happening for you!”
His sister went off, delighted that she’d lightened him of all he had on him at the moment. Dante sipped his drink again, catching Ana’s gaze on him before she hurriedly looked at her punch.
Well, it wasn’t the mask, he’d removed that. He hadn’t shaved, but women didn’t usually get real excited over scruffy cheeks, so that probably wasn’t what had her peeking. His hair was far too long—he hadn’t seen a barber in months—and so maybe he did look a bit wild. His nieces and nephews had lavished him with attention, a returning hero in their eyes, so at least he wasn’t completely Grizzly Adams–wild-looking if he didn’t scare small children.
Ana came over and sat next to him, and Dante was so shocked he nearly swallowed the floating olive eyeball in his drink.
“Happy Halloween,” she said, and he felt a tickle of something slide up his spine. Ah, yes, sexual attraction, the bane of his useless designs on Ana.
“Same to you.”
His tongue twisted up like the lemon garnish on her drink.
“Your sister says you’re the resident ghost-story-teller.”
Generous of Ash to throw him an opener for conversation with Ana. “I’m afraid I enjoyed frightening my sister and brothers whether it was Halloween or not.”
She smiled. He was lost in her eyes and that sexy smile. “I love ghost stories.”
He was getting a funny feeling that something was going on here. Ana seemed to be chatting him up—and it could all be just friendly, but then again, maybe—
Nah. She hadn’t spoken to him in anything more than a professional tone for all the months he’d lived at Rancho Diablo. “What’s on your mind, cupcake?”
She looked at him. “Cupcake?”
He had to hide behind alpha-male bravado to save his sanity. His wisdom had been too hard-won over the past several months—and the tearing that Firefreak had given him was a reminder not to make a fool of himself again on useless pining. “I just thought maybe you had something on your mind.”
“I do,” Ana said, and Dante blinked.
“Oh?” If she, too, had a horse charity, his pockets were as empty as old boots.
“I have the evening off,” Ana said, “and I was wondering if you’d like to—”
The doorbell rang, gonging throughout the palatial house. Everyone glanced at Kendall, since it was her family home. “I gave the butler the night off, and he went into town,” Kendall said.
Dante glanced at his sister. Ash’s brows rose. There hadn’t been any trick-or-treaters. No one could get past the gated entrance.
Kendall had a sniper on the roof to keep an eye on Jonas Callahan’s clan, make certain none of the mercenaries got close to any of the children or wives.
The mercs had tried for years to find the Callahan parents, but so far, it was Callahans riding to the buzzer, and the mercenaries—including their black sheep, evil uncle Wolf—unable to get anything going.
Dante got up. “I’ll go to the door.”
Everyone looked at him. Ana got up, too. “I’ll play backup.”
He didn’t need backup from a woman, even if she was a bodyguard with great references from several high-profile clients. His sister was the only woman who’d ever “backed” him up. He glanced at Ashlyn who grinned hugely and had the nerve to wave the stash of loot of which she’d stripped him.
But he couldn’t turn Ana down—it would be rude and decidedly un-Callahan. Dante went off down the long hall to the front door with Ana behind him. When he opened the huge wooden door, he was somehow not at all surprised to find a gun pointed at his face.
“Trick or treat,” the masked cowboy said. “Step outside and close the door.”
Nuts. Dante walked out, prepared to protect Ana at all costs, when she slipped around him and sprayed something in the cowboy’s face. He howled and pawed at his eyes, and Ana took the opportunity to kick his legs out from underneath him and tie his wrists behind his back like a cowgirl tying off a roped calf.
“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.
