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Excerpt
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nHad she been in a car wreck?
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nShe didn’t text and drive, did she? Her heart sank at the thought that she might have been so foolish as to text and drive. Inessa wondered if her foolishness had gotten someone else hurt or even killed.
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nThe heart monitor registered her distress and beeped loudly. No one came. In the manner of alarm clocks, the beeping increased in volume without someone to turn it off. Soon the sound shrieked through her brain and Inessa could not help but wail in counterpoint as pain pierced her skull like an ice pick.
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nThe door flung open and a man rushed inside. He glanced at her, then at the loudly beeping machine. He punched a button on the machine and the beeping stopped. Inessa realized a moment later that the only shrieking now was hers.
nThe noise died away on a whine accompanied by tears that trickled hot, wet trails down her face.
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n“Shh,” the man soothed. His beautiful mouth spread in a smile, but his eyes expressed nothing but concern.
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n“Voda,” she croaked.
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n“Water?” he asked, and poured some into a small plastic cup. He found a straw, pulled it free of its paper wrapping, and placed it into the cup. Holding it at an odd angle, he put the tip of the straw to her lips. She opened her mouth just enough to close her lips around the straw. She took a sip. Blessed, glorious, tepid water filled her mouth. She swallowed and took another sip.
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n“Spasibo.”
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n“Ah,” he said as he pulled the cup away from her. “I know that means thank you. In my family, we say, ‘grazie.’”
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n“Kto ty?”
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nThe beautiful man looked puzzled. Either guessing the meaning of her question or simply falling back onto polite behavior, he introduced himself. Taking her fingers into his warm, light clasp, he said, “I am Giovanni Maglione.”
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nThe name didn’t ring any bells.
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n“Spasibo.” For the second time in as many days, she asked, “Kto ya?”
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nCatching on, Giovanni gave her fingers a light squeeze and answered, “You are Inessa Andrupov.”
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nNo, that didn’t sound quite right. There was a tiny hesitation between Inessa and Andrupov. One of those wasn’t her name.
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n“Nyet.”
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nGiovanni gave her a half-smile. “You’re sharp. But then, being Olivia and Maksim’s daughter, you would be. Your maiden name is Andrupov.”
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n“Moye imya. Kak menya zovut?” she asked, her voice hoarse and barely audible.
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n“Mi dispiace, non so cosa stai dicendo,” he replied in a soft tone. n
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