Secret Passions (11 page)

He shook his head. Damn, he needed to keep his wits about him if they were going to make it out of this. He’d tried calling Ethan again, this time leaving a more desperate sounding voice mail.

The water turned off in the next room and he wondered why he couldn’t stop thinking about her in that way. Why every time she walked into the room, he wanted to touch her. He could hear her moving around and imagined her sliding the towel over her body, drying it. Remembering what she looked like, what she tasted like. He knew there was no way to fight the attraction now, especially since his feelings for her had moved beyond lust.

He knew she had strong feelings for him. It was written on her face every time she looked at him. He looked up as she walked into the room and when she met his eyes, she stopped brushing her hair. He noticed the red streaks were no longer present. He kind of missed the bright color in her hair.

“If you want to shower...?” She motioned towards the bathroom. He stood up and walked towards her. For a second, he could see desire flash in her eyes, then she blinked and looked down. He smiled and walked by her into the restroom.

He knew he needed to stay focused. He knew he wanted her, and they had too much planning that needed to happen before he could take the time to sort through his feelings for her.

Taking his time in the bathroom, he thought he had come up with a plan when he walked out to find her fast asleep on the bed farthest from the door. Walking over, he turned the light off and crawled in next to her, pulling her close. He needed to hold her in his arms, to sleep touching her, knowing she was safe.

His mind refused to shut down and it took him almost an hour to finally drift off. When he did, the dream started.

Her hands moved over his bare chest slowly, running her fingers up his skin lightly, causing him to moan. She ran kisses along his collar bone as her hands traveled over him. He reached down and found her naked. Touching her skin, he noticed she was still wet from her shower. Her hair smelled of shampoo, and he buried his face in the soft tresses, kissing his way down her neck as she moved her hips against his. Then she was leaning over him, a knee on either side of his hips, her core touching his, causing friction and heat to spread throughout his system.

“Sandi,” he moaned, holding her hips still as she moved against him. He couldn’t think. He knew he needed something... But, what?

“Mitchell, help me.” Her voice was like a shout in the night. He awoke from the dream and bolted upright. He looked around the dark room. Sandi lay next to him, her head turning back and forth with the nightmare.

Gently he scooped her up and woke her slowly, kissing her forehead and talking to her sweetly. He’d never cared so much about someone before. The joy he felt when he realized she’d called to him in her sleep caused his heart to hurt.

Her eyes finally fluttered opened and he looked into her tired eyes.

“Mitch?” she asked.

“Shh, it’s okay. The dream is gone now. You’re safe.”

“I couldn’t find you. Someone was chasing me and I couldn’t find you.”

“I’m right here. I won’t leave you.” She sighed and snuggled her head against his bare chest. He enjoyed the feel of her cheek against his skin and started running his hands through her hair.

“Thank you, Mitchell.”

“Stop thanking me. I’m not doing this for your gratitude.”

She pulled back and looked at him. “Why
ar
e you doing this?”

He thought about it a second. “I suppose it’s because I feel guilty. Guilty for getting you into this mess with your family.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything but save me from a nightmare. If it wasn’t for you...”

“Shh. Don’t think about it.”

“How can I not?” She looked up at him. “You say you don’t want my gratitude. You keep blaming yourself for the mess my family has caused. I don’t know how to show you how much you mean to me.” She reached up and cupped his face, bringing it down to hers in a light kiss that seared his heart.

He ran his hands over her and enjoyed the feel of her skin on his. He could have taken her. He wanted to take her.

Just then his cell phone rang, causing her to jump.

“Easy, it’s just my phone.” He reached over and after seeing the number, punched answer.

“Yes?”

Thirty minutes later they walked into the hospital. “We’re here to see John Alfonso. He was brought in about an hour ago.”

They made their way to the room where John was propped up with tubes sticking out of his arms. As they walked in, John looked up.

“You guys didn’t have to come all the way down here,” he said as a nurse took his blood pressure.

“I wouldn’t have heard the end of it if we hadn’t come. Sandi demanded it.” He smiled as he walked over and shook the man’s hand. Sandi slowly approached the man, tears streaking down her face.

“John, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know my family would do something like this.” She took his hand.

“You had nothing to do with this. I was just doing my job. When I saw that young man sniffing around, I recognized him right off. Mr. Kovich showed me pictures of your family. By the time he approached me, I had already called the cops. They showed up and he took off. I hadn’t heard if they nabbed him yet?” He looked at Mitchell.

“I haven’t heard either.”

“Are you going to be alright?”

“Sure, nothing that a few days off won’t fix. Banged me around pretty good, I used to be quite the fighter in my day. That’s how I got the job back in eighty-two. The boss comes into the boxing gym where I used to workout. He sees me and Mikie, my little brother. He offers us both jobs right there. I’ve been working there ever since. Mikie took another job across town to be closer to his kids a few years back.”

Sandi had stood and smiled down at John the entire story.

