“Malcolm and Santiago,” Frankie said, interrupting her musing. “Malcolm Carlesso, grandson of Alberto Carlesso, founder of the company. He runs the whole place. From what I hear, he’s fair. Not that he mingles with the likes of us.” She chuckled. “Then there’s Santiago Trejo.”
“Santiago,” Beverly breathed. “I need to get me some of that.”
“You’re old enough to be his mother.”
“I’m experienced. There’s a difference.”
“Old is old, Beverly. Face it. You’re too much woman for him.”
Beverly sighed. “That I am.” She turned to Callie. “Santiago is our CFO. And honey, he can CFO me anytime he wants.”
“Stop it,” Franke laughed. “You’ll scare Callie.”
“I don’t scare that easily,” Callie murmured. “So, ah, Malcolm and Santiago work together?”
“They do.” Frankie nodded. “They’re friends, too. They met in college, I think.”
“Santiago used to play pro football,” one of the women offered.
“He did not.” Beverly waved her fork. “That’s part of the appeal. He walked away from a deal.”
“How is that appealing?” another woman asked.
“It just is. He used his brain to get ahead.” Beverly glared at her. “Don’t you say anything bad about my man.”
“Your man?” Frankie chuckled. “That’ll be the day.” She stood. “Come on, Callie, let’s get you back to your station. This afternoon, you’re working on big baskets.”
“Lucky me,” Callie said with a laugh.
She carried her tray toward the trash. Frankie stopped to talk with another group of women at a different table. As Callie waited by the exit, she felt a weird tingling on the back of her neck. Not a chill exactly, but odd prickling for sure. She turned and saw a man watching her.
No, she thought faintly. Not a man. Some kind of god.
He was tall—maybe six three—with dark hair and incredibly broad shoulders. His face was movie-star handsome, his features chiseled. He had on a suit she would bet was custom-tailored and shoes that probably cost more than she’d made the previous year. His skin was several shades darker than hers. Hispanic, she thought and wondered if this was Beverly’s fantasy man.
His dark gaze settled on her face. Callie realized she’d been staring and quickly turned away. But before she could duck out of the cafeteria, he approached.
“Hello. I’m Santiago.”
His voice was low and deep with just a hint of chocolate. Which was an incredibly dumb thing to think, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Ah, Callie.”
“You’re new.”
She nodded. He was a lot taller than she was. His hands were huge, which she tried not to notice. She felt out of place, awkward and more than a little nervous. His stare was intense, as if he could see inside of her. As if—
Dammit! Santiago wasn’t staring at her because he thought she was attractive. The man worked with Malcolm—they were friends. Santiago was staring at her because he knew who she was. He knew about her prison record.
Humiliation washed through her. Was he going to say something and ruin everything? She had no idea and all she could think was she had to get away from him.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she murmured. “I have to get back to work.”
“Wait,” he called, but she ignored him and hurried away.
Once she was out of sight, she began to run. For a second she thought about bolting—taking the cash in her checking account and disappearing. The only thing that kept her from acting on that was her promise to Malcolm and the realization that in the whole wide world, she had absolutely nowhere to go.
chapter twelve
Santiago stood in the cafeteria long past when he should have started moving, only he felt as if he needed a second to clear his head. What had just happened?
He managed to take a step then another before getting a little momentum but by the time he got out of the cafeteria and into the long warehouse hallway, she was gone.
Callie, he thought, committing her name to memory, along with her face and the sound of her voice. Everything about her had been perfect. Her mouth, her eyes, the way she’d moved. He couldn’t believe it—lightning had struck right there in the warehouse and no one had noticed but him.
He had to find out more about her. She hadn’t been wearing a wedding ring, but maybe she was independent. No, he thought. She couldn’t be married. She couldn’t. She hadn’t met him yet. He didn’t have her last name but he had connections with HR. He would find out who she was and—
“What?” Malcolm asked as he approached. “Something happened. I can see it on your face. Is there a problem? Did some equipment break down?”
