A Second Past Midnight (The Sentinels) (8 page)

“You obviously had something in mind.” Sana rocked her hand back and forth.

“No. Not yet. I thought I had two days to think of something. Did you open it?” Arrigo wanted to know if she even liked it.

Her eyes widened and
she glanced down at the box.

“No,
” Sana whispered. She stared at the box as if she were trying to see through its exterior. The moment gave him enough time to tuck his towel in tight and walk across the room.

Standing inches from her, he cupped her hand in his.

“I love you and don’t want to spend my life without you. I know this has all happened quickly, but I need you.” Arrigo took in another deep breath and waited. He didn’t know what to expect, but he could hope. He hoped that she felt the same way about him and that she would accept.

“Arrigo,” she whispered.
Sana dropped his coat to the ground, keeping the box in her hand and then lifted the other to cup his cheek. He stared down at her to find her brown eyes gloss over.

“I’ll take it back.” Arrigo
couldn’t take it any longer. Her delay in speaking, her impending tears, and her hesitation all told him all he needed to know. He must have had brain damage to have thought that she would want him, especially after only knowing him a month.

Fluidly, he slipped the box from her hand and turned to go back to the bathroom.

“Damn it!” Sana grabbed his hand and tried to pry the box from his grip. “That’s mine and I want it back,” she snapped.

Arrigo turned toward her and instinctively, he jerked his hand back from her.

“You don’t want it and that’s fine. I’ll return it,” Arrigo snapped back.

“I. Want
. It. Back.” Sana hissed through clenched teeth. “I never said I didn’t want it. I merely asked if you were crazy for spending thirty-two thousand dollars on it!”

Arrigo narrowed his gaze at her, grabbed her hand in his
and forced the box into her palm. “You better see if you even like it first.” He barked back at her knowing that he could play her game.

Sana smiled and Arrigo relaxed. She stared at him and he
couldn’t take it any longer.

“You’re killing me Sana. Please just open it.” Arrigo felt his pulse race at the anticipation. He only hoped that she would like it.

“I really don’t care what it looks like. I know I’ll love it.” She threw her arms around his neck and practically choked him.

“Sana,” he growled.

She slid back. “Okay. Gees. Mr. Impatient today aren’t we?” she mumbled. She had no idea how impatient he felt right then. While stating she wanted the ring, he still wasn’t completely convinced that she would say yes.

Sana pulled the box open and while Arrigo waited for her to look up, he got an audible response that he
hadn’t expected.

“Holy shit
!” she exclaimed. Arrigo laughed as she looked up at him with a grin so big that he knew he would remember this moment forever.

“Do you like it?” Arrigo would beg her for an answer if he had to.

“I love it, but damn Arrigo did you have to spend so much? I just don’t know what to say.” Sana tiptoed up and kissed him before he could answer.

“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth.

Arrigo forced her back. “You do?” He almost couldn’t believe that she had said the words.

She rolled her eyes at him and it infuriated him. “Are you going to see if it fits or do I have to do it?” she asked.

Taking the box from her, he pulled the ring out. Sana quickly extended her left hand. With his hand shaking, he focused on steadying it as he slid the ring on her finger. Luckily, it fit perfectly.

Not too bad for a last minute purchase.

“Will you marry me?” Arrigo asked
. Still holding her hand in his, Sana looked down at the two-carat diamond and tilted her hand back and forth.

“Yes.”
She titled her head back up so their eyes met, but that only lasted a moment.

Crushing her lips with his, he
savored her taste. The idea of having this opportunity every day for the rest of his life sank in. He had spent years surrounded by Marines that always had his back, but this was different. Arrigo knew she would be there for him and he would be there for her. He could love her.

Sana let a giggle escape that caught him completely off guard.

“What’s so funny?” Arrigo had no idea what she could be laughing at.

“You’re dripping water on my
feet and it tickles,” Sana giggled again.

“
Oh.” Arrigo cradled her face in his hands and couldn’t fathom how all of this had happened. He only just met Sana and he immediately knew that he wanted her. To be so lucky that she reciprocated the feelings amazed him. Arrigo had never considered himself unlucky, but this, this was lucky.

“I don’t think I’ll be wearing this to work.” Sana glanced up at her hand. Arrigo turned his head slightly toward her hand.

“I didn’t think you would want to. I don’t want them to give you a hard time about it.” Arrigo knew that the ring wouldn’t be worn often, but he didn’t mind. The ring was just a token, her love was all that he needed to know she belonged to him. Sana screwed up her face at him.

“That’s not why I wasn’t going to wear it. It cost thirty-two thousand dollars and I
don’t think that it would be a good idea to wear it in if I’m going to have to fight someone. Although it could make quite the weapon.” Sana smiled up at him.

Arrigo shook his head and smiled at
her sense of humor. He would have thought the same thing if it had been him though. Just as Arrigo was about to kiss her again, his phone rang. Only the Sentinel team had his number.

“Who in the world could that
be.” Arrigo slipped away from Sana and grabbed his phone from the counter.

“Hmm.”
The caller ID showed it was Sinjin.

“Kane,” he answered.

“It’s Sinjin and I need to ask a favor.”

“Okay. Go ahead.” Arrigo
hadn’t had any other conversation with Sinjin besides the confrontation in the gym so he didn’t know why he would ask him for a favor. As he listened to Sinjin explain, he saw Sana go ahead to the bathroom and shut the door.

“My
truck is stalled on Michigan Avenue and I know you’ve got a hitch on your SUV. Could you by chance pick me up and help me get her off the road?”

“Um, okay. Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you when I’m on my way.” Arrigo wondered what
would have possessed Sinjin to call him or if it merely out of logistics.

