Page 8 of Heartbeats Amidst Chaos: Part 2

“I do,” she said briefly. “But I don’t know why they should have any interest in me.”

“I told them they shouldn’t,” Elio sighed. “But they’re paranoid. They want someone to keep an eye on you, so I volunteered—to keep everyone else away. Then there’s whoever was responsible for the bombing. We don’t know who or what they are, but it looks like they specifically set me up. Which means they’re probably none too happy that I escaped. Which may mean they have the same interest in you that my family has, but for the opposite reason.”

“That sounds very confusing and ominous,” Rissa said. Elio was astonished by how calmly she was taking all of this.

“I’m sorry,” he said, staring down at his untouched cinnamon roll. “I didn’t want to drag you into this, but I know it’s my fault that I have. I never should have used you as a hostage. It was just the only plan I could come up with. And if I hadn’t escaped the hospital when I did, I would be in prison now and the detectives would be telling everyone that the bomber was safely behind bars when in reality, he’s still out there, probably building more bombs.”

He trailed off, astonished at himself for having talked for so long. Rissa was just sitting there quietly, absorbing every word he said. It was like breaking a dam to be able to just pour all of this out to someone who actually listened.

“So, let me get this straight,” she said. “I’m being watched by the police, by some other unknown group, and by you, as an emissary of the Accardi family. I’m potentially in danger from all of them. And you’re telling me all of this, why?”

Elio shifted. “I guess I was hoping we could work together,” he said. “I keep an eye on things from the outside and you keep an eye on things from the inside, and we compare notes to see if they lead us to whoever our shared enemy is.”

“Hmm,” said Rissa. She nodded at his untouched roll. “Why aren’t you eating?” Her glance was keen. “Do you feel all right? Pain manageable? Sick to your stomach at all?”

“I feel fine,” Elio said, confused and slightly irritated by the abrupt subject change. Truth be told, hedidfeel sick to hisstomach, and every part of his body twinged with pain. He was just adjusting to tuning it out.

Rissa scanned his face with knowing eyes, but once again, all she said was, “Hmm.” It was very cryptic, and Elio had no idea what to do with it.

The warm, sexual firebrand of a woman whom he had crushed against the wall and kissed only an hour before had somehow retreated into a snow queen whom he had no idea how to read. But he was, at that moment, willing to spend as long as it took to learn.

Chapter six

“Are you kidding me right now?” Reagan cried, much louder than necessary since she had thrown her arms around Rissa and her mouth was next to her ear. “I’ve been dying over here trying to find out what is going on with you and where you disappeared to. You don’t call, you don’t text until suddenly you do, asking me out for coffee? Like this is just some normal day and nothingcrazyis going on?”

She pulled back to look Rissa full in the face, her gaze searching. “Girl, are you okay?”

Rissa smiled. The genuine concern in her friend’s face warmed her heart. Reagan looked beautiful as usual, like a character out of a book. She wore a short green pleated skirt, tall boots, and a white blouse that hugged her bosom tightly, looking as if the topmost buttons had burst open by accident. Her chocolate brown hair was tucked into an intricate braid along one sideof her head that gave way to curls tumbling over the opposite shoulder, and a tiny green beret perched jauntily on the back of her head.

Reagan’s rosy cheeks, turned-up nose, and spatter of freckles were almost as familiar to Rissa as her own sterner features, but she found herself searching her friend’s face. So much had changed since they had last seen one another. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“I’m fine,” she answered Reagan’s question, noting that the worry in her friend’s blue-green eyes did not subside. “The police had my cellphone until this morning. That’s why I wasn’t able to call you.”

“There were no other phones in the police station?” Reagan asked pertly.

“Not where I was,” Rissa sighed.

The two settled at the table in the little out-of-the-way café that was almost as cozy as the bakery where she had her date with Elio.

It wasn’t a date,she scolded herself, reaching for the black coffee she ordered while waiting for Reagan and wrapping her fingers around it for comfort. It sure had felt like one though.

Her stomach still fluttered as she thought back to sitting across from him, the smell of bread and cinnamon and vanilla filling her nostrils and lulling her into a sense of contentment. A sweet,lovely bakery was not what Rissa would have anticipated being Elio’s regular haunt.

She still wasn’t sure about his idea of working together, which was part of the reason she had asked Reagan to meet her. But she had let him drive her to within a block of her home, after which she had walked and then crept back into her own house.

He’s already making me act like a criminal—keeping information from the police and sneaking around under their very noses. What am I going to end up doing if I stay in contact with him?

The thought sent a thrill through her that wasn’t entirely apprehension. She had known the moment she saw Elio standing at her bedroom window that he wasnotgone from her life forever after all. No, he was somehow here to stay, but in what capacity remained to be seen.

“Earth to Marissa!” Reagan exclaimed in a sing-song voice, and Rissa yanked her attention back to her friend, who had been chattering for the past couple of minutes while she had been lost in her thoughts. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Reagan asked, her brows crinkling over her eyes and her head tilted. “It’s not like you to zone out like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Rissa said, flushing. “There’s just so much going through my mind after all that’s happened. I don’t even know where to begin. And I still haven’t had that much sleep.”

“Tell me they’ve given you a good long leave from the hospital for recovery from traumatic events,” Reagan said, and Rissa smiled ruefully.

“I’m on leave all right. I’m not sure that’s the only reason though.”

“What do you mean?”

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