Page 7 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

Despite his annoyed and a little embarrassed expression, Zoe’s heart did a little pitter-patter at the sight of him. He was still dressed in his uniform, though she did notice that his gun belt was off. She knew he had two gun safes in the house. She’d put her own handgun inside the one in their bedroom the day before. Technically, it was illegal for her to have the firearm—but what was one more law broken?

Keys pulled out his phone from his front pocket. “I am so texting the guys about the time you stuck your finger up a goat’s ass.”

“Do and I’ll tell them about the non-research related golden showers porn I just caught you watching,” Carlos said with a bit of a growl in his voice.

Keys stopped texting mid-type. “Ew, I don’t watch golden shower porn!”

Carlos raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but who are they going to believe more? After all, it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.” With a grin that resembled that of an evil mastermind, Carlos walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. He leaned down and kissed Zoe. “Missed you,” he murmured against her lips.

“Missed you too,” she admitted. Their relationship was so new that her statement shouldn’t have been true. But it was. They’d spent most of the day before together furniture shopping with Kyle and then had a wonderful time exploring each other’s bodies in the night. This was their first day separated since she’d moved in.

Carlos turned his head, still leaning over Zoe, to look at his mom. “Really? The goat story?”

She smiled adoringly at him. “I thought she should be aware in case you get any future pets.” Louisa’s voice was so innocent that an unexpected laugh escaped Zoe as Carlos bowed his head.

Zoe reached up and pulled Carlos’s head down to her chest, cradling him. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect all future pets,” she told Louisa.

Keys still looked like he was debating on sending that text message, regardless of the backlash on his reputation. As Carlos went to his knees to fully embrace her cuddle, Zoe saw Keys shrug to himself and then continue the text message. When he looked up and saw she was watching him, he just smiled and put a finger to his lips.

“Save me,” Carlos moaned against her, though she was positive he hadn’t seen Keys send the text message.

Zoe brushed her fingers through his hair. “From your mom or the goats?”

Teasing a lover was new to her. The words had come out of her mouth as a reflex to the light mood in the room. Immediately, though, fear started to creep into her mind. Carlos was clearly embarrassed by the story his mom had told her. Though a cute, funny story of a four-year-old boy with a curious mind on a school field trip to a farm, she could understand how a grown man would not want that story told to his new girlfriend—the same girlfriend he’d opened up to and admitted to enjoying anal stimulation during sex.

It was clearly not the same thing. One was the act of a child and the other an adult, but Zoe wondered if Carlos was feeling out of sorts about what they’d shared again the night before. It had been hot and steamy and Zoe desperately wanted to continue, having awoken something sexy and wild inside of herself that she hadn’t even known existed.

Joining in on his mom’s teasing, though… She couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern that Carlos would get angry at her. That he would not appreciate her laughing at him.

The memory of Davis’s first backslap across her face made Zoe stiffen and quake in her seat.

Carlos must have felt her reaction. He sat up quickly, all mirth and embarrassment gone from his expression. When he reached for her face, it was slow. He moved with caution. “What is it, sunshine?”

As his hand touched her cheek, so gentle and comforting, Zoe realized how foolish she’d been. Her reaction had come from experience, yes, but it was not warranted here. Carlos was not Davis. If she thought for a moment that there was an ounce of similarity between the two men, she never would have left the safety of the club’s property. She would never allow Carlos within a mile of her son, let alone move him into his house.

Shame rolled through her. Carlos would never hit her, no matter how angry he got. Which, she realized now, he never had been. He’d played along with his mom’s story in spite of the humiliation it brought him.

Davis would never have laughed at himself. If someone ruined the perfect image he’d constructed of himself, Davis would have destroyed that person. Not in a literal sense, but their reputation, their name, would suddenly be so ruined that no one would ever want to be associated with them again.

Carlos had not scolded his mom. He’d gone to Zoe as if seeking her protection, which was hilarious in and of itself. Zoe was small in comparison to his large build and height.

Carlos didn’t hesitate to show what others would perceive as weakness. Which, in turn, showed his true strength.

Zoe laid her hand over his on her face. She turned her cheek, allowing his hand to cradle her more. “Memories,” she answered him. “But they can’t hurt me now.”

He smiled proudly up at her, still on his knees on the kitchen floor. “I can’t shield you from memories, sunshine, but I can give you new ones so full of happiness that they chase away the bad ones.”

She leaned down and gently pressed her lips to his. “Thank you,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

Zoe had forgotten about their audience until she heard something being placed on the kitchen table. She looked over to see Keys putting a backpack down. He gave her an encouraging smile as he reached for a cookie.

“Mom, do you think you could go sit with Kyle for a little bit?” Carlos hadn’t moved from the floor. He still had a tight hold on Zoe, like he somehow knew she needed his silent strength.

Without argument or fuss, Louisa went out into the living room. Zoe had learned earlier in the day that she was a two-time breast cancer survivor. It was why she wore a scarf on her head. After two rounds of chemotherapy, her hair had not returned healthily or evenly. She continued to shave her head bald and wore wigs or scarves, depending on the occasion.

Keys opened his bag and pulled out a laptop. “You might want to leave the room too, Carlos. We’re not exactly going to be talking about anything legal.”

Carlos pulled out the seat next to Zoe. “I’m staying. I left my badge at the door for a reason. Besides, we need to discuss my visitor this morning.”

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