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“First of all, you and I need to talk.” I palm the back of my neck. “You have to fill me in on what you believed would happen next.”
“Shouldn’t we be leaving now?”
“Not right now. If anyone’s watching, which…” I aim a finger toward her… “… they might well be, we need to make it look as though I’m following orders. That means we stay put for now. We’ll leave together as it’s going dark and then…”
“And then?”
“And then… I’ve not gotten that far yet. Tell me properly what happened, and what you thought was going to happen.”
“The doctor confirmed last week that I was pregnant. I’d not said anything to Leone before then. I only told him once I was sure. He said everything would be alright, but that until he could settle matters with his wife, he would send me somewhere out of sight to have the baby. Then, after what happened at the restaurant, he said I had to leave immediately and that you’d be my bodyguard until the danger was past and he could make permanent arrangements.” Her voice cracks. “He said he'd look after me. That we’d be married.”
“I… had the impression you enjoyed being a mistress rather than a wife?”
“I did, but… it’s different once there’s children involved.” She raises swollen eyes. “Hickman, what exactly were your orders?”
Lie and be gentle?
Or give it to her straight?
Get it over with.
“Romano ordered me to kill you, to dispose of your body and… He wants your jewellery back.”
Her hand rises to the diamond at the hollow of her neck, her mouth forming an O. Face twisting, she yanks it off, hurling the necklace at the wall. “Cheap bastard!”
I reclaim the glittering thing, taking her hand and curling her fingers around it. “Don’t lose them. Romano was clear he wants them back. Even if you kept them, if you're on the run, you'll need money.”
The fury fades and her voice turns small. “Am I on the run?”
“If I don't convince Romano that I’ve done as he ordered, we both are. I have to get you out and fast...” Her face crumples... “Katya?”
“I'm scared. Oh, God, I'm trying to be brave but I'm so scared. What am I going to do? I can't go to my family. He knows about them. Who they are. Where they live.” She whips a look at me. “Do you think he'd go after them?”
“If he suspects you're alive, it’s the first place he’d look. You have to go somewhere he can't find you. Or anyone else he might send after you.”
“So, I have to spend the rest of my life in hiding?”
Fuck…
“Katya, I need to think. We have a few hours. If you can, get some sleep.”
She nods, but rather than heading for the bedroom, she curls in on herself in the armchair.
“Hickman?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you doing this for me? It could cost you everything. I'm another man's mistress and I'm carrying his child.”
“You were another man's mistress, and a kid's a kid. What does it matter who the father is? In any case, murdering pregnant women isn’t my style. A man's role is to protect women and children.”
Her face hardens. She lifts her chin. “Oh? And what is your style? Whatever you say, you took orders from Leone.”
“I take orders from whoever pays me. If Romano had paid me to take you out of the way and… persuade… you to stay away, I’d have probably done it. But not this. Not even if…”
“If what?”
I don’t answer.
