Not Just a Convenient Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

horror of what he’d seen...
    ‘I’m all right, Pietro,’ she said. ‘Truly. Just a little bump.’
    ‘We’ll see what the doctor has to say about that,’ Damiano said. ‘I’m taking you home with me. You can’t stay here in case that ruffian returns.’
    ‘It’s Charlie he’s after,’ she murmured. ‘Charlie—’
    ‘I’m here,’ he said, appearing. ‘He’s got away. They couldn’t catch him.’
    ‘Then the sooner we leave, the better,’ Damiano said.
    He rose, drawing Sally gently to her feet, then lifting her in his arms.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘You’re coming with me and you’re going to be safe.’
    ‘He’s after Charlie—’ she whispered.
    ‘He’ll be safe too. You have my word on it. Trust me.’
    All her instincts agreed, and she found herself relaxing in his arms as he carried her out, pausing only to bark some more orders at the receptionist.
    ‘They’ll pack up your things and send them after us,’ he told her.
    ‘My bill—’
    ‘Taken care of. Don’t worry about anything.’
    Her head was aching and she could do nothing but rest it against his shoulder and yield everything up to him. She felt herself being lowered into the motorboat, Damiano sitting beside her with Charlie and Pietro facing. As they swept away Damiano made another call on his cell phone.
    ‘The doctor will be there when we arrive,’ he said when he’d hung up. ‘Here.’ He handed the phone to Pietro. ‘Call Nora, tell her to have two rooms ready.’
    Pietro did as he was told. Sally couldn’t understand the Italian words, but she sensed the tension in his voice. When he finished he spoke urgently to Sally.
    ‘She’s getting everything ready. We’re going to look after you.’
    ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, reaching out to take his hand. The little boy’s concern touched her heart.
    As Damiano had said, the doctor was there before them. Damiano carried her upstairs to the room that would be hers, laid her down on the bed, then stood back to watch.
    The doctor declared that the bump on her head wasn’t serious, but a few days’ rest would do her good.
    ‘She’ll get everything she wants here,’ Damiano said. ‘I’d like you to come again tomorrow.’
    ‘Certainly. I brought some painkillers with me, and she should take some now. Then rest and good food is what she needs.’
    ‘She will be all right, won’t she?’ Pietro asked anxiously. ‘She isn’t going to die?’
    ‘Definitely not,’ the doctor said kindly. ‘She just needs to take it easy.’
    Pietro gave a brief smile but his air was still one of anxiety. Sally reached for him.
    ‘I’m stronger than I look,’ she assured him. ‘Don’t worry about me.’
    His reply was to throw himself into her arms.
    ‘Steady, don’t shake her,’ Damiano protested.
    ‘It’s all right,’ she hastened to say. ‘He isn’t hurting me.’
    Nora brought in some water, which Sally used to take the painkillers. Then the men departed while Nora tucked her under the duvet. Whether it was the pills or the shock of the evening’s events, Sally began to feel drowsy, and soon the world drifted away.
    She awoke to find Damiano sitting by the bed, watching her.
    ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.
    ‘Better. My head isn’t hurting. I’m sorry to give you so much trouble.’
    ‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ he said, speaking with a gentleness that contrasted with his words. ‘You are no trouble.’ He indicated some bags on the floor. ‘Your things have arrived, so you can unpack soon.’
    ‘My bill—’
    ‘I told you not to worry about that. You were attacked in my hotel. That’s my responsibility and the least I can do is wipe out your bill, and Charlie’s. Don’t mention it again.’
    ‘But that man—Wilton—what happened to him?’
    ‘He escaped, which may be a good thing. Otherwise the police would have become involved and you’d have found it distressing. The hotel security staff will find him.’
    ‘But how will they