Diego

The instant we arrived in town, we went straight to the station. The police took us into an interrogation room as my brothers and their mates waited outside. I wanted this over as fast as possible and my brothers weren’t the patient kind. They would interrupt and demand answers without learning to see what these cops actually had.

“Ms. Bacon, first, we’re sorry this happened. It’s a bit of a coincidence that this person knew you left, so we wondered if you’d had anybody following you?”

“None.” She didn’t tell them that I had been and would have noticed another potential stalker. “Do you know if anything was visibly missing?”

“There could be. There was a room with a desk that had nothing on the top anymore.”

Her color changed from rosy pink to a pale ghost. My poor girl looked as though they stole her world.

“That was where my drafting computer was. It had all my programs, plans, and many of the blueprints for pending projects and ones of my own design. I have the designs in my sketch pads, but those took hours to create.”

“Did you leave your sketch pad in the house? We didn’t pay any attention to something like that. We only noticed major obvious signs.”

“I took the latest with me.”

“We can go to the apartment and you can tell us what’s missing. It may help us catch the thief.”

“Okay.”

“There’s just one thing to mention. This wasn’t quite a robbery.”

“What do you mean?”

“They wrote something obscene on the walls.”

They slid over a large 8x10 image. It was the wall above her headboard. You can’t hide from me. I was ready to commit murder right then and there. My hands grabbed the photo and before I knew what I was doing, I balled it up.

“Mr. Lopez, you need to calm down. You look like you’re ready to snap someone in half.”

“I am.”

“Sir, whoever this person is you need to leave it up to us.” He gave me a stern warning, but I didn’t care. I could grab his head and crush it easily. I hid my strength with a medium build, but had the strength of three men. No one threatens my mate.

“If he comes after her and you’re not there to get him, I will protect her with my life.”

“And if that happens, it would be justified, but you can’t go looking for this guy. Right or wrong, he has to go through the system.”

“I understand. For his sake, I hope he’s not stupid enough to finish what he started.”

“Can we just go to the apartment now? I want to get this over with. I’m tired and hungry,” she griped. She stood, ready to walk out, so I joined her.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go,” I said, shrugging and pointing my head toward her to the cop because she was the boss. If she was ready to go then we were leaving. The detective followed us and the other came from the observation room. Not that there was anything to be looking at us for. We hadn’t done anything wrong; we were the victims, or rather Diana was. Someone hurt my girl’s feelings, took away her security, and stole her livelihood. I was going to do everything to make it right again. During the ride to the station, she’d fallen asleep and I was grateful for it. She wasn’t in the mood to talk at all and had been on the verge of tears the whole time.

I walked her to the truck and buckled her in. “Mi vida, I’m going to tell my brothers to meet us at the house we share.”

“You share a house?”

“Well, it wasn’t like we had anyone else to bring home. It’s why my brothers stayed at the cabin during the month. They worked from home or made the drive. They knew your sisters would make it harder for me to cope with missing my chance with you.”

“Oh…I’m sorry, I left you hurting.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. It was the right time. Rest and we’ll get this over so we can eat.” I gave her a kiss, then closed the door. My brothers were standing outside their SUV.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re heading to her place to see what’s missing. I don’t want to talk about it right now because I’m ready to rip someone’s head off. We’ll meet you at the house. Order some food for us, please. Diana’s hungry.”

“Okay, and then we talk.” I nodded and walked toward my truck to take my woman to what remained of her apartment. She gave me a weak smile as I slid into the driver’s seat.

“You don’t have to put up a front for me, mi amor. I know you are sad, but I promise to make it right. You trust me, don’t you?”

She reached out and brushed her hand against my stubble. “Wholeheartedly.”

I took her hand and kissed it before placing it in mine and driving down the road. The trip was made in silence, but it was okay because it was laced with something other than sadness. My woman was feeling needy. I could smell her, but it was going to have to wait. Her house wasn’t far from the station.

When we arrived, I took in the scene and Diana’s expression. A wall of pain covered her face. It killed me to see, but I had to hold it together. When they said ransacked they weren’t kidding. But I could see clearly this wasn’t just a robbery. There was more even without the writing on the wall. The house had been turned upside down and the wall mount for a large TV was empty.

She moved away from me before I could stop her. She went into the bedroom. The sound of a scream echoed in my ears a thousand times over. I was on her before the cops could get there. Her room was torn apart. Her sheets were shredded, the mirror shattered, and drawers pulled out and dumped. Everything was ruined. She bent down and picked up a frame with her family. It was shattered, leaving the picture sliced from the broken glass. I carried her right out of the room.

“You should have warned us about the rest of the house. This looks like a fucking war zone. We’re out of here. She’ll contact the station tomorrow after she rests.” I didn’t wait for his approval. She wasn’t prepared for the sight and they hadn’t had the damn sense to tell her it was worse. She shivered in my arms and rested her head on my chest as I carried her to my truck.

Once we were on the road to my place, she spoke, “I’m sorry for losing it back there.”

“Don’t, don’t apologize for that at all.”

“It’s not like me, Diego. I’m a rational person.”

“And you had a rational reaction to your private world invaded and torn to pieces.”

“You’re so angry. I can feel it.” I tried to hide my anger the best I could, but this wasn’t the easiest thing for a man to swallow. Whoever did this didn’t do it alone. This was more than one person because they managed to steal a bunch of things without being noticed. It was personal. But who would she have pissed off? She’s a routine person with really no friends and she didn’t go out except to work. Someone there had to be involved. It was in my head from the start and from seeing her place, I knew it had to be that way.

“All of my projects for the Lopez Properties were in the system. I can’t believe this.”

“Sweetheart, did you send any drafts to the boss? Maybe we could trace a copy to email and then modify that one with the latest changes.”

“Possibly. I’d have to contact the owner tomorrow.”

“Call him now. This isn’t something that should wait. In fact, I will. As the one who gave the contract to his company.” I pulled off to the side of the road for a moment, then I dialed her boss.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hello, Mr. Eastman, this is Diego Lopez of Lopez Properties.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Lopez, I’m surprised at the call. Is there something wrong?” I could hear the nervous concern of a business owner.

“Yes, there is. I’m here with Ms. Bacon and…”

“Diana is with you?” I was sure it came as a shock.

“Yes, she and I are engaged.” Diana looked at me in surprise, but it was only a formality. We were mated. A wedding made it official to everyone we knew outside those that knew the truth.

“Wow, she didn’t say anything about it,” he said, sounding a bit put out. I wondered if he was jealous or just pissed that she’d gotten together with a major client.

“That’s because I haven’t asked her yet, but it’s a done deal.” I squeezed her hand gently, then gave her a wink.

“What’s the problem then?”

“It seems her apartment was burglarized.” I heard a gasp and a stutter, but I didn’t want to hear his pity right now. I wanted to make her happy. “They stole the computer with the files for my project on them. She said that she sent them to you.”

“Yes, they were in there for me to look at. Let me forward them to your email. Is she okay?”

“She will be. She was worried about the project. I just wanted to make sure we can get it settled.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m out of town, but let me boot up my laptop and send it. I can forward it in about fifteen.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know the moment I receive it.” I hung up, feeling impatient to get home. I got back on the road and went another two miles through some city traffic. It was already seven at night, but there was a bit of a jam. Once we got a little ahead, I saw there was an accident. It was a minor fender bender, but it was the typical gaper’s delay. It only served to make me more frustrated when all I wanted was my woman.