Page 2 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

Relief filled her. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel if any of those conversations had been with Owen. To her, Owen was a stranger with Conner’s face.

“How are you?” Conner asked her with a studious look. “Really?”

Zoe let out a shaky breath. “Most days, it seems like a dream. If it wasn’t for Kyle, I’m pretty sure I could convince myself that I made my whole marriage up. Then there are the dreams and feeling the gun in my hand but not remembering pulling the trigger. Every sound I hear is the hitmen or the police or a rabid bear.” She shrugged self-deprecatingly. “But I’m alive—all thanks to you. I know that I never would have made it out of the courthouse that day if you hadn’t sent Owen to help me. I just…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at her son. “I just don’t know what sort of life this is for Kyle. Right now, it’s fine. He’s too young to know the difference, but there’s going to be a time in the future where I have to consider his wellbeing over my freedom.”

Conner scooted closer to her on the couch. “You will never have to worry about that. I’m getting out soon. I only have another year and then I’m free. Once that happens, I’ll find a place to settle down and I’ll send for you. We’ll raise Kyle together and you’ll be free, Zoe. I promise.”

It sounded too good to be true. A pipe dream. She would never be free of her past so long as Davis’s parents were as powerful as they were greedy.

They talked for a few more hours before Zoe got up to make dinner. Conner offered to help, which she accepted gratefully. Davis had not believed in helping in the kitchen. Conner even offered to feed Kyle so Zoe could eat uninterrupted.

Looking at Conner holding her eighteen-month-old son, she couldn’t help the smile on her face. “You’re going to make a great father someday,” she told him.

He looked up at her and met her smile. “Someday. After I meet the right lady,” he added.

Not for the first time did Zoe try to find a hidden meaning in his words or a concealed look in his eyes. Conner had never said or done anything to make her think that he viewed her as more than a friend.

But what other reason could there be for why he’d done all of this for her if he didn’t have feelings for her?

“She’s out there,” Zoe said softly. “And she’s going to need to be amazing to be worthy of you.”

Because it wasn’t Zoe. She’d loved once and look how that turned out. No, she was done in the love category. She’d checked and destroyed that box off her bucket list. Zoe had her son and she had Conner, platonic though the relationship was. Besides, she was living on the side of a mountain in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. A man would literally have to fall into her lap out here.

Zoe offered him her bed, as the couch was far too small for a man of his size, but Conner wouldn’t hear of it. He bunked on the floor by the front door. As Zoe laid awake, she wondered about the pipe dream Conner had mentioned. It could never be, but still, it was tempting. A fantasy. A father for Kyle and a home where she was safe, loved, and respected.

Sighing in frustration, Zoe rolled over onto her belly. It could never be. Conner was sweet to think it was, but it wasn’t realistic.

Still, she dreamed that perhaps love would find her again…

CHAPTER 1

Sheriff Carlos Santiago immediately had to bite his lips closed when the door in front of him opened. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

“Not a fucking word, asshole,” his older brother warned in a low, menacing voice. The threat, however, was dispelled by the red lipstick, green eyeshadow, pink blush, and multicolored nail polish his six foot-five older brother was wearing.

Even their mother, whom Carlos had brought over to Bulldog’s house, was having trouble keeping a straight face. Though she put a hand to her mouth, a muffled giggle still escaped.

“Daddy!” came shouting from behind Bulldog. He turned to find his six-year-old daughter rushing towards him. Lila was wearing a very odd outfit that somehow fit her personality perfectly. She was dressed in red leggings with a pink tutu and a blue bathing suit top. The devil-horned hairband held up the sparkly princess crown atop her head.

She put her hands on her hips and stared her father down like there wasn’t a three-and-a-half-foot height difference between them. “Your hair’s still not done for my tea party.”

Carlos’s eyes landed on his brother’s bald head.

Bulldog glanced at Carlos and said in a soft, pained voice, “She means the beard.”

The fact that Bulldog was able to translate his daughter’s statement told Carlos this wasn’t the first tea party his brother was attending. Bulldog was then dragged away by his daughter to complete his hairdo.

Chuckling, Louisa stood on her tiptoes and kissed Carlos’s cheek. “Thank you for the ride, mio figlio. Have fun shopping today.”

“I want pictures,” he whispered to his mom as she walked past him.

His mom just winked before closing the door.

Zoe watched from the passenger seat of Carlos’s police cruiser as he walked his mom to his brother’s front door. Her blood was still singing from the passion they’d shared the night before. She’d never in her life felt so cherished…and by essentially a stranger.

Looking back on her life with Davis, she wondered what had ever possessed her to marry him. The love that she thought she’d felt for her husband paled in comparison to the pull towards the man walking back to her now.

She wasn’t in love with the sexy sheriff, but she knew she easily could be. Carlos had shown her more kindness in the little time she’d known him than Davis had in the six-plus years they’d been together, from the time of their first date to the day she killed him.

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