The Santinis: Marco, Book 2 Read Online Free

his brother’s suggestion infiltrate his thoughts. There was a chance that over the next two years, he would have more interactions with Alana when she was with men. There was a good chance that he would make an ass of himself again. He couldn’t help it.  
    All his life he was known as the quiet Santini. He could be loud around his brothers, but in groups and especially with women, he was often the quietest person in any gathering. His mother had always made the joke it had been the reason he had long-term girlfriends in high school. She was convinced all the girls thought he was actually listening to them as they jabbered on.
    He smiled. His mother knew them all so well. For a woman surrounded by men, she gave as good as she got. And she always knew just what to say.
    What would she say to him now? She would probably tell him to get his head out of his ass and go apologize. He sighed and looked over at her house as he slowed to a walk. He would, but he needed to wait until his brothers were gone.  
    By then, he might have just figured out what to say to her.

Chapter Three
    Alana was standing on a chair rearranging her cupboard when her home phone rang. There was a good chance it was someone from the charity so she ignored it. It was the weekend and if it was an emergency, she would handle it. Board members didn’t accept her boundaries and their idea of an emergency was remarkably different than hers. So, she didn’t give them her cell phone and she dealt with them through landlines.  
    She sighed as she set another platter on the top shelf. She rarely used it, but it was her mother’s and there were things she just couldn’t let go after the accident. She glanced around her kitchen. It was still a disaster but it was shaping up. She’d spent more than two hours cleaning and rearranging her house, mainly out of irritation. It needed it, but she needed to work off her mad—not to mention her embarrassment. She knew men looked at her differently than say a super model…or a cheerleader. Still, she didn’t like to have it thrown in her face, especially by Marco Santini. It seemed worse somehow.
    After her message, a woman with a thick Texas accent spoke. “Hello. This is Maryanne Santini and I am looking for my idiot husband and his idiot brothers.”
    Alana jumped off the chair almost killing herself in the process but she figured it was worth it. She didn’t know where the Santinis were that afternoon, but if a wife was calling, there was a good chance something bad had happened.
    She grabbed the phone, breathless. “Hello, are you still there?”
    “Yes. Sorry to bother you, but no one is answering their cells. Do you know where they are?”
    Alana looked out the front window. “The car is still there, hold on. Maybe they’re on the beach.”
    “Thank you. I’m assuming your Alana, the landlady?” She continued on without waiting for an answer. “I really need to talk to Leo. Are they behaving themselves?”  
    “Yes. I mean, they’re adults.”
    “That’s true, but when the four of them get together, there always seems to be a problem. Last time we were all together, Gee and Marco got in a fight about which career field was tougher, being a PJ or a SEAL. They settled it with arm wrestling.”
    “Uh, that seems civilized,” she said, trying to keep up with the other woman’s thought process.
    “It was after they rolled around in the backyard and their mother had to cool them off with the hose.”
    Alana stepped out on her deck looking towards the beach. She squinted against the bright afternoon sun. The beach was packed, mainly because of the great waves and mild temperatures. Being Saturday, there were a lot of families enjoying time together. She scanned the beach thinking she might be wrong. Then, she saw them.
    Good God, they were walking up from the beach, without shirts, wet…her mind went blank.
    “Hello?”
    She let loose a little breath trying to calm her heart. “Sorry, they are