than that idiot out there.”
He shook his head. “I lost his trust.”
“Don’t worry about that. He’ll get over it.”
“What’s taking so long?” Anthony practically bellowed from the living room.
“I’m going to kill him,” she growled.
She led JT back out. Anthony was standing right on the edge of the kitchen, holding a towel to his nose. His shirt was splattered with blood, and he still looked like he wanted to start another fight with JT.
“I’ll call,” JT said.
“Okay.”
He gave her a simple kiss, nodded toward Anthony and left.
The door clicked shut and silence filled the apartment. Then, Anthony exploded.
“What the hell, Elena?”
“What?”
She said as she walked back to her bedroom. She knew her idiot brother would follow her. It was the only way she could get him into the bathroom for her to clean him up. It only took a second before she heard his heavy footsteps behind her.
“You’re sleeping with him? Or was it a one night stand?”
“Let me look at your nose. You didn’t clean it right.”
He followed her into the bathroom.
“So, you slept with him?”
“I am not discussing my sex life with you. And you need to give JT a break.”
“Why should I do that? Ow, dammit,” he said when she started to clean out his nose.
“Stop cussing at me. Your language is atrocious. And quit being a whiner.”
That shut him up. No Santini liked to be called a whiner. “Tell me why I should give him a break.”
She shrugged. “I made the first move.”
“Jesus, Elena.” Disgust filled his voice.
“What?”
“I thought Mom raised you better than that.”
“Oh, how very nineteenth century of you.”
“You went after him? Like you attacked him? Mom would not approve.”
She snorted. “Maybe you should have Mom tell you the real story on how she and Dad got together.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She shook her head. “Ask Mom. She raised me to be like her. I went after what I wanted. What I have always wanted.”
He said nothing as she finished cleaning his nose.
“So, this was last night?”
She shook her head. “No. We ended up together the weekend before he went UA.”
He studied her for a second. Then understanding lit his eyes.
“That’s why Mom was worried about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s been fretting the last few weeks…since the wedding. She said you lost weight, that you’d been depressed.”
“That’s part of it. I also got a new commander.”
“Who?”
“Dennis Vent.”
Anthony made a face.
“Exactly. He hates having women in his squadron.”
He frowned. “He’s not giving you any problems, is he?”
“No, but if he was, I would take care of it myself, or go up through the command. I do not want you butting in. Either way, working for him is not fun. He doesn’t do anything that would be considered bad, but you know what its like when your commander doesn’t like you.”
He blinked. “No. I don’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. You are the legendary Anthony Santini. Everyone loves you—except your sister at the moment.”
“Why did you have to mess around with JT?”
“I love him, Anthony.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You have a crush. It’ll pass.”
“I love him. Sure it was a crush, but it’s more now.”
He sighed. “Dammit. Now I do have to kick his ass again.”
“First of all, he kicked yours.”
He made a rude sound. “It was a draw.”
“You have a broken nose.”
“He has a split lip.”
“Either way, you will not go fight him. If you do, I will call Mom.”
“And what, tell her I beat up the man who deflowered you?”
“Oh. My. God. JT did not deflower me. Have you been reading outdated romance novels? Good lord. You really do live in the nineteenth century.”
“So you weren’t a virgin. He still took advantage.”
“I worked it so he would have to drive me home, then I had my hands all over him. He tried to leave me, but I jumped his bones.”
He closed his eyes. “I did not hear that. I don’t want to know that.”
He opened his eyes.
“But it’s okay for one of your brothers to have sex? Me, I’m different?”
“Of course you are.”
“Why?”
“You’re my baby sister.”
“You are horrible.”
He shrugged. “Sorry, but I can’t help it.”
“Yes, you can. Grow up.”
“Don’t want to.”
“I can’t wait until some woman works you over.
I will gladly give her insider information, because it is going to be so much fun to watch.”
He followed her out of the bathroom. “What do you mean by that?”
“I have a feeling the woman who gets stuck with you is going to get you all wrapped around her finger. It is going to be enjoyable to watch.”
He stopped her. “Hey, really. Are you okay with this?”
She looked at him and all of a sudden, he was the way she saw him when she was just a little girl. He was Anthony Santini, slayer of imaginary boogie men and the one person she could always count on. She blinked and realized she was getting misty-eyed.
“Are you crying?”
A thread of panic entered his voice. She always forgot that Anthony couldn’t handle tears from anyone, especially her. She hoped he had a ton of little girls one day. It would be the perfect payback for using the term deflower.
“No. Just thinking about how you used to take care of me when I was little.”
He shifted his weight from foot to foot and his face flushed.
“Oh, Anthony, I do love you.”
She gave him a big hug, but whispered in his ear. “You mess with JT again, I will kick your ass.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rage still poured through Anthony over an hour later. He couldn’t believe that his best friend had slept with his baby sister. Never in his life had he been more surprised by a person. Of course, it didn’t get past him that he was a trained investigator. Apparently he wasn’t that good of an investigator if he had no idea that his best friend and little sister were involved. Anthony didn’t care that he lived thousands of miles across the ocean. He should have picked up on it. Hell, he’d talked to both of them separately since JT had gotten back.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Damn, he was tired. The flight he took had left late in the evening and landed in LA early that morning. He knew he had to talk to JT, but he thought it best not to go right now. First, he had to talk to Dante and figure out just what the hell he had been doing. Didn’t he even know what his twin had been up to? Secondly, he was too exhausted to think clearly. He needed a shower and a meal. And some freaking sleep. He was too old for this shit.
He pulled up to the house Dante was renting with Madison. She had been living in it first and with her history of PTSD, it was best to keep put. It also helped that a Johnson lived next door. While not a Santini, they were the next best things, according to his Aunt Joey. He made his way to the door and knocked. It took a little longer than he expected for someone to answer it. He knocked again.
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