“I met a girl.” Santiago shook his head. “No. I met a woman. I barely spoke to her, but there’s something about her. She’s beautiful. Her voice...” He looked at Malcolm. “I’ve never seen her before. I’m going to have to talk to Miriam in HR when we get back and find out her last name. We don’t have a dating policy in the company, do we?”
His friend rubbed his forehead. “Dammit, Santiago, no. Not another one of your women. Not at work. They last for a week and then you move on and they’re upset. We have a good crew here. Don’t mess with them.”
“It’s not like that. I mean it. This is different. Totally different. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. And freckles.”
Malcolm’s expression froze. “Is her name Callie?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“I’m psychic.” Malcolm started toward the exit.
Santiago kept pace with him. “Come on, tell me. Who is she? She’s new, right? She has a bit of an accent, but not much. I can’t trace it. Not the South but...”
“Oklahoma via Texas,” Malcolm muttered.
They walked outside, then he turned to Santiago. “This is not a good idea. You have to let it go.”
“I can’t. Something happened back there.” He looked at his friend. “I mean it, Malcolm. This is different.”
Malcolm swore under his breath. “Callie Smith is my half sister.”
Santiago let the information settle in his brain. He knew about Jerry being an asshole and that he’d never had anything to do with his son. He knew about Keira and a second sister, but he hadn’t realized, hadn’t known it was Callie.
Relief swamped him. She wasn’t married. Malcolm would have mentioned a husband. In fact as far as Santiago knew, Callie was pretty much alone in the world. He could show her Seattle, help her get settled and make some friends. He could charm her and romance her and convince her he was the greatest guy ever. It was only when the plan came together that he realized Malcolm was still talking.
“...wanted a job. I offered her something in the office, but she wasn’t interested. She wanted to work on the line. It wasn’t me.”
“You think I’m going to judge you for giving your sister a job in the warehouse?” Santiago asked. “My mom worked here. My brother still does.”
“Yeah, but shouldn’t I have convinced her to, you know, do something different?”
Santiago patted his shoulder. “You have been in upper management way too long, my man. Honest work is always honorable. So what’s she like? She’s funny, right? I’ll bet she has a great sense of humor. Does she hang out with Keira? Is she into kids? Did she mention a boyfriend? Not that it matters—I’m here and he’s not but it would be good to know.”
Malcolm groaned. “Stop it. Just stop it. I don’t know very much about her and what I do know I’m not going to tell you. My advice is to stay away from her.”
Santiago grinned. “You’re being protective of her. That’s nice.”
Malcolm shook his head. “I’m being protective of you. Trust me. You don’t want to go there.”
Santiago battled instant anger. “She’s your sister. You’re supposed to take care of her. Jesus, Malcolm, don’t be a dick.”
“Sorry. That’s not how I meant it. There are things that—” He threw up his hands. “Fine. Whatever. You want to ask her out, ask her out. Just don’t do it here, in front of everyone. Keep the personal life private. But later, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
All Santiago heard was that he had his friend’s permission to ask out his sister. The sooner the better, he thought. There wasn’t much time—after all, the two of them only had the rest of their lives together.
* * *
Because finding out his best friend wanted to date his sister wasn’t enough to suck the joy out of his day, Malcolm had returned to his office to find an urgent message from Keira’s school counselor. The woman had insisted they meet as soon as possible and with the school literally across the street from the corporate offices, Malcolm had realized there was no avoiding the summons.
Shortly after two, he walked into the large brick building and asked to meet with Phoebe Rayfield. He was escorted through a maze of small offices, then shown into one.
Phoebe was an average-looking woman in her midthirties. She managed to appear both earnest and disapproving as they shook hands. Malcolm remembered he’d been just as uncomfortable when he’d met with her after enrolling Keira in the upscale private school. He’d been unable to answer the most basic of questions, such as did Keira make friends easily or enjoy school. When he’d tried to explain why he didn’t know anything about his new-to-him sister, Phoebe had been less than sympathetic.