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God help me, I was an old man compared to her. She should have someone in her life who was closer to her age, yet the notion of notbeingthat person left a hole in my chest and irritated me to the point of rage. I paced her room, trying to gather myself enough to sit down beside her. When her eyes opened, fear broke through the confusion in those delicate grey eyes of hers as she stared up at me. I knew I hadn’t done a good enough job of keeping my feelings to myself.
“Interesting day you had,” I said, my tone harsher than I’d wanted.
She flinched away from me, and I tsked.Damn it. This woman. I sat beside her, making it so she couldn’t retreat any more than she already had. She watched me, wide eyed, ready to bolt if given the chance. The area on her neck where she’d been injured was red and angry. A thin line of blood remained with scratch marks I wasn’t sure who made. When she said nothing to me, I tried again, because I needed to hear her voice to make sure she was okay.
“Collins,” I murmured. “Please talk to me. You’ve got me on edge right now.”
Her audible gulp hurt my soul more. She was terrified, even of me. What could be so wrong she’d have this type of reaction? Besides the obvious. “I’m sorry.” Her tone was soft with a bit of a croak.
“What happened?” I kept my voice neutral, coaxing, hoping she’d tell me something—anything—that I could use.
“I don’t know,” she squeaked. “One minute we were having fun and the next...”
“Did they say anything?” I pressed.
“The one was going to use me to get in with Mario Torino.” She inhaled, then yelped in pain.
“What wrong?” I pushed the covers aside, reaching for her so I could find the source of discomfort. “What hurts?”
“I got the air knocked out of me,” she whispered. “Still hurts to inhale.”
“Can I look?”
She averted her gaze, and I took it as permission to spy a glance. My fingertips glided with ease along her lightly tanned skin, pushing her shirt out of the way to expose the area that hurt. Everything went taut inside of me. Being this close, touching her, I licked my bottom lip, stuck between lust and discipline. She was injured. I wouldn’t take advantage of her. With a hiss, I shook my head. The area around her ribs was a vibrant shade of purple and red. There was nothing out of place or distended, so I didn’t think she’d broken any ribs, didn’t mean anything. They could be cracked. “Some bruising. If you want to see the doctor, I can make arrangements for you or have the doctor come here to see you.”
She whimpered. “Please.”
“Not a problem.” I gave her a small smile. I wanted to gather her up into my arms and make promises I wasn’t sure I could keep or that she’d want to hear. Not having her trust was killing me. “Where were you going, Collins? Why does it look like you were trying to leave, or at least set yourself up to leave?” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she laid there, holding onto herself. Whatever secrets she kept, I had to alleviate her conscious. “Whatever it is you’re holding back on, I understand. You’re not telling me because you’re afraid. Still, I can’t help you or protect you unless you talk to me, sweetheart. Let me in.”
She sobbed then, clinging to me, her face pressed to my side, as though she was afraid to let go or let me see her. I hated this. Had Benny and Robbie not killed those two bastards, I would have done it myself. They deserved to die twice for the mental anguish she’d been put through. There was more there in her cries and the way she clung to me. I could feel it. Deep down, this wasn’t the first attempt on her life. I don’t know how or when I realized that, but now I couldn’t banish the theory.
“Help me,” she whispered. “I lied to you, Miceli. I know you’re going to kick me back out onto the streets, but I had to keep us safe.”
The ferocious yearning to protect her consumed me. “Tell me what happened and leave nothing out.”
She stared up at me, her black lashes dampened from her tears, her eyes bloodshot and red, turning her eyes a shade of storm clouds heavy with rain, pleaded with me to keep my word. “I don’t care what you do to me, but keep Kyle here. Don’t make him leave. He’s been through enough.”
Bingo.
An answer.
I tensed, holding my breath as she spoke. Kyle. Of course, her brother’s name was popular, however, not in this instance. “Why would I make either of you leave?” I had to keep my voice soft. Level. Any emotional change would cause her to stop speaking. I already knew it. She trusted me. She ran to me. That was saying something. “He’ll be safe here.You’llbe safe here.”
She shook her head. “We’re not safe anywhere.”
“Stephanie,” I said her real name, hoping she wouldn’t clammer to get away from me. “You’re little Stephanie Hollis. You’re still alive.”
She trembled. Her gaze snapped to the door, then back to me. “How did you know?”
I laughed a little. “I didn’t. Until now. Oh, I had my suspicions, but...” I shrugged. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth in the very beginning?” Stupid question. She’d obviously been trying to hide for almost a year now. She didn’t have anywhere to go, nor anyone she could trust, especially after the way her parents had been murdered and her brother shot and left for dead.
“When you didn’t recognize me,” she whispered, “I believed it was for the best.”
Again, I laughed to myself. I’d had the faintest of recollections of her the first day, hence why I’d asked Soren to dig into her past. Now, I wished I would have brought the subject up sooner. “I have a confession, too.” I tucked her into my side, relaxing back on her bed, leaving myself vulnerable to her. Should she want to leave? “I had my suspicions this whole time. A woman who has no background other than the few things you made up, along with a younger brother in her care...” I shrugged.
Heat suffused her cheeks as they turned a pretty shade of pink. Was she embarrassed? Bashful about the subject? “I did the best I could. Besides, I kept us alive for almost a year without getting hurt, didn’t I?”
There was that spunk and spark I liked the most about her. “Yes, you did. Why didn’t you go to the police?”
