Secret Passions (6 page)

An hour later, Mitch had cleared a large space in his office. He’d put Sandi’s new easel together and had carried every box into the room for her. She had disappeared upstairs to put her clothes away and when she came back down, she was wearing a pair of her new jeans and one of her new shirts. He smiled and couldn’t help feeling proud that he’d picked items that not only looked very good on her, but looked her style. It was hard to explain, she just looked right wearing the clothes he’d bought for her.

“They look great on you.” She walked over looking a little shy, her cheeks turning a soft color of pink. He didn’t know where that kiss had come from earlier, but he’d been sitting there admiring her and the next minute he’d been devouring her.

He really needed to control himself. He could tell she was inexperienced, and he didn’t want to scare her or go too fast. He was supposed to be protecting her, not sleeping with her.

She picked up a large canvas and a box with the tubes of oil paints and various brushes the clerk had suggested.

“I can’t wait to get back to it.”

“Now?” He looked around. It was a quarter to ten and he doubted he’d be able to stay up much longer. After all, he didn’t even get any sleep last night. He’d spent the entire night on his laptop searching for a way to get her out of the mess he’d gotten her into.

“You don’t have to stay and watch.” She started setting the paints down on the small table he’d set near the easel for her. “I have a strong urge to paint that I’ve been avoiding for a full day now.” She turned to him. “You look tired. I bet you didn’t even sleep last night.”

He nodded and realized he was exhausted. “If you need anything...”

“I won’t. When I start painting, I pretty much ignore everything else around me.”

“Okay, well...” He started backing up. “Enjoy. Goodnight.” When he realized she was focused on the task of organizing her paints, he smiled at her back and then turned and left.

Taking the stairs slowly, he walked into his room and decided a shower might help clear his head of her. But before he walked into the bathroom, he checked his messages. He still hadn’t heard from Ethan. Deciding to try one more time, he picked up the phone. On the third ring it went to Ethan’s voice-mail and he left another message for his friend.

He didn’t know what else to do except to hide her until Ethan could enlighten him as to how he could hide a full grown human being in a city of over eight million.

The next morning when he walked into his office he was shocked to see her still at it. She’d laid one of his old sheets on the floor underneath the easel and he could see paint splattered on it from across the room.

“Good morning.” She jumped and turned to look at him when he walked in carrying a coffee cup.

“Is it morning already?” She smiled and when he walked closer to her, she reached out and took his mug and drank some of his coffee. “Mmmm, my favorite.”

Damn, he thought, he’d worked it out in his mind last night to not be attracted to her. It was all very logical in his thoughts. He’d told himself it was only natural that he’d found her attractive. After all, it had been almost half a
year since he’d been with anyone, physically.

But when she licked her lips and took another sip of his coffee, he knew it was more than just attraction. He was in full-blown lust. Taking the coffee mug from her, he set it down on the small table and took a step closer to her. Her eyes were focused, her hair was pushed up in a clip he’d purchased at the clerk’s suggestion. Slowly reaching up, he let her hair down and played with a red streak that ran the entire length.

“I like this.” He smiled when he noticed her eyes cloud over. She stood with her paintbrush in one hand, down by her side, forgotten as he took one more step towards her, blocking out any space between them. He knew what he was doing, he was following his instinct as he leaned down and took her mouth.

The sweet coffee was on her tongue, her lips were softer than he remembered last night. She was softer. She was short and he wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned over to take the kiss deeper. Then she was wrapping her arms around him and pushing herself up onto her toes as he moaned and tried to stay in control of himself.

He couldn’t remember it being like this with anyone else. He didn’t think he could take much more of this without carrying her up the stairs, so he pulled back and tried for a casual smile. How could he have known that he would be shaken to the core over a simple morning kiss?

“Good morning.”

She laughed when he said this again. “Yes, it is now.”

He enjoyed her smile. Her entire face lit up and her eyes sparkled.

“Can I see your progress or are you one of those moody artists that don’t want anyone to see a painting until it’s completed?”

She shook her head, “No, I’m not moody, please.” She motioned for him to look at the canvas and stood back so he could stand in front of the easel.

He’d never seen anything like it. The colors alone drew the eye. Then he stepped closer and he could see the small circles, each one delicately placed so as a whole, they made an image that almost shocked him. He’d seen paintings of landscape before, but none as detailed and all of it made from those small circles. He wondered if her wrist and hands hurt after a full night of drawing circles. Turning, he smiled as he noticed her rubbing her hands and wrists.

“This is incredible. I can’t even begin to imagine how you do something like this.”

“Patience.” She smiled and walked over and stood next to him. “I’m not quite finished, but I think I’ll take a break and grab something to eat and maybe steal some more of your coffee.”

She smiled up at him and he knew he was in more trouble than he had previously thought.

After fixing them some scrambled eggs, he told her he had a few things he had to do today and left for his meetings before he’d be free for the next few weeks. He didn’t like lying to her, but he didn’t want her to know that he planned on going to her apartment building to see if her father and cousin were still hanging around.