Arrigo stepped into the bathroom to find Sana in the shower. “Hey, Sinjin called and his
truck has stalled a few blocks away. I’m going to tow his car and give him a ride.”

Sana peeked out from behind the glass door with her hair and face covered in
a shampoo lather. With one eye shut, she squinted with the other.

“Sinjin called
you
?” Even Sana didn’t believe it.

“Go figure. I’ll be right back though.” He shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

“I can go with you if you wait a second,” Sana replied.

“No. Just stay in there and get c
lean. I’ll be back to inspect.” Arrigo chuckled yet already hated that he was leaving, even if it wasn’t for long. He had post-proposal sex to have.

Arrigo left
their apartment in his Range Rover and while he didn’t have it outfitted with armor plating and bulletproof glass, the idea was very tempting. He might need to drive a client around one day.

As he drove to find Sinjin, he grew more and more irritated that he was leaving Sana on their first night in their apartment right after she had agreed to marry him. Arrigo called Sinjin to get his location and when he got there, he found Sinjin leaning against an old beat up pickup. No wonder it had stalled.
However, he was in a legal parking space along the curb.

Pulling ahead of the truck, he parked in front
of it. Sinjin walked up and got in the passenger side of Arrigo’s car.

“Sorry to pull you away from Sana, but we need to talk.” Sinjin stated the fact as if it were public knowledge that Arrigo and Sana were seeing one another.

“Excuse me?” Arrigo sneered. Sinjin turned in the seat toward him.

“Look, I know you’re sleeping with her, but I’m warning you if you hurt her in any way I will personally gut you.” Sinjin
went silent.

Arrigo’s temper flared to the likes of which he had never fathomed. Who was this cocky prick to tell him about Sana? He obviously
didn’t know Arrigo well enough to realize what kind of wrath he was capable of.

“How did you find out?” Arrigo racked his brain trying to figure out when they had slipped up, but nothing came to mind.

“I do the maintenance on the surveillance equipment at HQ and happened to see the two of you going in your room.” Sinjin tried to sound nonchalant, but Arrigo knew better.

“I don’t know what business it is of yours, but I would
never
hurt her.” Arrigo practically spat the words at Sinjin.

“Look, we’ve all had our turn at being partners with her and at some point you’ll cave and raise the white flag. The problem is that you’re screwing her and when you can’t stand working with her or sleeping with her anymore, you are going
to royally fuck with our team.” Sinjin stared Arrigo down.

Arrigo ground his teeth as he decided what to do or say. His gut
wanted him to smash Sinjin’s head into the dashboard, but his mind told him just to lay it out there and maybe, just maybe, Sinjin would be rational. Taking in a deep breath, he squeezed his hands around the steering wheel until his knuckles were ghost white.

“I’m going to give you one chance to listen to me and have a civil conversation about this before I unleash hell on you. And if you
don’t think I’m capable then that will be your mistake.” Arrigo sucked in another breath. “Sana has agreed to become my wife.”

“What the fuck?” Sinjin hissed at him. “You are psychotic,” he added.

“Don’t you ever insinuate that she’s that much trouble again or I’ll rip your throat out.” Arrigo stated solemnly.

A full minute passed in silence. Arrigo knew he had just betrayed the woman he loved, but he knew that he had to get Sinjin off his back.

“She really agreed to it?” Sinjin asked. Arrigo wasn’t sure by Sinjin’s inflection what he meant by the question and it further frustrated him.

Arrigo let out a deep sigh.
“Just about thirty minutes ago.”

He should be with right now and that made his pulse race again. “You can’t tell anyone. She’s worked too hard to get where she’
s at.”

“She’s afraid it will show she’s a w
oman.” Sinjin nodded.

He did understan
d Sana.

“You’ve got it. I know
you’ll do what you want, but for her sake, don’t tell anyone. At least not right now.” Arrigo felt the tenseness between them relax some.

“For Sana, but I swear, if you hurt her—”

“I got it,” Arrigo snapped. Calming himself, he continued. “Now, if that’s all you wanted I need to get back to her. We were trying to celebrate.” Arrigo trailed off, as he didn’t feel like sharing the intimate details of their
celebration
.

“You know what . . . I’ve got something for you to take to her.”
Sinjin’s tone changed unexpectedly and before Arrigo could even question him, Sinjin jumped out of the car. Arrigo watched as Sinjin reached into the passenger side of his truck and retrieve something. When he returned to the Range Rover he handed Arrigo a bottle.

“Here, t
ake this with you and tell her I gave it to you for helping me. She won’t know anything unless you tell her and I will keep my mouth shut. I assume you told her where you were going?”

Arrigo nodded.

“Good man. By the way, when’s the wedding?” Sinjin sounded almost happy now and it alarmed Arrigo.

“We haven’t exactly had a chance to talk about it.” Arrigo looked at Sinjin in disbelief. Did all of this really just happen?

“Oh yeah.” He paused and looked down. “Look, maybe I had you wrong. She deserves to be happy and I hope you can fulfill that so if either of you need anything you let me know.” Sinjin stepped back to shut the door.

“Are you serious?” Arrigo thought for sure he was up to something.

“Yes. Yes, I am. Just don’t fail her. Oh, and that wine was over three hundred dollars, so sip it!” Sinjin slammed the door shut with his last words and walked back to his truck.

Arrigo sat in his car with the bottle of wine in his hand and watched as Sinjin drove away. He even honked at Arrigo as he passed him.

“What the fuck just happened?” Arrigo asked himself aloud.

As he drove back to the apartment
he debated as to whether he would tell Sana the truth about the meeting. It only took him a minute though. He would tell her the truth even if she wanted to kill him over it.