Page 115 of Dead Girl Running

“I’ll keep them safe. I’ll return them as soon as you wish.”

Behind him, she could see policemen and EMTs advancing on her. They would take Kellen’s wallet. They’d ask questions she couldn’t answer.

She offered the wallet to Annabella’s uncle.

He grasped it.

“Don’t look,” she said.

“I won’t.”

“Promise you won’t look.”

“I promise.”

* * *

Cecilia spent a week in the hospital. She’d cracked her tailbone and fractured her cheek. She was dehydrated and undernourished. More than that, the physicians had expressed concern about the old burns around her hairline and on her shoulders. She heard one doctor tell Max that at some point in her life she’d suffered physical and mental trauma, and that no doubt accounted for her overly violent defense of Annabella. He also told Max that she should be confined to an institution until they could ascertain that she was stable.

An hour later, when Max came in, she was out of bed and scavenging for clothing.

He flung a small overnight case on the bed and opened it. “Here. Pick out what you want to wear. I’m taking you home.”

“To the home?” Kellen’s travel wallet was on top. She snatched it up, pulled it over her head, settled it on her chest. “To hell with you.”

“My home,” he said. “You saved my niece. Her father is Ettore Fontana, a desperate man without honor. He intended to kidnap Annabella and hold her for ransom. You saved her. The Di Luca family owes you a debt. We always pay our debts. No more fears. You’re safe with us.”

“I’ll never be confined again.” Imprisoned, abused, married. Never again. She turned her back to him, stripped off the hospital gown and started to dress. The guy had good taste in underwear, she’d say that for him.

His voice rumbled with patience. “In my home, you can rest, recuperate, and then when you wish, I’ll help you go somewhere safe. I’ll help you find a job. I don’t know what misfortune put you on the streets, but I will protect you.”

Cecilia had listened to another man once say pleasant things in a convincing voice, and Gregory had murdered her cousin and almost killed her. “Why should I believe you?” she asked hoarsely.

When she had donned one layer of clothes and started on a second, he gently turned her to face him, and his eyes, golden brown and warm, met hers. “Because I’m Maximilian Di Luca. I always keep my word.”

* * *

As the town car rumbled along the asphalt, Kellen touched her wet cheeks. Tears. She remembered so well what Max said, what he did, how she had loved him…

The first time she woke in the hospital, he asked her what her name was.

“Ceecee.” Funny. She hadn’t thought about what she should say. She just said it. Ceecee, her family nickname. That was what he called her.

She groped along the leather seat, pulled herself into a sitting position, asked, “Birdie? Where’s Birdie? We were supposed to stop for Birdie.”

“Someone else is bringing her to the airstrip.”

“Carson Lennex is bringing her?”

“Right. Carson Lennex.”

“That’s nice.” Kellen took a few more careful breaths. “I think he likes her.”

The driver gave a soft snort.

Kellen tried to remember this driver. She knew everyone at the resort. But she couldn’t remember this woman.

She touched the scar on her forehead.

---