The Santini Collection 1-4 (22 page)

It wasn’t every day he received a real threat. Most people would look at him and turn the other way, especially the ones who knew he was a SEAL.

“
You know what I do for a living?”

McKenna nodded. “Yeah, and before Alana’s father found out, I was running with a really nasty crowd in high school. If he hadn’t found out, I probably would be in prison right now for theft…or worse. I know how to do more things with a knife than you do, SEAL, so just remember that.”

He stared at McKenna. He wanted to tell the bastard to take a fucking jump, but there was love there for Alana. He couldn’t fault the man on that, so Marco nodded.

“
Good. Now I would suggest you don’t tell Alana we had this chat. Last guy I did that with was a real bastard who hasn’t been back on the island since he hurt her. If he does come back…” He shrugged.

“
I’m impressed. I’m not sure anyone has threatened me like that other than my brothers.”

“
Can’t help it. I love the girl like a sister and I can’t have her hurt again.”

“
Again?” Marco asked. The man was talking in riddles and Marco wasn’t in the mood.

“
I think you need to ask her about that.”

He heard the floor creak in the hallway telling him she was on her way in. “Are you through disparaging my character, Colin?”

His facial features softened when he looked at her. “Oh, don’t even get me started on that. I could tell you some stories about this woman. She got me in more trouble than you could dream up.”

“
Oh, please,” she rolled her eyes, and as if she had been doing it for years, pulled her chair next to Marco’s and sat down next to him. “You’re the one who convinced me to drive your Tutu’s car when we were thirteen.”

Marco relaxed, listening to the conversation between McKenna and Alana knowing that at one point, he would have to deal with her need to hide part of her past from him. But now, with the morning sun lighting the kitchen and her laughter filling the room, he did what his mother said was important for every military person. Live in the happy moment and worry about all that stuff tomorrow.

Chapter Nine

A month later Marco was still waiting. It irritated him on some level that Alana would not open up to him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Pushing her might just push her away. He knew what he was about to do was wrong but he couldn’t help it.

McKenna had hinted it was something more than just a regular wreck. He couldn’t ask her friend about that. He would never betray her trust and it was something that Marco admired about the man.

It only took a few clicks on a search engine and he found the first reports of the accident that changed her life.

Local Hero Killed by Drunken Cop.

He read through the article that spoke of the repeated violations of the policeman and how he had blood alcohol over twice the limit. In fact, the bastard had used his authority and threatened a patrolman’s career earlier that night when he’d been stopped.

The uproar that followed filled the paper for weeks. The cop had been white. With Alana’s father being Hawaiian and a decorated Marine, the anger exploded. There were pictures of Alana. Lord, she had been young. Just eighteen. He recognized McKenna and an older woman in the pictures. His chest tightened when he saw the haunted expression on her face.

There were reports of a settlement and the scandal disappeared from the papers. He was about to close out the browser when he saw an engagement announcement for Alana Kailikea and Peter Messinger.

He read through it realizing it had only been months after the settlement had been announced. Then, nothing. There was no mention why they broke it off, why he wasn’t part of her life anymore.

Frustrated, he sat back in his chair and stared at the screen. He was irritated he hadn’t known she’d been engaged, but his mind kept going back to that picture of her in the airport. He pulled it back up again.

His family was a pain. They were Italian so that meant they were loud and meddled in each other’s business a little too much. Still, he couldn’t imagine life without them. He knew that no matter what, he could call on one of them or all of them for support. Alana had no one. No aunts or uncles, no cousins. The only person she had in the world was McKenna and his Tutu. That was until now.

He heard her SUV in the driveway. He glanced out the window and watched her hop down.

How did someone recover from that? From losing almost everyone she cared for, and still be so happy. She smiled as she walked to her front door and he was sure she was humming one of those Hawaiian songs she always seemed to have in her head.

He had loved her before, admired her even, but now…he was stunned.

He walked over to her house trying his best to come up with a way to talk to her about what he had discovered. But when she opened the door his brain went blank. She was wearing a long sundress that hugged her curves. Her feet were bare and her red toenails peeked out from beneath the skirt of her dress.

“
Hey, Marco, I didn’t know you were going to be home.”

“
Took the afternoon off.” He stopped on the top step. “Hey, babe.”

Her smile widened. “Hey, yourself.”

Marco couldn’t say what he wanted. He admired the fact she hadn’t wasted her money. That she had spent the last few years building a charity that helped others to honor her parents. She would be upset if she found out that he had been snooping. So, instead he decided to show her.

He kissed her. Cupping her face, he deepened the kiss. He backed her into the house and closed the door behind him. Then, without breaking the kiss, he picked her up and walked her into her bedroom. He broke the kiss only to set her on the bed.