He was no Ethan Knight, but he thought the simple task of staking out a building couldn’t be that hard. As he rode in the taxi the fifty blocks downtown, he thought about the kisses. Why was it that when he wasn’t around her, he could think rationally that it was a bad idea to kiss her? But when he was with her, all he thought about doing was kissing her again.

He asked the taxi driver to drop him off two blocks away. As he started walking towards her building, his eyes and mind were focused on looking for her father and cousin. He would have missed the dark sedan parked a block away by the pier if she hadn’t mentioned seeing it that first night. He causally walked to the pier and leaned against the railing, looking out at the river. To anyone else, he was just a man taking in the sunny day. Behind his sunglasses however, he watched the sedan. Its windows were tinted, and he was wondering how he’d get a better look to see if the outline of a man sitting in the driver’s seat was indeed one of Sandi’s relatives.

He must have stood there, leaning against the railing, for fifteen minutes before he got a break. The window of the sedan slid down slowly and someone threw a cigarette butt out. Sandi’s cousin Anish sat in the driver’s seat, watching the people come and go in front of her building.

He wondered where her father was as he started walking to find a taxi. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, shocked as he spotted Sandi across the street. She was walking quickly right towards the black sedan.

By the time he had crossed the street and was half a block away from them, she was already fighting her cousin off with impressive moves. He started running just as he heard her scream and take off running in the opposite direction, her cousin right on her heels.

S
andi was back at her easel working with the television on, when another report came through. This time Mrs. Bernstein
was standing outside her building, looking frail and lost. She was again begging for whoever had Sandi to return her, safe and sound.

Dropping her paintbrush, she ran to the door and out it, only one thing on her mind: calling Mrs. Bernstein. She’d passed by dozen of pay phones on the way there. She didn’t know if any of them worked still, but she was willing to take that chance. She just wanted to tell her friend that she was okay. That she was alive and not in any danger.

When she entered the lobby, she saw John standing outside, just in front of the doors. His back was to her, and she quickly and quietly moved behind a large plant so that if he turned, he wouldn’t be able to see her. She had to figure out how to get out of the building without John knowing. Looking around, she noticed a side hallway and saw daylight coming from it. Moving towards the light, she turned a corner and saw that someone had propped the fire exit open with a brick.

Rushing out it, she made it a few blocks away before she started looking for a payphone. She knew her neighbors number by heart and quickly dialed it.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Bernstein, it’s me San... Samantha. I’m okay. I’m not hurt. I’m...”

“Sannidhi?”

Sandi’s heart stopped and her vision grayed. Hearing her cousin’s voice on the other end of the line scared her. What was he doing with Mrs. Bernstein?

“Sannidhi?”

“Yes, Anish. I’m here.”

Thirty minutes later, she approached the dark sedan with a plan. She would do whatever she needed to ensure that Mrs. Bernstein was safe.

When she got closer to the car, she noticed only one person in the car. What had he done with Mrs. Bernstein? Where was her father?

Her cousin stepped from the car and tried to grab her arm. Sandi knew she needed to stay in sight of people. There was no way she was going to get in the car with her cousin.

“What do you want Anish?”

“For you to pay. Come with me.” He reached for her again.

“No!” She jerked back. “What have you done with Mrs. Bernstein?”

“The old lady wouldn’t leave her apartment, and when I tried to pull her with me, she fainted. I didn’t want to carry her, so I left her there on her floor.”

He reached for her again, this time grabbing her arm in a tight grip. She spun and did one of the moves she’d been taught the first few months of self-defense classes. He reached for her again and she twisted away, this time stomping on his foot really hard with the heel of her new shoes. When he grabbed her around the waist she started screaming like she’d been taught to do. He released her when everyone within a block radius looked her direction, and she took off running to the one place she knew she would be able to lose him. The street market was three blocks away. It was always crowded and she thought she could easily lose him in the crowds.

She heard him yelling for her and could tell how close he was behind her. She was a fast runner, had always been faster than her cousin, but she was working on little sleep and she heard him getting closer and closer. People looked at her as she ran past them. Some moved out of her way, others didn’t. When she rounded the final corner and the street market was finally in sight, she felt his hand grip her shirt. He jolted her shoulder back as he grabbed it. She heard a rip and then she jerked her shoulder free.

Taking a risky chance, she darted into the street and made it halfway across before she heard tires screech and a horn blast right before she felt the impact of the taxi on her hip.

Mitch was right on Sandi’s cousins heels, but when he rounded the corner, he saw her bolt across the street and screamed her name just before the taxi clipped her hip and watched in horror as she flew across the street and landed in a small pile a few feet away.

People stopped and some ran towards her from a street market to help. He watched her cousin stop on the sidewalk, look around at the people, then casually walk away. Mitch rushed to Sandi’s side, pushing several people away as they stood around her to stare.

