A Second Past Midnight (The Sentinels) (5 page)

As he headed to his room, he encountered Williams, presumably leaving for the day.

“Kane. You survived the first day with Sana I see.” Williams chuckled. But Arrigo didn’t find it funny.

“She’s not that bad. Very productive day though. We are all set for the Takahashi job.” Arrigo tried to sound upbeat but it was hard. His mind wanted to know what had kept Sana from talking to him.

“
I’m in shock. I did tell her to try to avoid picking a fight with you. I swear she does it just to keep me up at night.” Williams sounded exasperated. Suddenly, Arrigo remembered the morning.

“You
actually told her that?” Instantly, Arrigo was pissed. She had been putting up a front all day just to try to keep out of trouble. He hated the idea of her being someone that she wasn’t.

“You don’t know Sana.
She’ll pick a fight with a wall just to prove she can win. Ever since Adam left, she’s been worse too. I know I’m probably disclosing a bit too much here, but as her partner you’ll need to know what you’re up against.” Williams went on to tell Arrigo that Adam St. James had been her only friend and left two years ago. It had crushed her. She looked up to him and he took care of her as if she were his little sister. Williams tried to pair her up with the other guys, but no one could stand to be with her. To sum it up, she was dominating and bitchy.

“Do me a favor. Let her be who she is. I can’t work with her if I don’
t know the real Sana.” Arrigo tried not to sound condescending, but he didn’t like her being abnormal. “I need to know how she thinks and you know personalities are my specialty,” he added.

“I don’t think you know what you’re saying. I have to keep her on a tight leash or she’ll tear you’re head off.” Williams’ brow furrowed and his half smile turned to a frown.
Arrigo clenched his jaw at Williams’ comment. Sana was not an object to be owned or controlled and it made him want her even more. She needed to be loved and cared for, but she also needed to be free to do as she pleased.

“Trust
me, I’ve had years of hand to hand combat experience. I think I can hold my own.” Arrigo smiled at the idea of fighting Sana.

“It’s your head, and you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Williams slapped Arrigo on the arm once and walked away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon if you survive.” Williams called out as he left.

Arrigo understood now. He knew by her file that she was a fighter and that she had some behavioral issues, but in this line of work, he expected nothing less
. Taming her would be a mistake, too. He wanted his hellcat wild.

The revelation left a smile on his face and he wanted to find her, but would that be too desperate? Arrigo went on to his room to change and ponder the situation. Once inside he removed his
coat and gun, hanging them both on the coatrack. It took no more than the few seconds to walk into the tiny kitchenette to decide that he was going to find her.

She deserved to be herself.
             

Still wearing his white long sleeve shirt and jeans, he headed for her room.
No answer. She had said she was going to work out so he went to the gym. There he found her, alone.

His breath caught at the sight of her beating the heavy bag. She wore only a black sports bra and tight black shorts. She
didn’t even have on any shoes. The white cables running from her ears let him know she was listening to music again. He wasn’t going to startle her this time, even though the idea of her throwing him to the ground enthralled him. Maybe he would risk it. Methodically, Arrigo approached her and his need to be inside her made his body hard. Luckily, his shirt was un-tucked so he could hide the evidence of his desire for her.

“What do you want?” Sana snapped as she turned to him unexpectedly.

Arrigo smiled. He had expected this. She couldn’t keep it bottled up for too long.

“I want to talk to you,” Arrigo stated firmly.

“I’m off work and don’t want to talk to anyone.” Sana retorted. She kept punching the bag and he wanted to grab her and stop her to get her attention, but he knew that would just piss her off.

“Fine.
Then I want to fuck you.” Arrigo stood there with his arms crossed waiting for her response. Expecting her to take a swing at him, she actually stopped punching the bag, but just stared at the floor. With her body still facing the bag, she turned her head just enough that he could see her scowl.

“You don’t want me.” Her sullen tone had returned and it made his he
art ache. She had that low of self-esteem that she honestly didn’t think he would want her? She was gorgeous. She was courageous. She was intelligent and she needed loved just like everyone else.

“You really are dense if you think that.” He knew the insult might get her to acknowledge him.

“I am not stupid!” she screamed. Faster than he could dodge, she spun into a kick that nailed him right in the gut. Arrigo doubled over at the pain.

“Fuck,” he groaned.
Looking up as he regained his breath, he saw Sana standing in front of him with a horrified look on her face. He didn’t like that.

“I’m so sorry.” Sana shucked her gloves and ran to his side. The second that she placed her hands on his shoulder and chest, his pain all but dissipated.

“Damn woman, you’re good.” Arrigo stood upright and looked down at her. She still had her hands on him and it was all he could do not to kiss her senseless.

Letting her hands slide away, she took a step back. “Williams was right,” she mumbled.

“Sana, you okay in here?” The voice behind them was unknown to him. Arrigo turned to see Sinjin standing in the doorway. Letting out a growl, he wished that man would go away.

She looked toward Sinjin and then turned and ran to the locker room.

“What the hell is going on?” Sinjin accused as he stormed toward Arrigo. “What did you do to her?”

“I startled her and she kicked me. It’s
really no big deal.” Arrigo played the incident off as not to raise suspicion. He didn’t want Sinjin blowing anything out of proportion and he sure didn’t want Sana embarrassed by their relationship. And that’s when it hit him. He wanted a
relationship
with her. He had barely known her for forty-eight hours and wanted a relationship with her. Shoving those thoughts aside, he looked toward the woman’s locker room and then back at Sinjin.

