One Night With a Santini

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Sure.”

  “Can you go down there and make sure he isn’t messing with anything? Like calling family members?”

  He nodded and got dressed. She rose out of bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  She turned away, but he caught her and pulled her closer. “That’s not the kind of good morning kiss I like to give.”

  She was laughing when he kissed her. He pulled in that joy, the happiness that she always seemed to offer and returned it in that one simple kiss. By the time he was finished, they were both breathing heavily. He rested his forehead on hers and tried to get his body back under control. Just a little kiss had his mind dissolving into a pile of mush. The woman was lethal to his control.

  “I’m starting to hate your brothers.”

  “I have a feeling they feel the same way.”

  He laughed and kissed her nose. “I’ll go try and contain the giant.”

  “Just use the names Marcy and Darcy on him. That will shut him down.”

  He was shaking his head as he went downstairs. He found Declan in the kitchen talking on the phone. “I don’t know. And why didn’t you tell me she had a date last night?”

  Silence.

  “Well, you should have. I had to have some half-dressed soldier answer the door.”

  Declan held the phone away from his ear, and Brando could hear someone yelling on the other side of the conversation.

  He pulled the phone back. “Yes, he was here. Maybe because she’s over thirty and can handle her own life.” Then he laughed. “Yeah, it sounded good though, right? Anyway, she’s a little sick, so I’m going to stick around today.”

  More silence as someone on the other side of the phone—presumably Aeden—talked.

  “You can’t control her, Aeden, and while I might not like meeting her boyfriend when he’s half naked, she did not seem like she was upset. So let it go.”

  More silence.

  “Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at the restaurant. We have a five-thirty game.”

  Declan turned off the phone.

  “I’m a Marine.”

  Declan jumped and looked at him. “Damn, you surely don’t make any sound.”

  “Comes with the training. I take it that was Aeden?”

  Declan nodded.

  “Great. Kaitlin is going to be pissed.”

  “Don’t worry. He’s on today as are Emmet and Connal. Seamus is on a fishing trip. So no one will show up over here. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to have a talk.”

  Brando wanted to tell her brother to go to hell and get out of her house. But the truth was, as an older brother, he understood. Brando wasn’t too sure of what he would have done if he had been the one to find JT with Elena, so he nodded.

  “I need coffee first.”

  * * * *

  When she was finally alone, Kaitlin sat on her bed dazed from the events of that morning. A woman shouldn’t have to deal with this much turmoil without at least a cup of coffee in her.

  In the next instant she was up and out of bed. Panic was filtering through her now and she needed some help. The only person she could trust was Wendy. It was when she was bent over the toilet losing what little she had in her stomach that she realized something was very, very wrong.

  “So, two of your brothers now have met him and not beaten him to a pulp,” Wendy said over the phone. “That’s good.”

  “That is not the problem. Well, those idiots are going to cause me problems, but I have a bigger issue here.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “I’m late.”

  “For what? Why would you want to leave the house with a hunk of man to keep you company?”

  Kaitlin closed her eyes and sank down on her bed. Wendy was a brilliant ER nurse, but when she was tired, her brain shut down. “I’m late, as in might be pregnant late.”

  A beat of silence went by. “Oh. Now that is a big issue.”

  “Really?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Hey, don’t take it out on me. I didn’t get you pregnant. I was back here in Maryland being a good girl.”

  “Yeah, right. Can you buy me a test? With Declan here and Brando, I can’t just run out and get one.”

  “How late are you?”

  She sighed. “Just a day or two. Or a week? Dammit, I’m not sure. With Brando coming here, I completely forgot, and there is always a chance I was just worried about that.”

  Wendy chuckled. “Yeah, people tell themselves that. It’s rarely true.”

  “Gee, thanks. You are the bestest friend I have ever had.”

  Wendy ignored the sarcasm. “Didn’t you use protection?”

  “Of course we did. Every time.”

  A beat of silence. “How many times were there?”

  “None of your business.”

  Wendy tsked. “You’re being awfully rude to a person you called for help.”

  “Okay. Three…yes, three.”

  “Total?”

  “For that night, yeah. Just three or maybe four. Dammit, I can’t remember.”

  “Please tell me he has a single brother.”

  “Three in fact, and one is a fraternal twin who owns a ranch.”

  “Holy moly, a cowboy? Hmm, I like that. I’ll be there in thirty. I was on my way home, so I’ll swing by the drugstore and get one.”

  “Thanks.” Then what Wendy said hit her. “You’re on your way home? Where were you last night?”

  “No comment.”

  “Wendy.”

  “Let’s just say I did something kind of stupid, but I’ll get over it—and I am sure he will too. Oh, there’s the store. Good bye.”

  She clicked the phone off and frowned. Wendy wasn’t a bragger about her sex life, but she had never tried to hide anything from Kaitlin.

  Shaking her head, Kaitlin rose to go downstairs, but her phone rang. When she saw the number, she rolled her eyes. Damn Declan.

  “Hi Mama.”

