Tina Leonard - Branded by a Callahan

“There,” Ana said, standing up, “he’s all yours.”

The man on the ground cursed, swearing about the burning in his eyes and how much he hated the Callahans in general. Dante grinned at his beautiful “backup” wearing purple scrubs and a sexy smile, his heart thundering like the mystical Diablo mustangs in the Rancho Diablo canyons, and thought, You’re all mine, gorgeous.

You just don’t know it yet.

Chapter Two

Two hours later, the intruder had been trundled off by the local sheriff, and the sniper who’d been on duty was located—shot with a tranquilizer dart.

All the Callahans were grouped into the big white formal room that Kendall had always claimed she hated until the Callahans had taken over her compound. Now toy trucks and baby dolls lay in neat baskets lining a wall, and another basket of crayons and coloring books lay stacked near the ebony grand piano. An overly industrious child—he thought it might have been one of Pete’s triplets—had done a little Picasso-style artwork on the wall near the floorboard, in what looked very much like sky-blue and magenta, two colors he remembered well from his own days of coloring.

“This is bad,” Dante told his cousins, brothers and sister. Jonas nodded, as did the others. No one had told Aunt Fiona or Uncle Burke—yet. They’d have to be informed of this new development. They’d gone to bed after the Halloween festivities, and Dante saw no reason to rouse them when there was nothing they could do now. “What if Aunt Fiona had opened the door?”

Ana met his gaze. He thought he could sense her concern, which matched his.

“Fiona would have opened the door, if she’d been in the family room or kitchen,” Sloan said. “But someone meant business if they took out the sniper and then presented themselves on the front porch as a trick-or-treater.”

Ash shivered. “Lucky for you Ana went to the door with you, Dante.”

Dante frowned. “I can take care of myself, thanks.”

He was a highly trained SEAL. He didn’t need Ana—or anyone else—to take care of him.

Though it had been rather glorious to watch those curves in motion as she’d taken down the thug. Just remembering it brought a smile to his face.

“What’s so funny?” Ash demanded, staring at him. “You could have been killed.”

Dante shook his head. “I’m like a cat, and I’ve only used up about seven of my nine lives. No one’s gonna take me out.”

Ana’s eyes were huge. Okay, so maybe things could have gotten a little dicey if she hadn’t put her training and quick wits to use. “Let’s just focus on the plan going forward. The first thing we need to discuss is security. Obviously, the Phillips’ compound has been breached. We’ve inadvertently brought the fight here.”

They all considered that. “I think it’s pretty safe,” Ash said. “It’s taken them a long time to try an attack here.”

“They’re watching the ranch,” Ana said suddenly. “They knew half of us would be here in Hell’s Colony. Has anybody checked on the guys back at Rancho Diablo?”

Dante looked at Ana, considered her words, felt himself falling just a little bit more for a woman whose mind worked so quickly and looked so stunning doing it. It was as if a Greek warrior goddess had come to life, tempting him to kiss her.

He was going to have to do that real soon. “Ash, send a text to Galen, Falcon and Jace. See if you get a response.”

“On it,” she said, grabbing her phone.

“The sheriff didn’t have any idea who he was,” Ana said, “which means he’s from outside Hell’s Colony. He had no ID on him. That’s deliberate.”

“Yeah,” Dante agreed. “A Halloween ambush. It’s just all too convenient.”

“I think so, too,” Ana said. “There’s no way the man on the porch is the one who shot the sniper with the tranquilizer.”

Dante looked at her. “Why not? I took out plenty of armed—”

Ash cleared her throat. “Oh,” Dante said, “right.” It was a Halloween party, after all, no need to bring up past assignments, especially since the darling nanny bodyguard had defended him. He’d feel deflated about that except Ana was just so darn hot. Maybe he was weird or what his brothers would call judiciously individual, but Ana defending him gave him a superbad case of heat he didn’t think he was going to recover from anytime soon. “Okay, Ana, are you working on a theory?”

She nodded. “I think our Halloween visitor has a companion out there.”

Ash sat up. “Waiting.”

“That’s right.” Ana nodded, and Dante watched her, considering her suddenly very plausible idea. “The guy on the porch was just the sideshow. The distraction.”

Dante’s blood went cold. “Has anybody checked on Fiona and Burke?”

Ash’s eyes went huge, and then she tore up the stairs. Dante could feel his heart beating hard in his chest until his sister returned.

“Out like lights,” Ash reported. “And I don’t think Fiona holds herself and Burke to the one-martini rule.” She sniffed. “There’s a crystal pitcher of bloody rum punch by their bed. And a plate of her delicious gingerbread ghosts, but we won’t hold that against her.”

Ana sat thinking quietly. “What?” Dante demanded. “I can tell you’re working on something.”

“It just doesn’t add up. He barely put up a fight.”

“He didn’t have a chance,” Dante told her. “You were on him too quickly. He didn’t know what hit him.”

“No.” She shook her head. “He didn’t put up much resistance at all.”

“You gave him a faceful of pepper spray,” Ash pointed out. “That might wear down my resistance a bit.”

Ana got up, pacing a bit, which Dante appreciated because he loved watching her move. It was a ballet on cork sandals, body parts moving sexily, gracefully.

“Someone was with him. Someone took out the sniper, then played lookout. We called the sheriff, and two hours later he’s in a cell.” Ana shook her head. “Have you heard back from Rancho Diablo?” she asked Ashlyn.

“All present and accounted for,” Ash said.

“This is all so suspicious,” Ana said, sitting down next to Dante. His blood pressure went to the roof of his skull, drumming loudly. He smelled sweet perfume and warm woman, and it was everything he could do not to reach out and take her hand in his.

She’d be so shocked if he did.

“If we don’t think anyone could have breached the house, then it’s something else,” Ana said.

It suddenly hit Dante that Ana was working from a hunch. As a guy who’d relied upon his hunches at times to stay alive, Dante found himself paying close attention to what Ana was trying to tease through.“What else is likely?” he asked.

She finally glanced at him. “I don’t know.”

He nodded. “We’ll know soon enough.”

“The thing is,” Ana said, staring earnestly into his eyes, “it feels too coincidental. It feels too easy. Career mercenaries don’t make mistakes. That’s why I think it was a cover for something else.”

“Maybe just to keep us on edge?” Ash asked.

“I don’t think so.” Ana shook her head. “I’ll go to bed and think about it. Maybe it will come to me in the night.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Dante stood, began stacking the glasses on a tray. Halloween had come and gone for another year. Thanksgiving would arrive next, always a family gathering of great camaraderie and joy—and then Christmas. But the costumes and carved pumpkins would disappear for another year, which made him a bit nostalgic.

Why pick Halloween for an ambush?

He and Ana carried the small dishes and glasses to the kitchen. “Have you talked to Tighe today?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about his loony brother at this moment. “I haven’t heard much from him. He’s been busy getting brained by bulls.”