that—the whole big family thing. But I’ll try, if you want me to.’
She trembled and his hand quickly covered hers.
‘What made you change your mind?’
‘Nearly losing you today.’ His voice wavered again.
‘I got a bump on the head. I’m not about to die—’
‘If you had seen yourself you wouldn’t say that.’
‘Lorenzo, I’m fine.’
‘Well, I’m not. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from seeing you crumple like that.’ He closed his eyes and bowed his head, both his hands firmly clasped around hers. ‘Can you be patient with me?’
‘Yes.’ She had him. Nothing else mattered. She didn’t need the grand gestures, the romantic flourishes. She just needed him.
He leaned across, kissed her tenderly on the lips. Not enough for her.
‘You’re staying in here tonight.’
‘No.’ She frowned. ‘I’m not.’
‘You are. Observation. You probably have concussion. You need to be monitored.’
‘I can be monitored at home. Rosanna will—’
‘Rosanna is away,’ Lorenzo said sharply. ‘I’ll wait with you today. Come back to pick you up in the morning. Unless—’ he breathed out ‘—you’d rather your parents did?’
‘I want you to.’
His hand cupped her face so gently. ‘I don’t deserve you.’
‘You do,’ she said, angry tears springing again. ‘You do.’
She would make him understand that—somehow. She loved him. But she couldn’t say it again—wouldn’t—because she didn’t want him to feel the pressure to say it in return. She didn’t know that he’d ever be able to say it. It didn’t matter. Her tortured warrior spoke with actions. And he was here. That was enough.
Twenty-four hours later Lorenzo finally went to do some work for a bit—having instructed her to phone down if she needed anything. He paused halfway down the stairs. Rosanna was on her way up, a sheaf of flowers across one arm.
She waggled her finger at him. ‘You don’t take my best friend home to your place and think you’re not getting me too.’
He laughed. ‘She’ll be pleased to see you. She’s bored and getting restless.’
‘I’ve got some magazines.’
His grin faded as she got closer. ‘You’re wearing her necklace.’ His throat went tight as he saw it.
She touched it. ‘Stunning, isn’t it? I bought it at the exhibition the other night. Made sure I did it as soon as I got there. I wanted her to have one “sold” sign really early on.’ She grinned. ‘Not that I needed to worry—she sold most of them in the first hour. But she was so nervous.’
He nodded. ‘I know.’ He should have thought to do that. That should have been him. But he’d been thinking too selfishly. ‘You’re a good friend to her.’
‘Only because she’s wonderful to me. It’s nice to be able to do something for her for once,’ Rosanna said. ‘She does so much for everyone else.’
‘Yeah.’ She did. She bent over backwards for the ones she loved. She was bending every which way for him. And he wasn’t happy about it. She deserved so much more. The feeling inside his chest tightened.
She was going to take him—like this—with nothing extra. She was too generous. And he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. Not any more. No matter the cost to him, she was too important. Her happiness was too important.
He could do it, sure he could—because she deserved it.
‘I’ve got a few other things I need to do for her.’ He swallowed and bit the bullet. ‘Are you up to helping me?’
Rosanna looked sharply curious. ‘What kind of things?’
‘Top secret things.’
‘Spend money kind of top-secret things?’
‘Lots of money,’ he acknowledged.
‘Then you’ve got an able assistant.’
He’d grin if he weren’t feeling so freaked. ‘Fantastic.’
SOPHY let Lorenzo guide her to her seat. Honestly, she was over the cotton wool treatment. Four days since her accident and he was still handling her as if he was afraid she’d break any moment.
‘You’re into taking this risk a second time?’
‘The first wasn’t such a risk,’ she teased back. ‘It’s not like you’ve asked me for my passport.’
He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out two small blue books.
‘No way.’ Sophy stared at them. ‘You got my passport? How did you do that?’
He didn’t answer. Just grinned at her in a lazy way.
‘That was at my parents’ house.’ She frowned. ‘At least, I think it was. You didn’t break in there, did you?’
‘I never did breaking and entering. Not my strength.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re capable of anything you set your mind to,’ she muttered. ‘It’s scary.’
‘Are you scared?’
She met his serious gaze. ‘No.’ She did up her seat belt. ‘Actually I’m hoping you’re going to make me a member of the mile high club.’
He laughed but she wasn’t kidding. He’d kissed her since the accident, but they hadn’t had sex. And she needed it—badly wanted to connect with him. There was a distance between them. She sensed his tension, as if he was keeping something back from her.
‘Are we going back to Hanmer?’
He just smiled.
She was sure of it when they got into the rental car in Christchurch and he took the road north again. Fine by her—she couldn’t think of anything nicer than making love with him in that wonderful warm water again.
But he turned off on a side road well before he should. Then took another, a gravel road this time. The building appeared out of nowhere. One of those churches that had been built a century ago and now was stuck in the middle of a field with nothing else around—no other buildings, no cars, nothing.
‘Sophy.’