There was no blood, he thought as he knelt beside her. He knew better than to move her, so he gently touched her face. “Sandi?” he said over and over, lightly rubbing his fingers over her face. When she moaned and turned her head, he held her still. “No, don’t move.” He looked up to a woman standing across from him. “Call an ambulance.”

“Already on it,” she said, shaking her phone.

He gently ran his hands over Sandi, checking for broken bones. When he got to her hip, she bolted up and let a little scream out, starting to fight him off.

“Easy, you’re okay. It’s me.” She stopped and looked at him, then she was in his arms as everyone around them clapped.

Over an hour later, they were still stuck in the small room in the ER, waiting for a doctor to tell her what he already knew: no broken bones, just some bad bruising. But the doctor had wanted an X-ray and so they were waiting for her turn to be rolled into the x-ray room. She was a trooper through it all. They had given her a mild pain pill. She had a slight bump to the back of her head where she’d landed on the cement, but he didn’t see a scratch on her. He was thankful.

The police had come and gone. They both explained everything several times to several different officers. The missing persons report was updated and when they finally left the small hospital room, he believed the police were going to look for her family for questioning. He got the impression that they didn't mark it as high priority.

Mitch had held back his temper at her for leaving his place, since she'd explained everything several times. He sat across from her in a very uncomfortable chair, watching her closely. How did she learn to kick butt like that?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He uncrossed his arms and tried to relax. “Like what?”

She looked at him more closely. She was propped up in one of the beds with several pillows behind her head. Her new jeans were ripped at the knee and her shirt was almost a complete loss. He’d given her the light jacked he’d been wearing to cover the lacy bra he’d glimpsed.

“I don’t know, like you’re trying to figure me out. Mitch, I’ve already explained why I went to meet my cousin.”

“I know.”

“I’m just thankful Mrs. Bernstein is okay. If anything had happened to her...”

“Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. You heard what the cops said. She’s fine and going to stay with her son for a while. She was just happy to hear that you were okay.”

“I know. It’s sad. I didn’t even know that much about her. I had lived there three years and talked to her almost every day, but I didn’t know she had a son.”

He could see her frowning and got up to cross the room. Taking her hand, he waited until she looked at him.

“Sandi, I’ve lived in my building for over ten years. The only people I talk to on a regular basis are John and Matt, the two doormen. Neighbors have come and gone. I’m courteous to them, but short of saying a few words in the elevator, I don’t know much about them.”

She looked down at their joined hands.

“You risked too much for someone else. I’m trying to understand why you would do something like that.”

“Mrs. Bernstein was the first person I knew outside of the people who helped me settle here. She was my first friend. She always cared about me. Where I was going, what I was doing. She’s the sweetest person I’ve ever known. You would have done the same thing.”

He looked down at her and could see tears forming in her eyes. “You’re right. It doesn’t mean I am condoning you doing something so risky. But I can understand.”

Just then the nurse walked in with a wheelchair to take her to get her x-ray. He sat in the small room and thought about her. There really was more to her than even she thought. This was New York. People tended to stick to their own business here. No one really stood up for their neighbors that much, anymore. Yet here she was, bruised all because she had thought her little old neighbor lady was in danger.

Two hours later, they walked in the front door of his building. Matt was on duty tonight and he was shocked to see Sandi hobbling in the front door, leaning on Mitch for support. Thank goodness she hadn’t broken any bones. She’d been very lucky. She was having a hard time walking and when they finally made it in the door, he swooped her up and carried her the rest of the way into his place and gently set her down on the couch. He could tell she was tired. Her eyes were dull and when he’d carried her, she had rested her head on his shoulder.

Then he remembered that she’d spent the entire night painting. She must be exhausted.

“I can carry you upstairs if you want?” He stood over her as she adjusted her legs on the couch. She shook her head, no.

“No, I think I’ll stay down here for a while. What are your plans?” He thought about it.

“Well, there’s a game on tonight. I suppose if you’re game, we could watch it down here. I could make us some sandwiches and popcorn?”

“That sounds wonderful.” She adjusted her legs a little more. He realized she was trying to get comfortable and walked over to retrieve the pillows from one of the chairs. Propping it behind her, he handed her the blanket off the back of the couch. She was still wearing her torn jeans and his jacket, but acted like she was cold. Could it be that she was still in shock? He didn’t want to take any chances. He helped her lay the blanket over her gently.

“Thank you.” She straightened the blanket over her lap. He turned to walk into the kitchen. “Mitch?” He turned back to her. “I mean it, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “Here.” He handed her the remote. “The game is on ESPN.”

He walked into the kitchen and felt like banging his head on the wall. He didn’t want her gratitude. Didn’t she understand she was in this mess because of him? He walked to the fridge and started making them some turkey sandwiches.

By the time he walked back into the living room with his arms full of food, he stopped dead in the middle of the floor when he realized she was asleep. Her head was tilted back on the pillow, her arms were crossed over her chest lightly, and her face was more beautiful than he had remembered. He was really in trouble.