by Kathryn Shay
“Where were you when I woke up?”
She tipped her chin. “I called my mother.”
He let go of her hand. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“I’ve been in touch with her since I got here.”
He sighed. “Another secret.”
“Did she know anything about who is after Connor and you?” Nick asked.
“No. Neither does my father.”
“You spoke with that man? After he allowed what happened to you?” Connor practically choked on his words.
“I did.” She looked to Gabe and Nick. “I’m trying to help.”
“What did he say?” Gabe asked.
“He denied any culpability. He was shocked I’d even think he had a hand in this. Then he went out to find Lorenzo. To determine who’s following me. And have Lorenzo arrested.”
“I don’t trust him.” This from Con.
“You have reason not to. I’m not even sure where I stand on that. But I know for sure that Mamá will tell me the truth.”
Connor closed his eyes. This was too much. Her contact with her family. Her...explanations. It resurfaced former fears.
He heard her say, “Maybe I should go back to Casarina, Connor. Face this head on. Then you’d be safe. All of you would.”
His eyes flew open. He stared at the woman before him. In a deadly calm voice, he said, “Do you remember when you asked for a second chance in D.C. at the conference?”
“Of course.”
“I said no. This was why. I don’t trust you won’t go back to Casarina. Now you’re saying you might.” He looked around wildly. “You have to know something about what happened after you left me. A...soldier who came to find me when I wandered off, one night, when I drank too much.”
“He didn’t...”
“Yes, Calla. He was killed protecting me. And though I know rationally that wasn’t your fault, that I was in a condition to cause what happened, makes me hold you responsible, too.”
o0o
Eddie drove Brie to the hospital and walked inside with her. “Let’s sit here for a minute,” she said, motioning to the downstairs waiting room. “I, um, I’m shaky and I don’t want Calla to see me like this.”
They sat in two chairs against the wall. Eddie hadn’t been hurt when he rescued Connor, though he’d fallen to the ground. She was grateful to have him along today. Usually, she didn’t want anybody hovering over her, but now she was frightened for her sister. And maybe even herself.
Eddie slid his arm around her. “It’s okay, Brie. You’re safe now.”
“I guess I am. You saved Connor, Eddie.”
“Anybody would have.”
“I doubt that. The other neighbors are older and probably wouldn’t have been able to take the guy down.”
“Maybe.” Leaning over he kissed her head. Hmm. He’d never made any physical overtures to her. She liked it. “Can you tell me what’s going on, Brie? I’m still pretty much in the dark.”
“Calla is in danger from...back home.”
“I don’t know where that is.” His tone held a trace of exasperation.
“I’ll tell you that story later. Apparently Connor, who’s in love with her, came to D.C. to protect her.”
“Brie, if you’re in trouble, we should go to the police.”
“Connor’s family has three Secret Service agents working on this. They’re law enforcement of the highest degree.”
“I knew Max was an agent from what he said at the house. But Jesus, Brie, this sound more like a thriller novel than real life.”
She owed him something. “All right. I was born on an island off the coast of Italy.” She explained how her country was a sovereign state.
“That’s unusual, but why keep it a secret?”
“Because my father is king of Casarina.”
“No shit?”
A small smile crept to her lips. Eddie didn’t censor himself well. “No shit.”
“Then that makes you a princess.”
“Yes it does. How I came to be here, what’s going on with Calla, is private, and I’m sure I shouldn’t be telling you this much, but you deserve some explanation.”
“We don’t get muggers in our neighborhood so that explains a lot.” Now he took her hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me more. This is enough.”
“Thanks, Eddie.” She stood. “Let’s go see how Connor is.”
“You want me to come up?”
“Of course. You prevented whatever the hell was going to happen to him.”
He stood and as she started away, he pulled her back. “Just know if you ever want to confide in me, I’m here.”
That too made her feel safer. She looked down. Her hands were no longer shaking.
o0o
Calla hadn’t cried when Connor confessed what had happened in her absence. She’d only listened, with horror, then said, “Excuse me,” and left the room. He was glad. He was sorry he’d laid that burden on her, even if it was the truth. But she had to know that her return to Casarina was linked in his mind with what happened to him after she left.
Before he shooed his family out, he asked for a phone. Nick had found out by accident about the spells their father had. Pa seemed to sense when one of them was hurt and got terribly upset. Connor was a man of science but he believed that parent/child bonding could supersede known reality. All of them had made promises to their parents after the discovery of how tortured his father became and Connor would keep his part of the bargain.
“Hello?” Mama’s voice was tinged with worry. It always got that Irish lilt to it when she was upset or angry. Or really happy.
“Hi, Mama. I want you to know I’m fine, but I got hurt jogging.”
“Your father worried all day.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I called because we promised you we would tell you if something happened to any of us.”
“How badly are you hurt, a stor?”
“I have some bruises, a cut on my head. You know how hard that is, so I’ll be okay.”
His joke got a chuckle from her. Of all of them, he was the most reasonable.
“I can’t tell you much of how it happened.”
“But it’s related to why you flew back to D.C.”
“Yes.”
