by Anthology
“The alcohol in his system likely kept him from feeling too much pain from your blows,” Val continued as she studied the backs of her hands, “but even so, he was already barely conscious when I pulled him off you.”
Ellie closed her eyes and grimaced. “Still, I can’t thank you enough for helping me. He had my head in his hands. I think his main goal was to bash my brains out on the street. He was furious about his truck even though it was his own fault for running that stop sign.”
“As inebriated as he was, I doubt he even saw the sign,” Val said dryly.
A flash of blue light in her peripheral caught her attention, and she turned her head towards her window to see the first of two police cars arrive on the scene. Ellie reached for the door handle, but a hand on her shoulder made her freeze.
“I still don’t think you should move around too much,” he said firmly. “I’ll go speak to them first and then bring them to you.”
The moment he had touched her, her tongue had seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth as a surge of apprehension flooded her mind so that all she could do was nod in reply. As soon as Val was out of the car, Ellie shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle.
It had been a couple of years since being unexpectedly touched had bothered her so much. Just when she had thought that she had finally started to put that whole horrible incident from her childhood behind her, some drunk asshole had to show up and remind her just how much of a bitch life could be.
The windows of Val’s car were tinted darker than she thought was legal, but Ellie could still make out four dark shapes huddled together next to the first cruiser, the blue and red flashing lights and blizzard-like flurries giving the whole scene a surreal look. Then the ambulance arrived, and she saw what was probably Val and one of the cops break off from the group to meet the newly-arrived paramedics while the other two headed towards the two wrecked vehicles still sitting at odd angles in the middle of the road.
Ellie opened the door before any of them reached the car, gasping as her body was instantly blasted by the wind and snow. Then for the next thirty minutes, she recounted everything that had happened to the female police officer Val had brought over while one of the EMTs fussed over her. The officer kept looking between her and Val with an almost perplexed look on her face, making Ellie suspect that the woman was drawing the wrong conclusions as to why Val was there at all.
God, the thought of being in the gossip limelight again was nauseating.
However, once the officer had all the information she needed from Ellie, all she said before she left to rejoin her partner was, “We’ll be in touch. Please call us if you think of anything else you would like us to add to the report.”
After the EMT disinfected the small wounds on her knuckles and wrapped them both in gauze and hearing his comments about the bump on her head, Ellie declined to go to the hospital. She just wanted to go to her hotel room, collapse onto the bed, and forget this entire, horrible day ever happened.
Looking reluctant, the EMT said sternly, “Go to the emergency room immediately if your headache persists or worsens, or if you start to feel confused and dizzy again.”
“I will,” Ellie replied sincerely.
“I really think you should go to the hospital,” Val said with a frown of disapproval. “If your hesitance is because you don’t want to go by ambulance, then I would be happy to take you.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be okay,” she said with a small smile as she started to edge out of the car, pleased that her feet were steady and her earlier dizziness didn’t return.
She only managed a couple of steps before Val stepped in front of her. “You honestly don’t think I’m going to let you drive with a head wound, do you?” he demanded, looking down at her with narrowed eyes. He then snorted in amusement and looked over at Cassie’s car before Ellie could offer a retort. “Not that I think your car is drivable, anyway.”
Her eyes followed his, and she gasped when she finally got her first good look at the wrecked car. Had she been going a little bit faster, she imagined she would probably be on her way to the hospital in that ambulance right now. As it were, the front bumper was barely still attached by only a corner, and the hood was slightly popped and deformed. There was also an ominous cloud of black smoke rising from that deformed hood.
Yeah…she was definitely not driving that car anytime soon, head wound or not.
“Come on,” Val said, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and urging her back towards his car. “Let’s get out of this weather. If I can’t convince you to go get checked out at the hospital, then I can at the very least make sure you get back to the hotel safely.”
“Oh God—Cassie’s going to kill me,” Ellie moaned as she glanced back one last time at the mess she had made of the car before climbing back into the backseat of Val’s car.
Val shut the door and then walked around the back of the car to the other side where his driver was already holding the door open for him.
“Cassie?” he asked once he was seated beside her.
“My friend. She’s the blonde woman that was with me when I was checking into the hotel.”
Ellie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She hoped the pain meds the EMT had given her would start to kick in soon.
“Believe it or not,” she continued, “this isn’t the first bit of car trouble I’ve had today. My motor clunked out just as I was nearing the city, so she loaned me her car until mine was fixed. I was supposed to leave for New York in the morning, but between the weather and this whole mess tonight, that obviously isn’t going to happen.”
“You do look around college age,” he mused. “Going home for Christmas break?”
“To visit my sister,” Ellie corrected, “but yeah, something like that. I’m a med student.”
His thoughtful look increased. “I’m absolutely sure I know you,” he said after a moment of silence, “but nothing you’ve told me about yourself rings a bell at all. It’s strange.”
“Maybe you met someone that looked like me while you were drunk,” she offered half-jokingly.
