“Shit. Sal,” she says.
It’s the last name I want to hear right now. “Shhh,” I tell her.
“No. No. Nick.” She starts to wiggle, moving away from my arms. That’s not acceptable. I want her warm and quiet right next to me. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill both of us if he finds out about this. I have to go.”
“Shhh,” I tell her again. “He’s not going to find out. I’ll be sure of that.”
“He’ll find out.” Her voice is starting to sound panicky. “He always finds out. He finds out everything.”
She’s wiggling too much for me to keep any control of her anymore. I sit up. “Just stay put, Sarah. It’ll be all right. In fact, you’re safer if you stay here. You go home now? In the middle of the night? What’s he going to think?”
She stops trying to get out from under the blankets, so I can tell my point has soaked in, but if anything she looks even more terrified. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to stay right here, as long as you need to.”
Nodding, she starts to pull herself back under control. “That could be a really long time.”
“Yes, it could.”
She puts her face in her hands, but she’s still getting quieter, calming down, the rapid breathing easing back down to normal. “I really fucked up this time. He’s going to take everything. The business—he’ll burn it down. All my stuff is at his house. There won’t be any of it left by the time I get back…” She trails off.
I pull her around so she’s facing me, pulling her hands out of the way so I can see her expression. I’d thought she was calmer, but she’s not—she’s just pushed everything back so far it’s not showing anymore. “Listen to me, Sarah. I’m going to take care of you. I promise.”
“Still… You can’t stop him from destroying my bakery, or—”
“Yes, I can. I’ll take care of you, and I’ll take care of the bakery. I’ll be sure he can’t touch you ever again. I swear to you.”
She’s quiet for a few long seconds, her hands closing on my arms while she searches my face. Finally she says, quietly, “You want something from me.”
“Honey, why would you say that?”
“Because wise guys always want something.” Her voice has gone thin. “You don’t give anything away for free.”
She’s right about that. She’s right about all of it. Sal made a deal with her, and I’m after a deal, too. What she’ll say to my conditions, I have no idea. But I think now that she knows what I can offer her—in bed, at least—she’ll be a little more amenable.
There’s no point denying it—she wouldn’t believe me anyway. By now, she knows the score. Sal has made sure she does. Whatever naiveté initially led her to him, he’s crushed it to death, I’m sure. “No. I don’t.”
“Then what is it you want from me? You might as well tell me now.”
“Let’s talk about it later. Right now, why don’t you get some sleep?”
Sarah sits bolt upright, glaring down at me. “Sleep? Seriously? You expect me to sleep right now?” So much for her veneer of calm. She’s sliding back into panic, and that’s not a good place for her to be.
“It’s okay, honey. I promise. We can talk about the details tomorrow. Right now, let’s just relax.”
“No. If I stay here…if I spend the night, you’re going to assume I’m agreeing.”
“No, I won’t. You’ve got time to think about it.”
She’s adamant, though. “No. You’ll make assumptions, and I don’t want to be beholden to you for your protection before I know what you expect in return. Not even for tonight.”
Dealing with Sal has definitely taught her something. But I’m not going to just lay it all out for her when she’s in this kind of mood. She’ll bolt and run, and I won’t get what I want, and she just might end up dead. That’s not acceptable on either count.
“Look.” I take her hands in mine and kiss the back of one of them. “Let’s get dressed and go down and have some coffee or something. We can talk. I don’t want you getting yourself worked up over nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Nick. It’s my life.”
“Okay, no, it’s not nothing. But you don’t need to worry about it. I’m going to take care of you. I promise.”
I’m sure she’s going to press me again, demand details, but she doesn’t. She hesitates, and then she nods. “All right. We can talk. But I want some straight answers from you.”