She wanted to believe, him. God, she really did, but how could he know what he was getting himself into?
“O… okay…” Kara said, calming down. Angelo’s voice, even when full of worry, had the strangest ability to bring her peace like nothing else had. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” She didn’t like the idea that even more people knew who she was. The wider the circle, the easier it was for something to slip.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Angelo replied. “The guy who attacked me knows you’re at my home. They could already have people watching you. But they won’t make a move if you have got a security team watching the place. Right now, where you are is the safest place you can be until we find a way to sort things out.”
That made sense but didn’t exactly put her at ease. Her father’s men could be outside the building right now, watching.
“It’s going to be okay,” Angelo assured her again.
She truly hoped so.
“So… what’s your favorite color?” His sudden change of topic threw her off.
“What?”
“Your favorite color. We should probably get to know each other for real if we’re going to convince everyone we are engaged. We should have done this the first night, but I was a bit out of it. We really do need to get to know each other if we want to pull this off. So… favorite color?”
Kara glanced around the room. She didn’t have a favorite color. She’d spent so much of her life trying not to stand out, she’d lost herself somewhere along the way.
“Er… I don’t have one?”
“You must have to have a favorite color,” he insisted.
Her temper flared a little. “I don’t. I don’t have one, okay? I was raised to avoid patterns. Not to wear the same kind of clothing, or the same colors, or anything else that could be used to profile me. So, no, I don’t have a favorite color. ”
There was a painfully long beat of silence before Angelo spoke again.
“You never really had a childhood, did you?”
His realization struck her like a blow, even though she knew he didn’t mean for his words to land so hard.
Her throat felt like she swallowed glass. “Not really…”
“I’m so sorry.”
Kara realized how that must have sounded to him. “Well, I mean I didn’t have a normal childhood. No trips to Disney, no public school, no friends in the conventional sense. But my mom did everything she could to let me have fun. We visited a lot of the national parks, I’ve slept in a tent beneath a glowing Milky Way in a dark sky park and I’ve seen every silly roadside attraction like the world’s biggest yarn ball. It’s just… when you asked about my favorite color I didn’t meant to snap at you, I’m sorry… I guess I didn’t want to think about some of the things I have missed.”
“It’s okay, Kara. You shouldn’t have to apologize for anything.” He paused a moment, then his voice held a note of brightness to it as he continued. “Let’s make up for lost time,” said Angelo.
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s start by figuring out your favorite color.” He laughed. “It could be fun.”
“Okay, how do we do that?” She had to fight to keep a faint skepticism out of her voice.
“Just close your eyes… Now, think of the rainbow, then single out each color by itself. Lay them out in front of you. Which one draws you to it the most? Which one feels the most likeyou?Not the Kara that has to blend in and move from town to town. The Kara who is sitting in my bed, surrounded by my world, the Kara who issafe.”
She closed her eyes, let out a shaky breath, and then did as he asked. A kaleidoscope of colors swirled around her. She pulled one toward her at a time, examining it, seeing how it felt to her. Blue like the sky? It’s pretty, but also cold. Green like the forest? Not as inviting as she’d like it to be. Red? No, anything but red. After a long moment, she took a deep breath and smiled.
“Gold.”
“Gold?” Angelo echoed curiously.
“Yes, like honey or sunshine or the light of a lamp when you read a good book.” Gold was warm, safe, beautiful. Gold was the color of the glints in Angelo’s light brown eyes. Gold was the color of the city that he’d spent his summers in, learning to cook with his grandmother. That gold was her favorite color.
“Gold it is then.”
“What about you?” she asked.