“You better not do anything to hurt her poster boy.” Sinjin hissed the words at him. Arrigo
didn’t take kindly to Sinjin’s threat and he would never do anything to hurt her.

“Poster boy?”
Arrigo smirked.

“I know your type. You come in here and think
you’re better than everyone else. Well, you’re not and if you think you’re going to dismantle my team in any way you’re mistaken.” Sinjin’s stance told Arrigo that he was marking his territory. Arrigo understood what Sinjin was thinking, but he wasn’t like that. He had no problem keeping to himself if it was for the good of the team.

“I’m not sure where you got that idea, but I’m here to work as part of a team. I have no intentions of dismantling anything.” Arrigo
wasn’t going to discuss it any further and with that, he started for the door.

“Just remember I’m watching you,” Sinjin called after him.

Arrigo didn’t respond even though he wanted to.

Instead, he focused his mind back on Sana. He
didn’t know if she was still in the locker room or in her room. Arrigo thought he would try the locker room first. Walking around to the other locker room entrance and called out for her.

“Sana!”
A few moments passed and no answer so he went inside. It was empty. She must have gone to her room.

Arrigo stood in front of her door and took a deep breath before knocking. Once his hand hit the wood, he knew there was no turning back. He mentally prepared himself for the
wrath she would probably unleash on him.

But
she didn’t open the door.

Much to his frustration, he headed for the parking garage only to find Sana’s car gone.

“Damn it.” Arrigo couldn’t believe she had been so upset to leave. She really was moody, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to get to know her.

If Arrigo had brought his keys from his room, he would have gone for a drive, but instead, he
sulked as he went back to his room.

****

“I don’t know what to do. I feel so— so confused.” Sana hoped that Adam would be able t
o give her some words of wisdom, but first she had to convince Adam to keep this a secret from Berk and that took some doing, but he finally agreed.

She
had never felt this way before about a man. She wanted to be near Arrigo, but at the same time, she was afraid of him. Sana had only given Adam the minimal details needed since she knew that he would go psycho if he knew that they had slept together. For the first time ever, she actually contemplated leaving the Sentinel group. She had fought to prove that she could do the job, but now she wasn’t sure.

“Sana, I can’t tell you what to do, but
it sounds like you need to talk to him before you quit the Sentinels and I want to know if he hurts you in any way. I’ll be on my jet to rip his lungs out and you know Eve will be more than willing to help.” Adam St James had been her boss and mentor for four years before he left to chase after a woman. As a co-founder of the Sentinel group, he had personally hired her and trained her. He was also one of the few people on the planet that could tolerate her and she knew it.

She missed having Adam around even
if it was just so he could tell her what to do.

Feeling overwhelmed, she felt a tear run down her cheek.

“Are you there?” Adam asked.

She sniffed. “Yes.” Sana had tried to keep her voice from cracking, but it
didn’t happen. She knew she was in for it now. She had only cried in front of Adam once and that was when her father was killed.

“Are you
— crying?” Adam asked quietly.

“I’m sorry. I just miss you guys
that’s all.” Sana attempted to feign her source of the emotions, but she knew he would pick up on it.

“Sana
. I think you should talk to Eve. She might be able to help you a little better than I can with this one. Is that okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Sana sniffed back another round of tears.

“She’s right here, but before I go I want you to remember that you have to decide what
you
want.” Adam’s tone had turned back to the stern father-like tone she was accustomed to.

“Alright.
Thanks.” Sana stated solemnly.

Sana could hear Adam talking to Eve in the background. “She’s got it bad.
I’ll take Iolani to the beach while you talk.”

She had what bad?
What the hell did that mean? She could hear Iolani giggle in the background. Eve had given birth to Iolani just before their first anniversary and Sana had gotten to be there the day she was born. She always wondered if she might be a good mother like Eve.

Anxiously, Sana waited for Eve to speak. They had become friends immediately when she had married Adam. Eve was the only female friend that Sana had too.

“Hi sweetie, how are you?” Eve asked. Her soft voice soothed Sana instantly. It had been far too long since she had talked to her.

“I’ve been worse, I’ve been better.” Sana admitted.

“So what’s his name?” Eve asked quizzically.

“Arrigo Kane.”

“Italian?”

“I guess I don’t really know. He doesn’t really look Italian or sound it.” Sana realized then there was so much she wanted to learn about Arrigo.

“Arrigo sounds sexy. What’s the scoop, how long have you known him and what’s he like?” Eve sounded as giddy as a teenager gossiping.

“Oh Eve, I’ve only known him for forty-eight hours and he’s so nice to me. He’s too nice in fact.” Sana recalled the care he had taken to make sure that she enjoyed herself when they had slept together.

“Two days? That’s it? Honey, that’s fast, but it didn’t take me much longer than that to realize I loved Adam. Anyway, tell me how he’s too nice. He isn’t following you around like a puppy is he?”

“No he’s not. In fact, he’s been perfect. Not too clingy, not too distant. You’re right it has only been two days and just because we slept together—” Sana stopped as soon as it slipped out.

“Oh. You’ve slept with him?” Eve said quietly.

“Please don’t tell Adam. He’ll kill him and then me or worse, he’ll have Berk fire us.” Sana pleaded. She hated the thought of Berk finding out and firing both of them. Then she would have to live through the humiliation. She would rather be dead.

“
Sana, you’re an adult, but don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Please continue. You were about to say something else.”

“
I’m just not that experienced with men. You know that. I don’t know what to do or say or how to act.” Sana started to sob.