Page 48 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

He covered her mouth with his, pulled the sheet down and lifted her bodily, so that she lay on top of him. Sadie weakly gave in to his desire to push the past back, but she knew that they’d never really move on unless Quin realised that it was still casting a toxic shadow over the present—and their future.

They stayed a few more days in San Francisco, while Quin was at his conference. Lena spent a lot of time with her daughter, so Sadie got to spend more time with Sol alone. They went to the zoo and to parks. And they went to the cinema on the third afternoon—the last day of Quin’s conference—to see a charming and heartwarming animated movie about dogs, which had Sol asking Sadie if she thought they might be able to get a dog.

She’d smiled wryly and told Sol thatthatquestion would have to go to his father.

Sol had sighed dramatically and said, ‘It was worth a shot.’

It was only when they were walking back out of the cinema that Sadie noticed the shaven-headed man in dark jeans and a utilitarian-type jacket who was hovering nearby. She’d noticed him earlier that day, and she had a sudden terrifying suspicion that he’d been at the zoo the previous day.

Sadie took Sol’s hand and tried not to let him see how panicked she was. She walked away from the cinema quickly and moved down a side street, then ducked into a bookshop.

‘Cool,’ said Sol, pulling away. ‘Can I look for a new comic?’

Sadie said yes, keeping an eye on Sol in the children’s section as she pulled out her phone with trembling hands. She dialled Quin’s mobile and he answered straight away.

‘Is everything okay?’

Sadie was trying to put her back against a bookshelf, so she could see outside the shop, and her insides liquefied with fear when she saw the same man standing at the corner, staring straight at her. He looked terrifying.

‘No, it’s not. We’re being followed by a man.’

Sadie’s head was spinning with the implications of this. The police had been wrong. Therewassomeone still out to get her—and to get anyone—

‘Sadie!Sadie!’

Quin’s voice broke through the panic but she could hardly get her words out because fear was strangling her. ‘Did you hear what I said? We’re being followed. The man is looking at me right now.’

‘Okay, I’m sending you a photo. Please look at it and tell me if it’s the man.’

Somehow Quin’s calm voice managed to bring Sadie back from the brink of full-blown panic. She took her phone down from her ear as a photo pinged onto her screen. A photo of the man she’d just been looking at.

She frowned and lifted the phone to her ear again. ‘Yes, that’s him. But how do you—?’

‘He’s Security, he’s been hired by me.’

‘I... Oh.’

Quin said, ‘Look, you don’t have to worry, okay? He’s meant to be there. I have to go now, but I’ll talk to you later.’

And then he was gone.

Sadie and Sol got back to the hotel a couple of hours later and she did her best to stay calm during his bedtime routine. He went out like a light, clearly happy and exhausted, but Sadie took little comfort in that.

By the time Quin arrived back to the suite she was keyed up and practically pacing the floor.

He came into the living area and stopped when he saw her. He frowned. ‘Is everything okay? Where’s Sol?’

Sadie stopped pacing and said tightly, ‘He’s fine. He’s in bed, asleep.’

‘So what’s wrong?’

Sadie looked at him and folded her arms over her chest, as if that might hide the sense of hurt and betrayal she’d felt since talking to him earlier.

‘I know you don’t trust me, but I didn’t think you would actually hire someone to make sure I don’t disappear again, this time with Sol.’

He looked at her as if she’d grown two heads. ‘What gave you that idea?’

Sadie unlocked her arms and flung out a hand. ‘The man who looks like he’s come straight out of Central Casting for Scary Guy. The kind of man I’ve had nightmares about for the last four years.’

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