Page 30 of Undercover Hacker

I opened the door.Was I still dreaming?Antonio was standing in front of me, his forest green eyes seeing straight into my soul. My eyes trailed downward, not being able to help looking over the man who lived only in my fantasies, for the past five years. His black shirt molded against his chest, showing raw masculinity. When my eyes sprung back up and looked at his face, I was still not sure what I was seeing, as his lips turned up into a cocky smile. He knew I was checking him out. I didn’t move a muscle hoping everything would stand still, when movement to the right had me looking to see who was with him.

Sophie -- it might’ve been twenty-five years, but I would recognize my sister anywhere. Her red hair was tied up in a bun. She had slight wrinkles next to her eyes, showing years of stress. Like Antonio, Sophie was dressed in all black. She looked nervous and excited, her hands twitching at her sides wanting to reach out. Not one hundred percent sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, I tightened my grip around the 9mm in my hand.

“Kitty Kat, you need to let us in.”

When Antonio’s deep hypnotic voice registered in my mind, I knew he was real and it was too much to take in. How could this be possible? He was dead. He died in my arms. My brain could not comprehend what was going on. The world went dark, and my body dropped.

13

Sophie

Over the years, I had imagined different scenarios of seeing Kat for the first time. Her passing out and almost hitting her head was not one of them. But, she more than likely never expected to see her dead husband and dead sister again.

Antonio grabbed Kat from Zane’s arms. When Kat hadn’t answered the door immediately, Zane had gone around the house and picked the lock on the back door. He was walking up behind Kat when she collapsed and was able to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Someone grab a cold cloth,” Antonio demanded.

I ran into the kitchen to grab a cloth. There, I came face to face with a three-and-a-half foot mini Antonio. He was the spitting image of his dad.

“You look like my dead aunt. Are you a ghost?”

It took everything in me not to burst out laughing. The little guy was so serious with his question. He continued to look up at me with his crystal blue eyes.

“I’m your aunt, not a ghost. I need your help. Can you find me a rag?”

Little Antonio opened a drawer and handed me a dishcloth. I was still in shock over being an aunt, and seeing him in person was throwing me. After running the ragunder the cold water, I reached down and drew him into my arms.

“Hey, buddy. Let’s head into the living room and check on your mom.”

“Okay.” He grabbed his blankie and walked toward the living room.

Since I was concentrating on getting back to Kat, I didn’t notice that the mini Antonio had stopped dead in front of me. I tripped and flew forward. Like always, my knight in shining armor was there to catch me. Could this man do nothing wrong? He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

When I was finally standing back up, I looked down to see why the little guy had stopped. He was staring at Antonio, and the big brute was staring back. It seemed like the big, bad Antonio’s eyes were glossy. I wouldn’t want to be the one to point out that the big, bad ex-military guy was close to crying.

I was close to crying, myself. It was one of the most beautiful sights—a son and his dad getting to meet each other for the first time. I wish Kat were awake to see this.

“You look like my dad, but Mommy said Daddy died.” His bottom lip was quivering. “What’s wrong with my mommy?”

Antonio squatted down. “I’m your dad. Your mommy was told lies. Why don’t you come he—”

The little guy flew through the living room and jumped into his dad's arms. I couldn’t hold back anymore and tears were running down my face.

When I looked at Antonio, he had tears running down his face too. He didn’t care how it looked. He had finally found his wife and kid. Under the tears, you could see the anguish from missing so many years with his family.

A grumble from the couch had everyone turning their eyes from the scene of a dad and son reunited.

“How…?” Kat choked out. She also had tears running down her cheeks. “You died in my arms.”

With his son in his arms, Antonio rushed over to where his wife was laying. “Hey, Kitty Kat.”

“He said you were dead, and I…” She was crying so hard that she couldn’t get her words out.

The reunion on the couch was intimate. I needed to look away. I felt like I was intruding on their private moment. When Zane wrapped his arms around me, it felt good to have someone there to comfort me. I would hold onto this moment for the rest of my life. Each time he wrapped his arms around me, it made it harder to walk away.

Kat finally calmed down and released her grip on Antonio. When her eyes swung to me, she lost it all over again. I couldn’t take it any longer. I ran over and wrapped my arms around my baby sister.

“Someone tell me what’s going on.”

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