Page 26 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

‘Leave the cleaning things there. Sara will be back later—she’s recovered from the accident.’

Sadie took off the cleaning gloves and took a second to check her reflection. She groaned slightly. As she’d feared, a shiny face, and hair scraped back to stop it getting in her way.

She released her hair from the clip she was using to hold it and quickly ran her fingers through it, to try and make it look a tiny bit presentable. She left the room and made her way to the front of the house, where Quin was waiting by a small, sleek sports car in the main courtyard.

Sadie came down the steps. Her chest felt suspiciously tight. ‘You got your dream car.’

‘I did.’

From what Sadie remembered him telling her about this particular car, it was fully electric. She reached out and touched the sinuous line of the roof. ‘It’s beautiful.’

‘Sol loves it.’

Sadie looked at Quin, delighted by that fact. She wanted to hoover up every piece of information about her son.

Quin came around and opened the passenger door. Sadie had to contort herself slightly to get in, but the seat seemed to mould itself around her body like memory foam.

Quin got in and started the engine. Sadie could barely hear it as they made their way down the driveway and out into the suburban Sao Paulo streets. She felt a bit like an alien, beamed down onto planet Earth. She’d spent so much time hiding in the shadows that she’d never luxuriated in just being driven down a sunny street, looking at people going about their business.

Her life had been on hold and now, finally, it was beginning again. She was here with Quin, and whatever this was between them might be complicated and gnarly and prickly, but she was also with her son and that was the main thing.

Absurdly, emotion sprang up and made her eyes water.

Quin glanced at her at that moment and asked sharply, ‘Are you okay?’

‘Fine...fine,’ Sadie said quickly, blinking her eyes. ‘It’s just the sun.’

Quin reached over and pulled down the sun visor. He said, a little gruffly, ‘I didn’t think to let you get your bag or things.’

Sadie shrugged. ‘It’s fine. I don’t have much anyway.’ She thought of something and said a little stiffly, because she was suddenly embarrassed, ‘I’ll pay you back whatever I owe you when I can.’

Quin’s hands tightened marginally on the steering wheel. ‘You’ve been cleaning the house. I shouldn’t have let you do that.’

‘I didn’t mind,’ Sadie admitted easily. ‘I don’t like being idle. Anyway, it’s what I’ve been doing for the last four years, in between some hairdressing jobs, so I’m used to it.’

She felt Quin looking at her as they pulled to a stop at some traffic lights. They were getting closer to the city centre, and Sadie could feel her heartrate inevitably rise at the thought of all those people and the proliferation of CCTV cameras. She took a breath. It would take her a while not to worry about that any more.

‘So how did it work, then?’ Quin asked.

He sounded mildly interested, but Sadie could still hear a trace of scepticism. It hurt that he didn’t trust her, but she couldn’t blame him. In a way, she was lucky he hadn’t just thrown her out on her ear after hearing her story.

Sadie had to consciously relax her hands, which were clasped tightly together. ‘I moved around a lot. Stayed away from big cities.’

‘Aren’t they easier to get lost in?’

‘Surprisingly, no. There’s so much CCTV. I stuck to big towns, but not cities. I took menial jobs—cleaning offices and hotels. And I’d ask busy hair salons if they needed extra help at Christmas—things like that. Places that had enough foot traffic that the customers wouldn’t strike up a conversation or get to know you as a regular stylist.’

‘Where did you live?’

‘Hostels, mainly. Sometimes hotels, if I was lucky enough to have the funds. Sometimes I even got a short let.’

‘Didn’t the police give you any money?’

Sadie shook her head. ‘You’re expected to get a job and provide for yourself. They paid for my ticket to Brazil, and some modest funds to help me disappear, but that was it.’

‘You said you weren’t with anyone...?’

Sadie looked at him. Did he doubt what she’d told him? His profile was so hard.

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