Page 22 of Carlos
He immediately took her hands. “Me too.”
“My husband’s name was Davis and…three years ago, I murdered him.”
Carlos kept his promise. He sat there and listened. He heard everything, not interrupting or uttering a single sound. All the while, the monster inside raged. At the end of her story, Carlos stood up off of the couch. Without a word to her or anyone else in the house, he walked stiffly to the front door and outside.
The monster seethed.
Clara—fuck, Zoe was the sweetest person he’d ever met. She had an aura of innocence about her that was intoxicating. She’d married a man who had vowed to serve and protect but had ending up harming and squandering her. No wonder she didn’t trust cops.
There were times he hated his gender. Fuck. No man ever had the right to force himself on a woman. No church, ring, or vows gave him that power.
If Zoe hadn’t done it already, Carlos would track her husband down and kill him himself. It was like a wall of glass shattered in his soul. No amount of morals or his love of the badge could contain the monster now.
It wasn’t just her husband who had hurt her. By allowing their friend, son, and grandson to get away with hurting her, they were just as guilty. The only person who had done anything to help her had been practically a stranger.
What if Conner hadn’t stepped in to help her? Zoe would have been killed by a hitman and her son would have been raised by her murderers. And…and she never would have come to Mount Grove. Carlos would have never met her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Carlos didn’t turn at his brother’s voice. “Is this how it felt when you found Abby again? The need to destroy everyone who ever hurt her?” His voice shook with the monster’s rage.
Bulldog didn’t answer for a minute. Finally, he said gruffly, “Yeah.”
“I was wrong to have stopped you. I should have let you burn that place to the ground.”
Again, Bulldog didn’t answer right away. “Why did you stop me? The real answer this time.”
“Because I would have helped you,” Carlos confessed. “I would have been right by your side burning it all down…and I couldn’t do that and put my badge on the next day.”
“So you chose the badge?”
Carlos rounded on his brother. “I chose what I thought I could live with. Connelly’s death had been weighing heavily on me. Then that business with Hannigan and Castillo.” Carlos shook his head. “I didn’t know, though. I didn’t know it felt like this when…”
“When it’s your woman?” Bulldog offered up for him.
Carlos nodded stiffly. “What do I do, fratello?”
“Do you blame her?”
Carlos shook his head. “No. I wish I had been there to protect her or that Conner had done the deed so she didn’t feel guilty.”
“And if he was alive today?”
“He’d be dead by tonight,” Carlos growled.
Bulldog wrapped a large hand around Carlos’s neck, bringing the brothers chest to chest. “Then it’s your job to protect her, fratellino. Every fucking day. You protect her with everything you are and everything you have. Even if it means standing between her and the law that let her down.” Bulldog tapped Carlos on the chest. “Now, go in there and prove to your woman that you’re not out here calling the cavalry.”
“Fuck!” Carlos ran his hand down his face.
Bulldog waited for a moment and then pushed Carlos towards the door. “Go, dumbass. And get your woman.”
Jenna held Zoe as her tears fell uncontrollably. She’d told Carlos everything—and he’d left. He hadn’t even said a word to her. Nothing. He’d just stood up and left.
“If they find Kyle, they’ll take him away too,” she sobbed to Jenna. “You have to keep him safe. You have to!”
Jenna tried to console her by rubbing a hand up and down her back. “Easy, sweetheart. No one’s taking anyone anywhere yet. Give him a moment. I can see him in the driveway talking to Bulldog. I don’t think he’s calling anyone.”
Zoe only half heard her words. What had she been thinking, telling Carlos the truth? How stupid of her? Nothing was worth her life with her son. Not even a sweet small-town sheriff who had caught her eye. Nothing.