A Second Past Midnight (The Sentinels) (12 page)

Ever so quietly
, she took in a second draw of air until she felt relief. Suddenly, he stiffened and turned his head in her direction. Then, as if someone had called him, the man quickly exited the room. 

Sana could finally take
in a deep breath as the door clicked shut behind the man. Her pulse slowed back down and she knew this would be her last chance to get out without being noticed.

Scurrying
like a rat through the room, she ran toward a door that she knew to lead her to an exit. She listened for several minutes to make sure that there wasn’t anyone moving about on the other side of the door.

Careful not to make a sound
, Sana slowly opened the door to find the hallway dimly illuminated about twenty feet away. Blackness filled the area directly in front of her. While her gut instincts told her to wait, she didn’t see anything so she started out the door. 

A
s quick as she stepped out of the door, an unknown force shoved her back into the room. The sound of the door shutting behind her echoed in the darkness. Her only conclusion was that the man had sensed her and had waited for her. Next time she would heed her gut. If there was a next time.

Struggling to get free,
Sana’s breath caught in her throat as he slammed her against the wall. His fingers tightened around her throat and his other hand gripped her waist tightly.

“You make a sound and I will
crush your larynx,” he growled. She knew this was the end. She would die and she could do nothing to stop him as he squeezed the life out of her. A mercenary with Tecktar had her and he would be more than thorough with his task. She swallowed hard and then surprisingly his grip around her neck loosened while his hold on her waist remained firm.

With his body pressed firmly against hers
, she could feel every hard line of him even through the body armor that he wore.

A wave of
sizzling energy radiated from her core and throughout her extremities, but it didn’t make sense. He was the enemy. She really did need to get laid if she was feeling this way just because he was intimately pressed against her. She couldn’t even force herself to fight his hold on her.

The
heat of his breath crossed her neck sending a shiver over her. The events had her mind wandering from the current situation as if she were somewhere else until he spoke.

“Damn
, you still smell the same,” he whispered. His raspy voice caught her off guard, but not as much as the words. What the hell was he talking about? She didn’t know who he was much less understand how he would know what she smelled like.

Sana could only deduce that he was mistaken. After all, he was a hired killer and had to be a little off in the head in the first place so he was probably delusional. Without further hesitation, Sana went for his throat.

Using two fingers, she quickly jabbed his windpipe, rendering him breathless. Then, before he could respond, she kneed him in the groin. He dropped to his knees as she darted away.

“Sana.” He called out her name in a muffled tone and just as she reached for the
door knob, she stopped. He knew her name?

Her heart
lurched.

Her mind raced to process everything. It
couldn’t be possible. Her mind must be playing tricks on her because the only person that came to mind was Arrigo and he was dead. With her hand on the knob, she wanted to run, but she couldn’t. If Arrigo was alive, she had to know even if he had turned to
their
side.

Sana released the
doorknob and turned in the darkness toward his voice.

“Who are you and how do you know my name?” She demanded.

“Get out. Just get out while you can.” His garbled voice filled the room.

Sana swore he had said her name
. Now she was determined to find out exactly who he was even in the frightening darkness. She moved her hand along the wall trying to find a light switch. Just as she discovered it, another, much larger hand covered hers.

“D
on’t,” whispered the man. With his body pressed against her back, she felt another surge of energy sear her. But she had to know. With the flick of her wrist, the lights were now on, but she had yet to turn around. Her gut churned with anxiety. Somewhere deep inside she had hoped this moment would come, but never truly expected it because Arrigo had died.

“I have to,” she replied.

Sana slowly turned toward her unknown host and her heart stopped. His brown hair was longer, and he wore a trimmed beard. But the most noticeable change was the gruesome scar running down the right side of his face, nonetheless it was him.

Arrigo.
A hundred questions raced through her mind, but none of them seemed important. The only thing that mattered was that he was indeed alive. It didn’t matter that the last time that she had seen him she had told him that she never wanted to see him again. She hadn’t meant it, but never got a chance to tell him otherwise before he had disappeared only to be reported killed in action.

Sana’s breathing became rapid as she
lifted her hand to his scarred cheek and caressed it.  Staring into his green eyes, she remembered every moment they had shared together. Every time that he had touched her, he made her feel special. How she had missed him.

“What are yo
u doing here?” he growled out. The venom of his tone didn’t match his actions but it snapped her out of her momentary trance.

“I don’t understand,” she said softly. Arrigo closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against her hand.

Arrigo had never expected to see Sana again, but now that he had, he didn’t know if he would be able to let her go. He would have to though, for her safety.

His brain switched back to defense mode. It would only be a matter of minutes before someone would see them on the surveillance cameras.

Without a word, he flipped the light back off.

“What are you doing?” Sana asked.

Arrigo covered her hand with his and while he wanted to hold it there against his cheek, he couldn’t. He had to get her out of the lab before she was spotted. Pulling her hand down, he wrapped the other around her waist.

“I have to get you out of here before someone sees you. The light must stay off and we must remain quiet,” he whispered.

“Arrigo—”

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 t
op 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 i
f 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.