Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

I push aside the thoughts and focus all my attention on Marko. He distracts me with his babbling about all the fun stuff he did with his uncle today before I showed up.

“What are you doing next, Marko?” I look over at him.

“Mommy and Daddy take me racing.” He makes a zooming noise resembling a car as he flies an empanada into his mouth.

“Racing? Wow!” I laugh at the sight of him. The kid is so stinkin’ cute, I want him to stay for another week.

“They’re off to the next Prix once Maya picks him up tomorrow and joins Noah. They’ll spend the summer traveling around with the team before Marko starts school again.”

“That’s fun! Where are they going next?”

“Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.” He speaks low.

Marko claps his hands. “Yes! Italy! Daddy wins!”

I smile. “How do you know?”

“He’s the bestest.”

Santiago’s smile drops. The change is dark and unmistakable. Memories have a way of torturing us all, no matter

the time or place.

I hate the look that crosses his face. Thinking with my heart rather than my brain, I blurt out something crazy because I want his sadness to disappear. “So, Santiago, what are your plans next week once Marko leaves?”

A couple of wrinkles mar his forehead as his eyebrows pull together. “Nothing much besides our dinner on Tuesday. Someone is delivering a new car for me to restore, so I guess I’ll work on that over the next few weeks.”

“Oh really? Do you remember that I love fixing cars? It’s a new passion of mine.”

His frown disappears as he cracks a smile. “Yes. I remember that fact about you. Vintage cars, right?”

“Oh, yes. The older the better.” That sounded like the right thing to say.

His smile turns into something downright devious. “Weird. I love vintage cars too.”

I press my palm into my chest and fake my shock. “Would you look at that? Who knew we had that in common! I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I joined you then to repair whatever car you picked?”

His guarded eyes meet mine. “Why would you want to do that?”

Yeah, Chloe, why? I remain calm and collected despite my racing thoughts. My actions barely make sense to myself, seeing as we never discussed spending time together outside of the ruse. But I can’t resist wanting to remove the sad look in his eyes when he thinks about his family racing without him. Even if it means letting my guard down.

17

Chloe

“I guess I better head out.” I intertwine my fingers and rock back on my heels.

With Marko asleep in his bed and all the dishes put away, it seems like the right time to go.

“Do you want to stay a little longer? I can open another bottle of wine?” Santiago rushes to get the words out, his voice hesitant yet hopeful.

Oh God. Is he nervous? I attempt to get a word out, but nothing passes my lips. Me, speechless. Brooke would laugh her ass off at the idea.

“No pressure. If you can’t because you have to go to work early tomorrow, then don’t worry about it,” he rambles on.

Screw him for crawling under my skin and making himself at home. I can’t resist nodding my head, agreeing to some one-on-one time with him. It’s as if he emits pheromones, trapping me with muscles, a sexy Spanish accent, and timid smiles.

Santiago leads us back into the living room before he leaves to grab a bottle of wine. My eyes land on the label when he enters the room again. It’s the same brand I fawned over during dinner, claiming I’ve never had anything that good since I usually purchase anything with a “buy one, get one free” label. The fact that he grabbed another of the same brand has me nearly falling over from swooning too hard.