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“I’ll even push the cart.”
Another tear threatened to escape, but this time, it was a tear of relief. Nico, my big not-brother, my secret crush, my knight in shining Armani, was doing his best to make things right, even though I knew I was unfixable.
When Mom had first announced that we were staying in Russia, I’d cried. My friends were in the US, I didn’t understand the language, and it was always so damn cold. But now? Now I was grateful for that time in Moscow because without it, I’d never have met the man beside me.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him as he kissed my hair. After three years with Cesare, the thought of being touched by a man had repulsed me, but this was different. This was Nico, and his arms were my safe place.
29
NICO
“Katy Lord?” Kaylin turned the passport over in her hands. “That’s my new name?”
Katy Lynn Lord, and Matteo had become Matthew. Matthew Nicolas Lord. Was that Emmy’s idea of a joke? Nico had thumbed through the passport before he handed it over, noting stamps for Canada, the UK, and Thailand.
“Emmy said it’s better to use a name similar to your real one. Answering feels natural that way.”
“This looks real, and the driver’s licence.”
“They probably are.”
“Probably?”
“Emmy assures me the licence won’t raise any red flags if you get pulled over, but she recommends sticking to the speed limit.”
Which made her the world’s biggest hypocrite if the rubber she’d burned leaving the Peninsula the last time she was there was any indication.
“I don’t even have a car. It’s hard to get pulled over while pushing a stroller.”
“I have several vehicles that you’re welcome to borrow. Just let me know if you’re planning to take a drive so I don’t send out a search party.”
“You’d let me go out alone?”
Cesare Cavallaro really had done a number on her, hadn’t he?
“I’m not your keeper, zolottse.” Nico shouldn’t keep calling her “darling,” but it rolled so easily off his tongue. “I’d suggest trying the Audi SUV. It has an excellent safety rating.”
“Will you come with me at first? I don’t know my way around and…” Kaylin blew out a breath. “Damn, I sound so needy.”
No, she sounded like a woman who’d been virtually imprisoned by a madman for three years. A woman whose confidence had been shaken, whose psyche had been damaged.
“My weekend is yours.” Plus Nico had cleared his schedule for the next week, but he didn’t want to smother her. “We can buy as much pizza and candy and rosé as you want.” He slid a cell phone and bank card across the counter. “These are yours too.”
“You bought me a phone?”
“In the interest of full disclosure, there’s tracking software installed on it.” Courtesy of Emmy Black, of course. He’d debated not telling Kaylin, but enough men had breached her trust already without him adding to the list. “If you want to disable it, you can, but I’d prefer you didn’t. There’s also a panic button. If you activate it, I’ll get an alert with your location.”
“You’re worried about Cesare.” A statement, not a question.
“It pays to be cautious.”
She studied the phone. “I won’t disable it. And I don’t want to use the card, but…”
“He didn’t deserve you,” Nico blurted, breaking the cardinal rule of remembering to think before he spoke.
There was a long pause. “I wish I could believe that. I was foolish enough to play with fire, and I should have realised I’d get burned.”
“Don’t make excuses for him.”
