Page 24 of Carlos

Zoe didn’t have that much to pack. If Mrs. Santiago was surprised by the fact that Carlos was bringing home a strange woman and boy, she didn’t act like it. In fact, she seemed to be thrilled by the idea. Zoe didn’t know what Carlos had told his mom about her. She and Jenna had gone to the trailer to pack up her meager possessions.

Jenna had been sweet enough to verify that this was what Zoe wanted once away from the men, especially Carlos.

Zoe had assured her that it was.

Carlos’s house was a single-story with a small porch in the front. He lived in a neighborhood with kids playing on their lawns, dogs barking, and people who waved as they passed. Zoe was sitting in the front of his cruiser. They had borrowed a car seat from the club to get Kyle in the car. Mrs. Santiago was sitting in the back, listening to Kyle chat away about dinosaurs.

Kyle’s eyes widened when they backed into the driveway. “Whose house is this?”

“Mine.” Carlos put the cruiser into park and then turned in his seat. “You and your mom are going to come and live with us. Is that okay with you?”

Kyle crunched up his face for a moment before asking, “Do you have cookies?”

The adults all laughed. It was Mrs. Santiago who answered. “I make the best peanut butter double chocolate cookies,” she told Kyle. Giving Zoe and Carlos a knowing looking, she then added, “How about you and I go make some?”

“Yes!” Kyle bounced up and down in his harness.

Mrs. Santiago got out and then walked around to unbuckle Kyle. “Take your time,” she told them before she followed a running Kyle into the house. The sun was starting to set and the porch light turned on.

Once she saw her son was safely inside, Zoe took a moment to inspect the neighborhood.

Carlos reached over to take her hand, drawing her attention back to him. “He’ll have plenty of kids to play with. This will be good for him.” He brought her hand up to his mouth. “But especially for you.”

“This is a big step,” Zoe said carefully. “Two days ago, I was terrified of you. Now I’m moving into your house.”

Carlos studied her for a moment. “Terrified of me or my badge?”

“Your badge,” Zoe amended.

“My badge is now your shield, Zoe,” he vowed.

A tear escaped her eye. She quickly wiped it away before he could. “I want to make this work,” she told him. “I want Kyle to grow up normally. I don’t want to teach him how to hide or to be afraid of a knock on the door. I want him to go to school and have friends and bake cookies and be a kid. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him.”

“Trust me, sunshine,” he squeezed her hand, “this will work. I can feel it.”

“Why do you keep calling me ‘sunshine’?” she asked him.

He smiled widely. “Because you reminded me of the sun when you came into the diner yesterday.”

“Probably a good thing I didn’t come in wearing a brown dress then,” she deadpanned.

Carlos burst out laughing. He reached for her and drew her close over the center console. “You’re moving into my bedroom and we haven’t even had a proper kiss yet.”

Her heart start beating wildly in her chest. “Probably something we should amend.”

“Definitely,” he agreed, leaning in closer. “And frequently.”

Zoe learned quickly the one downside to moving in with Carlos and his mom. There were now three adults and a toddler in the house and only one bathroom.

“I sent Cage a message,” Carlos told her later on as they got ready for their first night together. Kyle, full of cookies and exhausted from exploring in his new bedroom, was passed out on Bulldog’s old king-sized bed. They would need to go shopping for a more kid-appropriate bed. Carlos had also promised Kyle that he could pick out the color of his bedroom.

“Cage?” Zoe questioned. She was wearing a long nightgown…and nothing else. While she wasn’t sure she was ready to go through another pregnancy, she was sure she was ready have sex again. She wouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement if she wasn’t.

“The club owns a construction company. Cage is one of their patched members who runs it for them. I’m going to have him stop by tomorrow to see if there’s a way of adding a second bathroom to the house.”

Zoe pulled down the covers. “Sounds expensive. I need to look into getting a job.”

“How secure is your identity?” he asked her carefully.