  * * * *

  They were just finishing up the breakfast of sticky buns and fresh fruit when the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Kaitlin said, practically jumping up out of her chair.

  He heard a woman’s voice before she appeared. She was a little taller than Kaitlin, with long golden brown hair and smiling brown eyes.

  “Well, I think I might want to rethink the sibling thing if I could have a brother bring me goodies in the morning.” Her gaze landed on Brando. “You must be Brando Santini.”

  He stood, waiting for her to make her way to the table. Declan gave him a strange look.

  “Yes. And you must be Wendy.”

  Her smile widened. “That I am. I call dibs on one of those sticky buns, but I need to talk to Kaitlin for a second.”

  He nodded and watched them as they practically ran out of the room.

  “Well, I was pleasant during breakfast, but you and I are going to have a chat, Santini.”

  “Really? You call asking me when I was leaving being pleasant?”

  “I didn’t hit you.”

  That much was true. Brando glanced at the stairs wishing Kaitlin would hurry up. He looked at her brother and sighed. He took his seat again. “Hit me.”

  “Believe me, I would like to hit you. More than once, but my sister would be upset.”

  “Are you going to ask me if my intentions are honorable?”

  Declan studied him for a moment. “No, I don’t think I need to. Just so you know, I get to make the wedding cake.”

  He smiled. “Deal.”

  * * * *

  “Well?” Wendy asked from the other side of the door.

  Shoot, shoot, shoot. She was staring down at the little window and the definitive proof that she was pregnant. Damn. Damn. Damn. Her heart tripped a few beats. She opened her mouth a couple of times, but only a squeak came out.

  She opened the door and Wendy saw her face.
r />   “Oh, boy,” she said.

  Kaitlin walked over to the bed and sank down on it. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Brando knew something was wrong. Throughout Saturday, Kaitlin had been as sweet as usual, but he knew she had worries. It was as if she were going through the motions. He hoped that it had nothing to do with him or with his interaction with Declan.

  Truth was, Declan was on his side. He didn’t know the man too well, but the moment he told him he wanted to marry Kaitlin, Declan had treated him like one of the family.

  His worry now was that Declan had told someone else in the family. If her family was anything like the Santinis, there was probably a lot of gossiping. He would hate it if Kaitlin found out from someone else in her family. He knew there was a chance she was skittish about marriage. With one failed engagement behind her, she might not be that keen on marriage. He was going to do his damnedest to make sure she would reconsider marriage.

  He glanced over at her, studying her face. She was still pale, but she didn’t look quite as sickly as she had the morning before. When he remembered how little she had eaten at breakfast, worry knotted his stomach. She kept telling him she was fine, but he knew something was on her mind.

  “Did you want to go do something today? It seems really nice.”

  She smiled at him. “It is. My brothers have a rugby game today. Well, three of them will be there. I thought we could go watch. It’s up in Baltimore.”

  He nodded. “Did you want to get something to eat?”

  Her smile faded as she swallowed. “No.”

  Worry gnawed at his gut. Was she sicker than she let on? Had she called Wendy to talk about it? Thinking she might be sick bothered him even more than she was hiding something from him. He couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Kaitlin, tell me what’s wrong.”

  She studied him for a long moment. The longer she stared at him, the more his worry increased. Kaitlin had never been a woman who hid her emotions, but he had a feeling she had been doing that since her brother had been there the day before. It was almost as if she were going through the motions. The only time she had been truthful with him had been in bed. There she could not hide her emotions.

  “I have something to tell you, and I’m not sure how you are going to take it.”

  Before he could encourage her to say anything, his cell phone went off. When he saw his Aunt Joey’s number, he wanted to curse. There was no way he could ignore her call.

  “I’m sorry. I have to take this. Give me a second?”

  She nodded.

  He stood and walked into the kitchen. “Hello, Joey.”

  “Hello, Brand. You have been here for almost forty-eight hours, and you have not been down to see me.”

  He rolled his eyes and Kaitlin smiled at him. Just that simple little grin had his heart skipping a beat. Damn, the woman was scary. The fact that his happiness was tied into hers was a little too much to accept—but he was helpless to fight it.

  “Brand?” Joey said.

  “Sorry. I’ve been just a little busy.”

  “I thought you would be here for dinner.”

  “Today? I am kind of tied up today.”

  “Yes, I heard you were busy. You need to bring her over so I can meet her.”

  That sounded like a nightmare. If his mother could be a CIA interrogator, Joey Santini could be the head of the division.

  “Uh, no.”

  “Excuse me?” she asked in a way that made most Santini men run for the hills.

  “Listen, it is a delicate situation.”

  “Are you implying that I can’t help you with that delicate situation?”

  He opened his mouth to argue back, but the phone jostled. There were definitely sounds of a struggle on the other end. He heard Joey in the background.

  “Vicente Santini, you are not too old for me to bend you over my knee.”

  His oldest cousin was laughing when he came on the phone. “Hey, Brand. We’ll try and contain her. Dad said he’d try his best, but you better make your way down here next weekend.”

