Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
I do the calculations in my head. It’s not much in the scheme of things. And Alessia will be safe.
Worth every penny.
And maybe Tom will give me a discount. He’s a mate, after all.
Magda scrutinizes me, her fixed stare intense. “Why are you doing this?” she asks, bewildered. I clear my throat and wonder why myself.
Because it’s the right thing to do?
No. I’m not that altruistic.
Because I want to be alone with Alessia? Yes. That’s the real reason. But given what she’s been through, she’s not going to want to be alone with me. Is she?
I run my hand through my hair, uncomfortable with my thoughts. I don’t want to examine my motives too closely. “Because Alessia is a valued employee,” I answer.
Yes. That sounds convincing.
Magda eyes me with suspicion.
“Will you come with me?” I ask Alessia, ignoring Magda’s doubtful expression. “You’ll be safe.”
* * *
Alessia is overwhelmed. His level gaze is sincere. He’s offering her a way out. This man she barely knows. Yet he came all the way from Chelsea to check that she was okay. He waited for her at the station. He held her while she cried. She can only remember her grandmother and her mother doing that for her. Apart from Magda, no one else in England has treated her with such kindness. It’s a generous offer. Too generous. And Dante and Ylli are her problem, not his. She doesn’t want to drag him into this mess. She wants to protect him from them. But she is illegally in England. She has no passport. Dante has it and all her belongings, so she’s stuck.
And Magda is leaving soon, bound for Toronto.
Mister Maxim is waiting for her answer.
What will he want in return for his help?
Alessia knows so little about him. She doesn’t even know what he does for a living. All she knows is that the life he leads is very different from hers.
“This is just to keep you safe. No strings attached,” he says.
Strings attached?
“I don’t want anything from you,” he clarifies, as if he can read her mind.
No strings attached.
She likes him. She more than likes him. She’s a little in love with him—but she understands it’s a crush. And yet he’s the only person she’s told about how she came to England.
“Alessia, please answer me,” he persists. His expression is anxious, his eyes wide and open and honest. He radiates concern. Can she trust him?
Not all men are monsters, are they?
“Yes,” she whispers before she can change her mind.
“Great,” he says, and he sounds relieved.
“What?” Magda snaps, looking at Alessia in surprise. “Do you know him?”
“She’ll be safe with me,” he says. “I’ll take good care of her.”
“I want to go, Magda,” Alessia whispers.
If she goes, Magda and Michal will be safe.
Magda lights another cigarette.
“What do you want to do?” Mister Maxim turns his attention to Magda, who looks from Alessia to him, confounded.
“You haven’t told me what those men want, Alessia,” Magda says. Alessia had been vague about how she came to England. She had to be. Her mother and Magda are the best of friends, and she didn’t want Magda e-mailing her mother to tell her what had happened. Her mother would have been devastated.
Alessia shakes her head. “I cannot. Please,” she pleads.
Magda huffs. “Your mother?” she says, pulling at her cigarette.
“She cannot find out.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please,” Alessia begs.
Magda sighs with resignation and turns to Maxim. “I don’t want to leave my house,” she says.
“Okay. Close protection it is.” He stands up, long, lean, and impossibly handsome, and fishes his iPhone out of his jeans pocket. “I need to make some calls.” He leaves them staring after him as he closes the kitchen door.
* * *
When Tom Alexander was invalided out of the army, he set up a security company based in central London. He deals with high-profile, high-net-worth clients. And now me. “What have you got yourself into, Trevelyan?”
“I don’t know, Tom. All I know is I need 24/7 security for a woman and her son who live in Brentford.”
“Brentford? This evening?”
“Yes.”
“You’re bloody lucky I can help you.”
“I know, Tom. I know.”
“I’ll come down myself and bring my best man. Dene Hamilton. I think you’ve met him. Served with me in Afghanistan.”
“Yes. I remember him.”
“See you in an hour.”
* * *
Alessia stands in the hallway wearing Magda’s son’s anorak and holding two plastic shopping bags.
“Is that everything?” I sound as bewildered as I feel.
I can’t believe this is all she has.
Alessia pales and lowers her eyes.
I frown.
The girl has nothing.
“Okay,” I offer. “I’ll take those, and let’s go.” She hands me both bags and still won’t look me in the eye. I’m astonished at how little they weigh.
“Where are you going?” asks Magda.
“I have a place in the West Country. We’ll go there for a few days while we work out what’s to be done.”