Chapter 5 #4
“So she’s using a fake name? Jesus… what if she’s into something bad?” Dante asked. “I can’t have my family around if—”
“Dante, do you think she’s dangerous? You spent all day with her.”
His brother let out a sigh. “No, I don’t think that,” he finally admitted. “But even if she’s not dangerous, the situation is.”
“I’ll check out of the hospital as fast as I can. Once I’m home, you can get the kids out of the house and somewhere safer.”
“Okay,” Dante agreed. “Angelo… just how well do you know Kara, really? If she lied to you about her name, what else is she hiding?”
He was absolutely right, but given the fact he was lying and hiding things from his family, he was obliged to say, “You’re talking about my fiancée, Dante. And being in trouble isn’t the same as being trouble.”
“I know, I’m sorry. But you said yourself you’ve only known her a couple of months. If you bring her into our family, you need to know all of her secrets.”
“Yeah, I know.” Whatever Kara was running from, Angelo was sure it wasn’t her fault.
Call it instinct, or willful naivety, but he’d stake his life on it.
But he couldn’t help her unless she was honest with him.
“I’ll get some answers, Dante. I promise.
Don’t tell her what happened. I don’t want to scare her. ”
“Good. I’ll keep her safe until you come home.”
Angelo hung up and called Jared next.
“Sorry to bother you on Christmas,” he said.
Jared chuckled. “You’re family, Angelo. How are you feeling?”
“A bit more like my old self. Look, I need a favor.” Angelo hated asking for help, but it was easier asking a friend like Jared who would do anything to help him.
“Name it.” His friend replied without hesitation.
“Can you do a search or a background check on someone?”
“Yeah, I can do that. Is this about Kara?”
Angelo blinked. “How did you know?”
“Come on, Angelo. If you ever fell in love, Thad and I would be the first to know. So, yeah, I called her bluff and she told me the truth. I figured it would be better for everyone if we just let that slide for a bit. Of course, since you’re asking for a background check, I’m starting to wonder if I did the right thing. ”
“Right,” Angelo sighed. He was hurting like hell but he needed Jared’s help. “I need you to dig up all you can on her.” He explained the cop showing up, asking about Kara and then attacking him.
“Well, if I was pretending to be engaged to someone I’d just met, and now they were in my house with my family, I would be a little wary. But then, in this line of work, you have to be.”
“I take it you had Kara pegged right away?” He wasn’t surprised.
Jared was an excellent lawyer, good at reading people.
He was often quieter than Thad who was used to being more front-facing in his real estate business.
As a lawyer Jared relied on his instincts in reading people.
The quieter someone was, the more they learned about others.
“Pretty much,” said Jared.
“Kara might be in serious trouble, and I need to know everything I can about her.” He explained the cop showing up and asking about Kara and then attacking him. “The surname he used was O’Brien, though I don’t know if that’s with an E or A. You’ll also want to check under Gallagher.”
“Holy shit…” Jared muttered. “Okay, Hayley is sleeping and Felicity is watching a movie. I’ll look the names up and text you when I have something.”
“Thanks.” Angelo hung up and settled back in the pillows of the hospital bed, keeping one eye on the door.
It seemed he was right after all, Kara was on the run.
He felt so helpless right now. He wanted to be home so he could protect her.
Which was a joke in itself given his condition.
She was in danger, and here he was stuck here in a hospital bed.
But not for long. He’d get out of here, go straight to Kara and make sure she was safe… somehow.
My little Irish treasure.
Angelo was too tired to smile, but the soft, warm feeling in his chest was undeniable. The red-headed beauty was a mystery but somehow he knew he had to help her.
Angelo remembered Dante’s description of her spartan apartment which now took on a whole new significance. She was on the run from people willing to take the time and effort to track her down, attack her under the guise of a mugging, then interrogate and try to kill someone connected to her.
If the guy had been a dirty cop, that was bad. But if he wasn’t, it might be even worse.
Kara didn’t deserve to spend her life looking over her shoulder. However long she had been on the run, it was too long. And if he had anything to say about it, she wouldn’t be for much longer.
He imagined his mom scolding him about picking up strays again.
Yes, mom, maybe I am. And maybe I don’t care.
Because the thing about strays was that they needed someone, just like everyone. And while he couldn’t help everyone, he could help her.
And maybe, just maybe, it was because in such a short period of time, she’d managed to crawl into his heart.