She leaned back, the smile on her face touching something primitive in him. He thought he knew what it was to love someone. For growing up in a house dominated by men, their mother had made sure they all knew they were loved and emotions were regularly talked about.

Now he found himself speechless. Knowing what she had overcome and just how much more beautiful she was for having survived it humbled him. She had done it with the support of only a few people.

“
Marco?”

He shook his head, but he couldn’t say anything. There was a lump in his throat and his chest was tight. So, instead, he decided to show her. He slipped onto the bed. He slid her dress off her, leaving her completely nude.

“
If I had known you were naked under there, I don’t think I would have made it to your bedroom.”

She chuckled and there was no blushing. He had done his damnedest to get her to leave her inhibitions behind. It hadn’t been that hard.

“
Yeah, well, SEAL, I’m kind of waiting for you to reciprocate there.”

He smiled and took off his clothes. He laid on top of her. Tasting every inch of her. She was a delight of curves that he could explore endlessly. Soon, though it was too much for them. Once he had the condom on, he rolled them over the bed. She gasped as she tried to steady herself, her long, lean legs straddling his hips. His cock twitched, eager to plunder, but in this, he wanted her in control. He wanted her to take what she wanted.

“
Take me in.”

She lifted herself up to her knees, and she slid down his shaft. Damn she was hot, wet and tight. She rode him then, slowly at first, but soon her movements grew more frantic. She had her head thrown back, her long hair tickling his legs and she moaned his name. The sight of her in the throes of her orgasm sent him over the edge. He thrust up into her one more time and followed her.

She collapsed on top of him, hugging her body against him.

“
That was definitely a wonderful homecoming.”

He tried to smile, but since he knew she could see him, he said nothing. Within moments, her breathing was even, telling him she had fallen asleep.

Marco stared at the ceiling wondering just how he was ever going to get her to open up to him.

* * * *

Alana was in her kitchen watching the ocean surf out her window the next morning when the phone rang. It was Colin.

“
This must be a record for you to be up at sunrise on the weekend.”

“
I have bad news.”

She wanted to joke, but there was something in his voice.

“
What is it?”

He sighed. “Pete’s been arrested.”

“
Oh, thank goodness. I thought it was your Tutu.”

“
No, but the word on the street is they found out he’d weaseled himself into some rich woman’s bed.”

“
It is his pattern.”

“
There are going to be questions. There already is, in fact.”

“
About what?”

“
What kind of information did he have for the Kailikea Foundation?”

She set her cup down. “I gave him no access. None. You know that.”

“
I’m sorry, love, but there are going to be questions. Just be ready for them.”

“
Okay.”

“
Feel like spending the day together?”

“
Marco’s off for the day.”

“
Good, at least you won’t be worrying about it, then.”

“
I won’t worry another day about that bastard.”

“
What bastard?”

Marco’s quiet question startled her. Just like always, he had slipped into her house and she hadn’t heard him.

She turned around and looked at him. He was wearing his workout clothes but held no expression on his face.

“
I gotta go, Colin. I’ll talk to you later.”

After hanging up, she said, “No one really. Just a guy I used to know.”

He said something under his breath and turned to walk down the hall to her bedroom.

“
Marco?” she asked. She was getting up to follow him when he came back in with his clothes from the day before.

She looked at the bag then back up to his face. “I thought we were spending the day together.”

“
I don’t know if I can be around you right now.”

“
You’ve heard the news about Pete?”

“
No. Why don’t I know about him? Why have you never told me about him?”

His anger lashed out at her. Alana was used to his cool demeanor. She didn’t know what to say to him when he was like this.

“
Why can’t you open up to me?” he asked, frustration lacing his voice.

“
What do you mean?”

“
You think I don’t know that your family was killed by a drunk driver? A cop with a history of drinking and driving and that you were rewarded money for it?”

She was stunned. “Were you spying on me?”

“
No. Yes. Not really.”

She would have been amused if she wasn’t so pissed. And scared. She was damned scared and she didn’t know why.

“
Which is it?”

“
You said they died, in a wreck. I looked it up. And you didn’t tell me about your fiancé either.”

He spat it out as if accusing her.

Panic twisted her gut. She had learned long ago that men used what they knew about you.

Marco wouldn’t
.

She shook that thought away. She might want that to be true, but the news of Pete’s arrest brought back everything. The lies, the embarrassment.

“
Listen, Marco, if you want to end this, you don’t have to fabricate a fight.”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“
I understood when we got together that it wouldn’t last. You’re going to be gone soon, or some time and you were just passing the time.”