  “Gotcha. How’s Jules and the baby?”

  “Oh, they’re fine. Both of them are running me ragged.”

  He heard a female voice in the background.

  “It wasn’t mean. It’s the truth.”

  Brando laughed. “Tell Joey I’ll be there for Sunday dinner next week. Tell her to text me the time.”

  “Sounds good. Do you have a place lined up?”

  “I’m staying with a friend.”

  Kaitlin smiled at that.

  “Yeah, I heard.” The tone in Vicente’s voice told him he knew it was a woman, and there was more than just a friendship going on.

  “Damn.”

  “I am pretty sure even the English side of the Santinis knows about it right now. You better decide what you’re doing before they converge on you. That’s never pretty.”

  “Never is. Kiss that pretty wife for me.”

  “Get your own wife.”

  “Working on it, cuz. Working on it.”

  He hung up the phone and found Kaitlin watching him. “That was your aunt and cousin?”

  “Yeah. She wanted me to come over for dinner tonight.”

  “They live close?”

  “Warrenton, Virginia. About an hour or so from here.”

  She nodded.

  “Would you go with me next weekend?”

  “Maybe, but I think we need to talk.”

  Oh, shit. Had Declan told her what he had planned? If he did, there was a good chance he might have to kill her brother. Panic coiled in his gut.

  “Did you talk to Declan?”

  She shook her head.

  He released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. His nerves settled just a little.

  “Oh, okay.”

  She drew in a deep breath and then blurted out. “I’m pregnant.”

  For a second, he didn’t know how to react. He just stared at her. He heard the words, but they weren’t computing in his brain.

  “I promise I didn’t mean for it to happen,” Kaitlin said, panic threading her tone.

  He blinked and felt slightly light-headed. He stumbled and sat down hard on the chair.

  “I have no idea how it happened. We used protection every single time. I mean every single time.” She stepped closer. “Brando?”

  He looked up at her and noticed that she was crying. He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap. “Oh, baby, don’t cry, we’ll work it all out.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. So, that’s why you’ve been sick?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t add it all up until yesterday morning. I’d felt a little off the last few days, but I’ve been busy and worried about you getting here.”

  “So, that’s why Wendy was here yesterday morning.”

  “Yeah. You’re not mad at me?”

  He looked her in the eye. “How could I be mad at you? You’ve given me the most precious gift.”

  He kissed her then. His heart was filled with joy and his mind was still spinning. She was pregnant with his child.

  He slipped her off his lap, then stood.

  “Are we going to talk about it?”

  He nodded. “Later.”

  He took her upstairs, leading the way. Laying her down on the bed, he took his time, teasing her, loving her. With his hands and his mouth, he took her over the edge over and over, before he joined her. As they lay there, the late afternoon sun leaving the room in golden glow, Brando sent a silent prayer up to heaven for giving him the best gift a man could ask for.

  * * * *

  “I think my bones have dissolved. Or at least melted,” Kaitlin said. It was nothing but the truth. He had been amazing. She had never felt so special in all of her life.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” />
  She rolled over and rested her chin on his chest. “You should. I don’t know if I will be able to walk.”

  He smiled as he brushed her hair off her face. “So, when are we going to tell our parents?”

  “I need to go to the doctor first to make sure everything is okay. I don’t want to tell everyone. You never know what is going to happen. Until I get an exam, I want to make sure.”

  “Well, my folks will be thrilled. I mean, Dante’s wife is expecting right now too, so my mother is going to be over the moon that there is another Santini on the way. We’ll have to pick a date really soon. Not sure if Nando or Anthony will be able to make it back though.”

  “Pick a date?” She blinked trying to follow his line of conversation. “Make it back?”

  He smiled at her. “For the wedding. I know you want to have it here, and that makes sense because your family is here. We will have to work in a honeymoon, but with my teaching schedule, we might have to wait until Christmas break.”

  Panic clutched at her heart and had her stomach flip-flopping. She knew it had more to do with the conversation than any kind of morning sickness.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked sitting up. She had to keep moving or she might do something stupid—like completely panic. She slipped out of bed and grabbed her robe.

  “What do you mean? Don’t you want to go on a honeymoon?”

  “When did we decide we’re getting married? I mean, I don’t know you.”

  “Yes you do. We’ve known each other for years.”

  “No. I knew you in college. Now we are both different.”

  He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “I am definitely not the same little woman I was then. And you are different.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What are you saying here, Kaitlin?”

  “I don’t want to get married. Probably ever.”

  He blinked.

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “But you were engaged when I met you.”

  Oh and he just had to bring that up. The biggest mistake of her life and he threw it at her as a weapon.

  “And I never got married, but you never asked why.”

  “Yes, I did. You told me he lied, then he cheated on you. I am not a liar and I am definitely not a cheater.” Anger now simmered just beneath the surface of his words. She didn’t care if he was mad at her. She wasn’t getting married just because she was pregnant.