“Well, the only reason I came down to get checked up on was my old ticker here.” He pounded his chest lightly. “It isn’t what it used to be, and the cops thought I might want to get checked out. No real harm done. Got myself a nice looking shiner though.” He touched his left eye which was swollen. Then his face sobered. “He got my gun, though. Damn new boss made me start carrying one a few years back. They said it was for extra safety measures.” He looked up at them. “The reason I called you two is to warn you that he was asking after Sandi. Kept asking me where she was. Sounded like he knew you weren’t staying at your place anymore.”

“I’m happy you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do if anything bad had happened.”

“Don’t worry about me none. I didn’t tell him anything. Besides I didn’t know where you were so I couldn’t have told him anyway.” He smiled a little. Just then the doctor walked in and they excused themselves, saying their goodbyes and heading back to the hotel.

When they entered the room Sandi sat on the unmade bed and looked down at her hands.

“Mitch, I think I need to go away so no one else gets hurt. If I can get my hands on my money, I can leave the country and my cousin will never know.”

“Until what? One night you’re sitting in a hotel and they come knocking on your door? No, Sandi.” He sat beside her and took her hand. “We need to find out who is betraying you. How they found you. How he seems to always be one step behind us.”

She nodded her head in agreement.

“I know I’ve asked you this before, but you haven’t been in contact with anyone from your old life, correct?”

“I haven’t seen or talked to anyone from Puri since I was two days shy of my eighteenth birthday. No one from Kovich and Edward Agency knew my real name. All my paperwork and financial records are under my new name, Samantha Rain, which Ethan gave me five years ago.”

“Tell me about your art. What projects has Eve had you working on?”

She thought about it for a minute. “I just finished a project a few months ago for a charity auction. The benefits went to a women’s shelter that I stayed in when I first arrived.”

“What’s the name of the shelter?” He took the hotel pad and pen and started writing out the details of her life.

They spent the rest of the morning going over every tiny part of her last five years in the States. Every project she’d worked on, every charity she’d contributed to. In his mind there had to be a hole somewhere. Now he just needed a computer so he could find the hole and seal it up. Then she could start over again, living without fear.

L
ater that day they took the subway across town to the library. Mitchell didn’t let go of her hand once. It was almost as if he was afraid he’d lose her. She’d never been to this library before and when they walked in she stopped to stare at the massive columns and windows.

“Here, this way. The computers are on the next level. They walked up the large stairs and sat down at an empty computer.

“What are we looking for?”

“I’m not sure yet. I guess we’ll know when we find it.”

He got to work, typing and searching from the list they had made earlier. Every event she’d done pieces for over the last five years was listed, as well as the places she had donated money to..

A while later Mitchell found what they were looking for. Apparently one of her art pieces had been sold to a restaurant in Bhubaneswar, which was just an hour and a half from Puri. The piece currently hung in the main dining hall. Mitchell found a photo of it. Guessing that someone from her family had seen it and recognized it as her work was the first lead they’d actually had.

They were making progress. At least they thought they were. Leaving the library, they headed back across town. Mitchell got a call from Carter as they were exiting the subway station. Sandi tried to understand what was being discussed, as she watched two kids play in front of a large house. The small boy chased the girl around playfully which caused an old memory to surface. She stood there watching the kids as Mitch talked on the phone and her mind flew to her past.

“Anish, you’re cheating,” Sannidhi said as she fell to the soft dirt of the garden, her clean skirt getting dirty in the grass.

“I never cheat. You are just too slow. Girls are slower and dumber than boys. Didn’t you know that? Oh, I forgot, you’re a girl, you don’t know anything.” Anish stood over her as she pulled her knees to her chest and looked up at him. He was just a year older than her, but she was already taller and outweighed him.

“I’m not dumb.” To Sannidhi’s six-year-old mind she was the smartest kid she knew, including her cousin. Anish was always picking on her, causing her to fall down. But ever since she’d outgrown him last year, he’d had a harder time at it.

They’d been playing tag in the garden, waiting for their parents to finish a very important meeting, when Anish had jumped through the bushes to push her down. He’d cut right across the hedges and now there was a large hole where he’d gone through.

“I’m going to tell. Look at me. I was supposed to stay clean and now I’m dirty.”

“Who cares? No one cares what you look like, only how much you are worth.”

“What do you mean?” She stood up, her little hands balled in fists by her sides.

“Don’t you get it?” Anish smiled, showing off his crooked tooth in front. “They are meeting about your bride's price. There is a family in there that is going to pay your father and mine to take you away, so we never have to bother with you again.”

Sannidhi fought back the tears. Anish was lying. He always told stories to make her cry. There was no way her father would ever sell her.

“You’re lying!” she said and stomped her foot as she put her hands on her hips.

“No, I’m not.” He smiled bigger. “It’s called a bride's daw-dy. Or something like that.”

Sannidhi could tell when her cousin was lying. This time, as she looked into his dark eyes, she saw something that scared her.

“Why? Why would they do this?”

“Because you are a stupid girl and that’s what you are made for. When you get old enough, your family makes money so you can go cook and please a man. That's all girls are good for. I plan on having several wives, like my father does.” He crossed his small arms and puffed out his chest. “That way I can be pleased all the time.”