When she said no more he lowered his voice. “Are you all right, Mama?”
“I am. Would you like us to come take care of you?”
God no. The last thing he needed was for his parents to worry more when they saw him. “No, I’ll have good care here.”
“I trust you. Your father wants to speak to you.”
Pa came on the phone. “You got hurt, right?”
“Yes.”
“I know you can’t tell details, but Connor, you’re not in Syria anymore, and you’re not an agent. How in hell did this happen?”
“I was jogging. I was attacked.” Part of the truth, anyway.
They talked a while longer, as Connor tried to reassure his father. Then a knock came on the door. “Someone’s here, Pa. I have to go. I’ll stay in touch.”
Weary, Connor disconnected the phone. “Come in.”
A man in shorts and a T-shirt walked inside. “They said you wanted to see me when I got to the hospital. I’m Eddie Smith.”
Connor’s breath sped up. Some residual memory of the event, he guessed. “You stopped the attack.”
“I did.” He was big, with broad shoulders and blondish hair. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks to you. There’s probably nothing I can say that’s enough in the way of gratitude.”
“No thanks necessary.”
“Come sit and tell me about yourself.”
Eddie took the chair next to the bed. “I’m a teacher at Brie’s school. Physical Education. I was off today because I had to do some legal things with my mother. She’s in a nursing home.”
“Married, kids?”
“Single. But I have my eye on someone.”
Connor nodded, but even that hurt. Suddenly, he felt weaker than the time he’d gotten sick in Syria.
“Your eyes are closing, man.” Eddie stood. “We’ll talk more the next time.”
Before the door even shut, the world faded away.
o0o
Syria, fifteen months ago
A windstorm raged outside, pelting the building with sand, but Calla hardly noticed. She wrung out the cloth and placed it on Connor’s burning forehead. “Please, Connor. Get better,” she whispered. She bathed his face gently. How had she come to care for this man so quickly? Her sister Francesca, who was a cop, had told her once that danger brings intimacy. But her feelings for him didn’t seem as fleeting as that. She kept up the ministrations for a long time, but his face was still stingingly red. Holding his hand, she bowed her head and prayed.
She didn’t know how much later Razim entered the room carrying a pan of cold water. “How is he, Dr. Calla?”
“About the same. The fever won’t break. It’s as stubborn as he is. He wouldn’t stop until he collapsed.”
“He is the best man I’ve ever known.”
“You’ve come to care for him.”
“Rarely do we meet men like him over here.”
“Would you like to sit with me?”
“If you don’t mind.” He took the cloth from her, wet it in the new bowl and sat opposite her. He bathed Connor’s face and began to pray in Arabic. It was almost a chant, and though she couldn’t understand the words, they soothed her.
Well, maybe Allah would help. So far, her God hadn’t answered her prayers.
Chapter 5
* * *
“Did you know about the soldier?” Nick asked the question of Whitney as they sat together in the waiting area. Gabriella had arrived so Calla was huddled with her and the man who’d helped Connor.
“No. I knew he met Calla, fell in love with her and why she left him.”
“You went over to Syria.”
“I did. But she was gone by the time I got there. I’d finally talked to him on a sat-phone and he sounded terrible. So I flew over. He never told me about the man who saved him. He confessed he was despondent because Calla left. I tried to get him to come home with me, be with family, but he refused.” She sighed. “He’d probably felt so guilty he wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Or knowing Con, he wanted to take care of the soldier’s family.” This from Nick.
Gabe sighed. “How awful for him.”
Nick shook his head. “How do you ever get over something like that?”
“You work at it.” Whitney spoke in a grave tone. “You go through the pain of analyzing every aspect, so you aren’t overcome by it when the nightmare hits.”
Her cousins exchanged looks.
“Yes, it’s what I learned in therapy. What I’m still learning.”
Nick grasped her hand. “You only told us the therapy was going well.”
“It’s hard to talk about. But Connor never told another soul about the repercussions of his grief, even me, so he must have been suffocated by the secret.”
“What can we do for him, Whit?” Gabe asked.
“I’d say the first order of business is keeping him safe. Then we either get him to counseling or make him talk to us.”
“Connor was always the happy one. The peacemaker. He brought us all joy.” Nick shook his head. “Poor kid, no wonder he was leveled by all this.”
Whitney motioned to where Calla sat with her sister. “What about her?”
Tracking her gaze, Gabe frowned. “We’ll have to keep her safe, even after she gets asylum. Just last week the Russian government tried to kidnap a citizen who’d come to the U.S. for safety. If Bertocchi is a loose cannon, that’s what he could do.” He frowned. “Or already tried to do. Maybe that’s what he’s up to but had to get rid of Connor first.”
Whitney shivered at the thought of something happening to Connor. “That’s so extreme.”
“I can’t think of another reason why they’d go after our brother.”
“I—”
“Holy shit, who are they?” Nick was staring over her shoulder.
Whitney turned to see four women, all resembling Calla, one more beautiful than the next, enter the waiting area. Like proud Amazons, their carriage was erect, their heads held high. Each sported black hair of varying lengths, shining in the overhead lights.