“Maybe…”
He actually sounded as if he was seriously considering it. Was he the type that partied a lot? He looked to be in his thirties, but maybe she was wrong. He could very well be the typical trust fund kid living the good life until his father’s illness forced him to actually work.
Not knowing how to respond to him, Ellie turned to look out the window and saw the Marcello just up ahead. It was then that she realized that she had left all her luggage and her purse back in the car!
“I’m sorry, but can you take me back to my car?” Ellie asked hesitantly. “I just realized that I left my purse on the front seat, and all my luggage is still in the trunk. I bet my keys are still in the ignition!”
“Don’t worry about that,” Val said. “I’ll send some of my people to retrieve them—your car as well.”
Ellie blinked in surprise. “But—my hotel room keycard—”
“We’ll get you another one,” he cut in. “You can’t see it, but your eyes still look a bit glassy. You just worry about getting some rest, and let me worry about all the rest.”
“But—” she began uncomfortably and then trailed off, once again unsure how to respond.
It also made her feel more alarmed about the bump on her head than before. Did she really look so bad that it made Val—who was practically a total stranger—feel obligated to help her to such an extent? Was she being stupid for refusing to go to the hospital?
“Relax,” he said, his voice low.
The timbre of it sent an odd shiver throughout her body, but at the same time, she felt the tension in her shoulders begin to ease. He slowly reached over to grasp her left hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. His hand was almost shockingly warm against her still half-frozen skin, and yet, Ellie felt herself relax even further.
Even the fact that he was staring intently at her wasn’t uncomfortable. She found herself st
aring back as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Just like the first time she had seen them, his gorgeous blue eyes drew her in like a moth to a flame.
Then he blinked, and the almost-trance she had fallen into was broken.
What the heck?
Suddenly very aware that Val was holding her hand, Ellie pulled it from his grip with a nervous laugh and raised it to briefly cover her eyes before letting it fall back onto her lap. “I think my head is still a bit foggy, sorry.”
The edges of his lips quirked up, though the expression in his eyes remained as serious as before. Even so, she had the strongest suspicion that he was laughing at her inside.
Thankfully, they had just pulled to a stop in the loading zone of the hotel, and a valet rushed to open her door, saving her from that awkward moment. She self-consciously mashed her bangs over the lump on her forehead before accepting the valet’s hand as he helped her out of the car while another valet was opening Val’s door. Then Val was beside her and offering her his arm, which she shyly accepted.
After stopping at the front desk to get another keycard amidst the stares of everyone in the vicinity, including the front desk clerk, Val escorted her to the elevators. As she thanked him again for all his help, he once again reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips to kiss the back of it briefly.
“You can thank me by having dinner with me tomorrow,” he said with an utterly charming grin. “Let’s see if we can’t crack the mystery of your familiarity.”
It wasn’t until Ellie was alone in her room that it occurred to her to wonder why she had accepted his invitation without so much as a beat of hesitation, or even why she had felt so comfortable with a man that was pretty much a stranger. For someone who was often teased for her reticence when meeting new people, this sudden openness was more than a little strange.
She worried over the problem as she lay on the bed without bothering to draw down the blankets. What was it about this man that was so different? He was handsome and charming, yes, but so were a lot of the other men her friends or even her sister before she had moved to New York were always trying to set her up with. She had met each one with an air of caution and distance that wouldn’t start to disappear until at least a few weeks had passed—if their dates even continued that far to begin with.
Was this time different because she had suffered a horrible shock and she had unconsciously latched onto the person who had saved her from being brutally beaten, maybe even saved her life?
An hour later, her luggage and purse were delivered to her room as promised, and Ellie was grateful for the distraction, having done a fine job of working herself up until her entire body seemed knotted with tension. A long, hot bath was just what she needed.
She resolved not to think about being assaulted or Valerio Marcello for the rest of the night.
3
A hard knock at the door nearly made Ellie poke out her eye with her mascara wand. Wondering if it was Val, she went to the door with a feeling of both trepidation and—if she was being honest with herself—excitement.
She stood on her tiptoes and peered through the peephole. Rather than her rescuer, the same bellhop that had delivered her luggage to her room last night stood stiffly with a single red rose and a white, square envelope with gold filigree in an elegant pattern along the edges in his hands.
Feeling some of her rising tension ease, Ellie called through the door, “Yes?”
“Sorry to disturb you, Miss Bradford, but I have a delivery and message for you from Mr. Marcello.”
Sending a single rose—it was rather sweet.
Ellie opened the door and accepted the items. “If you’ll just wait there a moment, I’ll be right back with a tip.”
“No need, ma’am,” the bellhop said quickly. “Mr. Marcello has already taken care of that. Have a nice day.”
Then before she could say anything, he turned on his heel and hurried away.
With a sigh, she closed the door and then sat on the bed in order to read Val’s note, a little disgruntled that she was thinking of the hotel mogul as “Val” and not “Mr. Marcello” after knowing him for only a few hours. His message was written on the hotel’s stationary in a rather elegant handwriting that she rarely saw anymore. Of course, he had probably gone to fancy boarding schools in Europe, so his beautiful handwriting shouldn’t have been too surprising.