Sannidhi’s eyes teared up. “It’s not fair.” It came out as a whisper as tears fell down her cheeks.

“Girls don’t get fair. They get what men decide they get and nothing more.”

Sannidhi had heard enough. She took off running towards the white doors, racing to her mother to see if what her cousin had said was true. When her mother confirmed her destiny, Sannidhi never played with her cousin again.

“Sandi?” Her thoughts were interrupted by Mitchell.

“Come on, we’re leaving town.” Mitch looked worried and upset.

“Why? What’s happened?”

“
My office was broken into last night. Files thrown everywhere. Apparently your file is missing.”

“What?” She stopped walking and pulled him to a stop. “They broke into your office? Is anyone hurt?”

“No. No one was working last night, but they did quite a bit of damage.” He took her hand as they continued down the street towards the park.

“Why are we leaving town?”

“They could have gotten information off Carter’s computer. He made the reservations for our hotel under the business card. If they did a little research, they’d find us. We’re better safe than sorry at this point.” The hotel was just a quick walk through the park and when they were halfway there, they heard the sirens and saw the smoke. He pulled her to a stop.

“What is that?” She couldn’t make sense of the dark cloud over the hotel.

“It looks like the whole building is on fire.” They rushed towards the edge of the park, stopping just at the gates to watch the firemen battle the flames that were shooting from the fourth floor windows.

All eyes were on the flames, but when Sandi looked around, she noticed her cousin standing across the street, looking right at them.

“Mitchell, Anish is here.” She pointed. A second later, her cousin was darting across the street heading right towards them. Mitchell grabbed her hand and yanked her back into the park. They ran along the path eating up as much distance as they could. She looked back and saw her cousin close on their heels. She wanted to turn and confront him, but remembered he had John's gun now. She didn’t know where her father was either. Was this another trap like the one they had set at the market?

They zigzagged through the park, running down trails she’d never seen or been on before. When they came to the large bridge that crossed the water, they darted to the left down a small pathway instead of going over it.

Here the trees and bushes were a lot thicker. They hit her face and arms as they ran through and after a few minutes of this, Mitchell pulled her behind a large tree and held her against it.

“
Shh.” He pulled up tight against her. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. A million questions ran through her mind. Had her family set fire to the hotel? She knew they wanted her money, knew they wanted her dead. She knew her cousin and uncle would go to extremes to get their hands on her, but she had always thought better of her father. He’d never once treated her like her uncle and cousin had. He hadn’t even treated her mother like she was his property. When she’d found out that her parents had gone through the same thing they had planned for her, it had torn a small hole in her hope. She’d been thirteen and she’d finally built up enough courage to ask her mother how she and her father had met.

“We met as all couples should, on our wedding day.”

She’d been shocked. Her parents acted as if they loved each other. Her father had always treated her mother with respect and kindness, never treating her like she was his property as her cousin had hinted she would become.

“Do you love each other?”

Her mother had smiled at her. “In our own way, yes.”

That answer had never satisfied Sandi. She opened her eyes now and saw that Mitchell was looking at her. His green eyes were inches from her own, his body pressed tight hers as she leaned against the base of the tree, its bark biting into her hands and back.

“I think we've lost them,” he whispered next to her ear. She nodded, wanting to ask questions, but she was afraid of speaking. How long should they stay there? Which direction should they go? Where would they go? Why wouldn’t he kiss her and end this hunger she felt deep inside.

Her eyes traveled to his lips and back up to his eyes. She watched his eyes travel the same path that hers had.  He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, holding still until she tried to move, wanting more.

He pulled back and shook his head. “Come on, we’re not safe here.” He took her hand and they quickly made their way through the wooded area until they reached a lit pathway. Here there were other people. Couples walking hand in hand, people riding bikes, families playing with dogs and kids.

She sighed and wished for a piece of that normalcy in her life. Would she and Mitchell ever get to just sit in a park watching the sunset? Would they have children they could take out in public without fear of running into someone from her family? She wanted children. Had always wanted children. But living like she had the last five years, she’d decided against ever putting a child through that kind of hell. Looking over at Mitch as they walked through the park briskly, she wondered if he wanted kids and if he even wanted marriage.

They were approaching the edge of the park, and Mitchell’s eyes were everywhere, checking every bush, ever hidden corner. She scanned the people, looking for her father or cousin. When they hit the street, he waved for a cab.

The taxi ride through the city was a long one. Finally, after Mitchell was confident they weren’t being followed, they drove to a car rental place, arriving just before dark. She was starved since they had only had small sandwiches for lunch before they’d arrived at the library. While Mitch rented a car she stood there looking into the vending machine, wishing for some change.

“We can do better than some candy bars and chips. We’ll stop someplace after we put some ground between us and the city.” That ended up being easier said than done since it took them at least another hour to finally make it out of the city and on to the open highway.

“Can you make it a little farther? I know this great place to stop just a few minutes away.” She nodded her head and felt like closing her eyes. She’d never been more tired and beat down in her life. Why was this happening to her? She’d never done anything bad in her life, nothing to cause such grief.

“Sandi?”

She looked over at Mitch as he drove. “Yes?”