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“All of which he took back as soon as it suited him.”
“Yeah… What an idiot I was.” She sips again, staring into space. “Hickman, what do I do now? I’ve no experience for any of this.”
“We can stay here for a few days while those stitches heal, then I’ll get you to wherever you want to go. After that, I’ll return to Romano. Do my job for a few months to be sure he thinks everything’s straight. Then, I’m moving on.”
“Where to?”
“No idea. But there’s always work for someone like me.” I ease the mug from her fingers. “Go sit down. Let me take a look at the stitches and change the dressing.”
She’s stiff and sore and in pain. But, despite Katya’s efforts, I know how to keep us fed, at least at the pasta and salad level. It’s not great, but she eats what I put in front of her, moving carefully as she forks up tagliatelle and pesto.
“Katya, do you have any money?”
“Some,” she says. “A little.” She blows out her cheeks. “Enough to keep my head above water for a few weeks.”
“Do you own property? Anything that might need selling when you leave?”
“No.” She shrugs, then winces. “I was saving for a deposit. But I met Leone and…”
“… And he installed you someplace he could keep an eye on you.”
Abruptly, her composure crumples. The fork clatters into the dish and she drops her face into her hands. “Oh God, what do I do? I can't go to my family. Or my friends. He knows who they are. If he ever suspected, he'd find me. Maybe hurt them too.”
She shudders. “And I'm going to have a baby. Usually, I can look after myself fine, but I won't be able to work. How will I live?”
Scraping my chair around the table, feeling awkward, I sit beside her, holding her as she buries herself against me, weeping bitter tears.
At length, she breaks off, swiping hands over her face. “I'm sorry. You must think me a complete fool.”
“Hardly that. You've said nothing that wasn't true.” I take a deep breath, preparing for the plunge. “Katya, do you want to keep Romano’s child?”
Her eyes slit, teeth baring. “It's my child.”
“Whoa.” I raise palms. “Fine. I'm just asking. It's your call. If you want to keep the baby, that’s fine. And it’s one less complication. We can stay here for a few days while you get your head straight. But you have to decide where you want to go. What you want to do. And it needs to be a complete break from your old life. If you open the link with your family or friends, he'll almost certainly discover you’re alive.”
She hunches. Then straightens. “No more tears,” she says. “I was shocked, yes, but now I have to handle this.”
“Yes, you do. So, when you can give me your thoughts, do it.”
CHAPTER TEN
After a few days, Katya is healing well. The wound is clean and, if not pretty, at least healthy, the skin pink, and the scarring from my amateur surgery isn’t too bad…
Will a woman see it that way?
She can always visit a cosmetic surgeon later…
Her pain levels much improved, she can lean back now so long as she’s careful. And I see her watching me when she thinks I’m not looking.
“How are you feeling now?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’ll just take it carefully for a few weeks.”
Sharing a meal over the kitchen table, she keeps glancing up from her food, her eyes wary.
“Something I can do for you, Katya?”
Heat pinpricks her cheeks before she morphs to casual. “Tell me, how did you find yourself in your line of work?”