“I think,” she said, “those are the Gentileschi sisters.”
o0o
Still stunned by Connor’s confession, Calla was barely holding it together when she caught sight of her sisters entering the waiting room. She turned to Brie. “I asked you not to let them know what was going on with Connor, that I might have been followed. I don’t want anyone else endangered by my situation.”
“Calm down, honey.” Brie seemed stronger now. “We saw a lot of them when you first got to the U.S. How do you think I kept them away from you in the last week?”
“They shouldn’t be—”
Her response was cut off with the arrival of the four girls. Francesca, the next oldest, spoke for them. “Come give us a hug before we read you the riot act.”
Calla surged out of the chair. Francesca took her into her arms. “I love you, Calla. I’m here to help. I can protect you.” She was a cop in Baltimore, which worried them all, but she had a right to choose her way of life.
Evangelina was next. “I’m so sorry, amata sorella .” She was the gentlest, and worked with babies in a neo-natal center.
“I love you, too, Evvie.”
The most emotional, Mariela, had been through a lot in her young life. She burst into tears in Calla’s arms.
“Shh, Mari, it will be all right.”
“Things don’t always turn out the way we expect, Calla.” Mari had married her boyfriend, who was also her betrothed, at seventeen, had one daughter, and then Marco died in a car accident when Mari was 20. She decided to come to the U.S. and get her law degree, and go back to Casarina to practice.
Last was Ravenna. Always the rebel, and against their father’s wishes, she’d eschewed college and went to France to train in art. She moved to the U.S. after she finished her schooling and got certified as an art therapist. “I know what it’s like to leave under a cloud, but mine was of my own making. I’m so sorry, sis.”
Calla hated that the girls could be dragged into this mess, too, hated that she’d done that to them, but so glad to see them, she let herself take pleasure in having at least six of them together during this awful afternoon. “Does Lexy know about what’s going on with me?”
“I’m sure she does, now that you called our parents,” Brie answered. “Mamá is keeping nothing from her.”
“At least she’s safe.”
“Calla,” her police-officer sister said, “you’re the one who’s not safe.”
Someone’s phone rang. Brie’s. “Hello.” She frowned. “It’s the king.” Brie always spoke of their father with obvious sarcasm. Gabriella harbored ill-will against Papá because of his rigid demands on Calla.
She took the phone. “Hello.”
“Callandra. I am afraid I have bad news.”
It was bad news, all right. After disconnecting, Calla said, only, “Come with me.” She crossed to Connor’s family with her own contingent behind her.
The Marinos all appeared a bit stunned, as most people did when the girls were together. “These are my sisters. I’ll introduce you in a minute, but I’ve gotten some news. My father and his guards went to see Lorenzo, but found he had disappeared from his estate two days ago.”
o0o
Connor awoke. After his confession, he’d fallen back to sleep for an hour and felt better now. His thoughts this time turned to Calla. He was still angered by the notion that she was considering going back to Casarina. But his heart hurt at the stricken look on her face when he confessed what happened to him after she left. Contradictory feelings ricocheted back and forth within him, making him dizzy.
/>
The door opened. Calla stood there, hesitantly. “Are you up for some company?”
“Yes, we need to talk.”
He wasn’t prepared for the entourage that followed her inside. What on earth? These must be her sisters. “Wow!” he said, forgetting his pique.
“They’re lovely, aren’t they?” Calla’s smile was so broad, it cut to his core. She used to smile at him like that. “Shall I introduce them to you?”
“Of course.” He eased up on the pillows. He could at least be gracious to her family, as she’d been to his.
So Connor met the Gentileschi sisters. Francesca, Ravenna, Evangelina and Mariela. For a minute, Brie’s blond blue-eyed looks amidst all the raven haired beauties startled him.
“I wish meeting you was under better circumstances.” Evangelina, fourth in family birth order, spoke softly, sincerely. Her long dark locks flowed down her back just like Calla’s, though they were wavy. She was also more slender.
“Hello, Connor. I’m Mariela. “I’m sorry you were hurt.” This sister was petite and wore a braid down her back. She seemed very young.
Ravenna was the feisty one, Calla had told him. Her hair had been cut very short and spiked. She didn’t speak, just nodded; she’d reserve judgment on him.
But Francesca, closest in age to Calla, wore an expression of Nick’s when he got mad, and moved closest to the bed. “I’m not as polite as the others. I’m pissed as hell at you. You’ve hurt my sister badly.”
“I can’t say how sorry I am for that.”
“Francesca, I hurt him more.”
“Bullshit.”
Gabe stepped forward. Connor hadn’t noticed his family and Max had entered the room, too. “Let’s avoid any family drama. Calla, tell Con what you just found out.”
“Lorenzo disappeared from his estate two days ago.”
“Shit, so he could be here. Would he have come after me?” Connor said.
“Eddie told us about the perpetrator,” Nick put in. “He wore a mask, but he had blond hair, some of which had escaped the cap. Bertocchi is swarthy and has dark hair.”
Instinctively Connor took Calla’s hand. There wasn’t a chance of having her in his life, but he loved her. “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t behind it. He could be after Calla.”