Page 35 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

Sadie felt she might need some sustenance for whatever it was Quin wanted to talk about. ‘Sure—whatever you’re having.’

‘I’m having whisky.’

‘I’ll have a little. Maybe I’m developing a taste for it.’

Quin poured her a drink, and then one for himself, and brought over two crystal tumblers, handing her one.

‘I’ve watered it down.’

‘Thank you.’ Sadie accepted the glass and took a sip. It didn’t taste as strong as it had last night. It trickled down into her stomach and sent out a warming glow.

Quin faced her, and after a moment said baldly, ‘I know you’re telling the truth.’

Something bubbled up inside Sadie: relief.

Quin went on. ‘I spoke to a friend of mine. He owns a security company and I asked him to verify what you told me.’

The bubble of relief burst. So Quin hadn’t come to believe she was telling the truth because he trusted her. He’d had her story verified. But she’d more or less instructed him to do that, so she shouldn’t really be feeling hurt.

‘What did he tell you?’ she asked, as if there wasn’t a great gaping chasm opening up in her chest.

‘He confirmed what you told me. He told me the gang were notoriously dangerous. He told me that you were an unfortunate victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also told me that one of them appeared in Sao Paulo as recently as last year.’

Sadie could almost feel the blood rushing out of her head before dizziness took hold.

Quin was by her side in a second, taking her arm and saying, ‘Sit down.’ He cursed softly as she did so, and said, ‘I shouldn’t have told you that.’

Sadie had gone cold all over at the thought of one of those odious men here. So close to Quin and Sol in spite of everything she’d done. Her huge sacrifice. Her hand gripped the glass.

Quin crouched beside her. ‘Take a sip of your drink.’

He took the glass out of her hand and held it to her mouth. Sadie obediently opened her lips and let him pour some of the alcohol into her mouth. Her eyes watered a little, but the drink revived her.

Quin put the glass on a table and she looked at him. ‘Now can you see? They were actually here! Looking for me! What if they’d found out who you were? Everything I’d done would have been for nothing—’

‘Claude has assured me that there were no links to me or Sol. We weren’t officially married, and Sol was registered with my name when he was born.’

‘Yes, of course. Thank God...’ breathed Sadie. Then she asked, ‘Did your friend say if there was still any danger? The detectives in London told me that every threat was gone, but I feel like I can’t ever fully relax.’

Quin moved back to sit on the edge of a couch, near the chair. Their knees were almost touching. Sadie ached to reach for Quin and climb onto his lap. Just have him hold her, tightly, making her feel nothing could harm her, as he used to, before her memory had returned and she’d run... The more she thought about it now the surer she was that she must have known of the threat in some dim recess of her damaged memory and she’d relished his ability to make her feel safe. But inevitably their close contact would lead to far more incendiary things than feeling safe...

‘Claude has assured me that anyone who would have wanted to see you...’ Quin faltered.

‘It’s okay,’ Sadie said. ‘You can say it. See megone. I lived with it for four years.’

His jaw clenched. The fact that he was obviously having trouble saying it out loud—that she could have been killed—provided her with some level of vindication. But it was small.

Quin went on. ‘He assured me there’s no threat, but I’ve asked him to make absolutely sure of that. He’ll let me know if he finds anything.’

‘Thank you,’ said Sadie.

For the first time in four years she had someone else who knew. Who cared. Except Quin didn’t care about her...

She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to do that—it must be costing a fortune.’

Quin stood up and moved towards one of the windows, hands in his pockets. He turned back and his mouth was quirked up slightly. That tiny hint of lightness was enough to take Sadie’s breath away.

He said, ‘Yes, Claude is expensive, but he’s thorough.’ Then the quirk in his mouth disappeared. He was serious. ‘There’s no way I won’t make sure that you’re safe. You’re Sol’s mother. He’s lost you once. I won’t let that happen again.’

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