The note expressed his concern for her injuries as well as his eagerness for their dinner date later that evening. Her eyebrows rose when she read the part about him having Cassie’s car towed to an auto body shop in the city for repairs.
The police emailed me their report along with the bastard’s insurance information. It should be repaired and sent back to the hotel by the time the roads clear.
As for dinner, meet me in front of the restaurant at seven this evening. I’ll be waiting.
Ellie frowned. By not coming up to her room, it was as though he was giving her the choice to not show up at all. The more she interacted with him, the more Ellie was beginning to wonder if his insistence that he knew her was really just some sort of game he was playing with her. The super rich could sometimes be eccentric like that. She just couldn’t believe that someone could be this helpful to a total stranger, vaguely familiar to them or not.
Her eyes fell on her cell phone lying on the nightstand. She hadn’t called or texted Cassie about the accident yet. She hadn’t wanted to freak her friend out. Knowing Cassie, she would have immediately demanded Grant bring her to the hotel, terrible driving conditions be damned. Had she or Grant even been able to go to work this morning?
Ellie reached for the phone. She really needed Cassie’s advice regarding Val. Might as well call and fess up about wrecking her friend’s car, first.
“Only you, Ellie, I swear,” Cassie bemoaned after Ellie finished recounting all the horrible events of the previous night. “Although—you couldn’t have picked a better knight in shining armor to rescue you if you tried. At least you were lucky that the accident happened near the hotel.”
“That’s the only reason why I agreed to have dinner with him, but…”
Cassie sighed heavily into the phone. “Of course there’s a ‘but.’ Ellie, this could be a good thing.”
“It could,” Ellie acknowledged, “but I doubt it. Even if we hit it off, I have school. I don’t have the time for a relationship, much less a long-distanced one because that’s what it would have to be. Plus, I’m still not convinced that he’s not just playing with me. He’s just a little too good to be true.”
“Like I said before, no one’s saying you have to marry the guy. Go have dinner with him, talk, have fun. Who knows—even if the romance doesn’t work out, then you could at the very least have found a very good friend.”
“You make it sound so simple,” Ellie said as she absently brushed her bangs out of her eyes, wincing as she accidentally touched the ugly knot on her forehead.
It was lucky that she hadn’t had the time for a trim before the trip. She would at least be saved from the stares it would have attracted. She mentally snorted. Yeah right. She was going to dinner with, as Cassie had implied, the city’s most eligible bachelor. If not stares, then there would definitely be whispers, covert photos, and maybe even an article or two.
Ellie grimaced. She sure was doing a great job of talking herself out of going through with the date.
“My head says it’s not, but my heart—well, my heart totally agrees with you. I haven’t been out with anyone in months.”
“That’s the spirit!” Cassie exclaimed enthusiastically. “Just be sure to give me all the juicy details later. I promise I won’t sell the scoop to the highest bidder.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Ellie groused.
“It’s too bad we’re pretty much snowed in for the day,” Cassie said wistfully. “We could’ve gone shopping. I really hope you packed a sexy dress or two.”
“I don’t know about sexy, but you do realize that I was heading to N
ew York, right? Liz plans on dragging me to all her favorite nightlife haunts in the city this weekend—if I ever get there.”
“Maybe next year Grant and I can tag along. You did say your family was planning on making it a yearly thing, right? The last time I was in New York City, I was twelve and stuck the entire weekend in a hotel room while my parents attended one of their boring conferences…”
As Cassie chatted on, Ellie climbed completely onto the bed, fluffed up a few pillows, and positioned them and herself against the headboard. She would order room service for lunch instead of going down, she decided. Chatting with Cassie and maybe actually watching a little TV for once would probably be best until she met up with Val later that evening. That way she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally bumping into him before she was really ready to see him again.
And maybe—her stomach fluttered excitedly at the thought—she might actually end up enjoying her time with him. Everyone was right. It was time she closed her school books and tried to have a little fun.
At least until the semester started again.
* * *
Ellie knew Val was looking at her even before she spotted him. It was the same feeling she’d had yesterday when she had practically run out of the hotel with Cassie in tow after meeting him for the first time, as though a heavy weight had settled onto her shoulders. Her eyes scanned the groups of people standing near or heading towards the entrance to the hotel’s restaurant.
Her chest tightened as her gaze abruptly found him, standing to the right of the hostess’s podium and staring directly at her with a half-smile. Then a pair of couples stepped into her line of sight, blocking him from view before she could even blink.
Taking a deep breath, Ellie walked over to the restaurant as casually as she could, her stomach doing flip-flops when the four people were led away and Val was once again visible. God, but he really was gorgeous, especially when he smiled. The hostess’s friendly expression sharpened as Val stepped forward and met her at the restaurant’s entrance as promised.