Corinne rushed to the side of the bed, as Wes followed more slowly, holding several plastic bags of ice. Cara swallowed two of the painkillers her mother offered.
“I don’t understand! Why would Colin do that? His mother is nuts but not violent crazy!”
“It’s a long story.”
“I heard Declan telling Colin’s parents that he’s been stalking you! Is that true?”
“Yes. Can we not do this now?”
Corinne looked wounded. “But if you were having problems with him, why would you go to a secluded wine cellar with him? Darling, I’ve taught you better than that. Men can’t be trusted… And now everyone at my beautiful wedding…”
Wes growled. “It wasn’t—”
Cara cut him off with a look. There was no point in trying to explain.
“He said that Declan was looking for me, and I was thinking about telling Declan what Dr. Keller said…” She trailed off. “Wes! They need to ask Colin where my snow globe is.”
Corinne and Wes had identical looks of confusion. Cara moved the ice bag off her jaw and struggled to sit up, wincing when the muscles around her ribs pulled.
“When Colin broke into our house, he took my snow globe. We need it back!”
“Cara…” Wes’s face was sympathetic.
“My dad was trying to tell me something with the snow globe and I haven’t discovered what it is yet. When I spoke to Dr. Keller and Courtney, I mentioned Dublin and they were bothveryconcerned that Dad had been there. There has to be a connection. This morning, Dr. Keller all but admitted that he thinks Courtney might have killed Dad.”
Corinne looked confused. “Do you mean that tatty snow globe David gave me in Dublin?”
Cara ignored her. “Call Declan. He said he was going to Florence where the police are going to question Colin.”
“Cara, I don’t think…” Wes began, but when she tossed the ice bags to the side and shifted to get out of the bed, he held up his hands in surrender. “Okay.”
Corinne replaced the bags on her side and on her face, and in an uncharacteristically maternal move, brushed the hair off Cara’s face.
“My poor baby.” But then, in a much more Corinne-like moment, she said. “Don’t worry, darling, I have the most magical creams from my plasti… facialist.”
CHAPTERFORTY-NINE
Cara finally convincedher mother to leave by reminding her she had guests to say goodbye to. When the door shut behind her, Cara flipped back the blankets and patted the space next to her. “Come here.”
His body still feeling the effects of adrenaline, Wes hadn’t thought he would be able to relax. Although Cara insisted she was fine after her assault, she was still very pale, and her hands trembled. She chattered for several minutes about Dr. Keller and her stepmother until the shock abated.
Finally, Cara rolled to face him, and rested her palm on his chest, her bruised jaw looking accusingly up at him. Wes was nervous about hurting her, but Cara wouldn’t take no for an answer, so he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and held her snug against his side.
Eventually Cara’s breath eased, and Wes realized she had fallen into a fitful sleep. His thoughts raced from one horrible scenario to the next. What would have happened if they hadn’t gotten the door open? Hadn’t been able to get to her in time? Wes closed his mind to the image of Colin straddling Cara, her face turning purple beneath his hands.
Fury surged through him. He still wanted to rip Colin apart. Part of Wes wished he had gotten to Colin first, but once he had pulled the bastard off Cara, she was all he could see. He thought Declan was going to kill Colin. Frankly, Wes was a little sorry that the guests, attracted by the commotion, had pulled Declan off.
Wes sighed, letting his head fall back against the pillow while he absently stroked Cara’s blonde hair. At least it was over. They had captured her stalker. She was safe.
He must have dozed at some point because Wes jerked at the knock on the door. Cara blinked sleepily as he eased out of the bed, before raising her hand to her jaw with a grimace. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before answering the door.
Declan gave Wes’s rumpled appearance a terse once-over before pushing past him into their bedroom. He took in his sister, pulling her robe together in bed before casting a nasty glare back at him.
“You couldn’t leave her alone for five minutes? After what happened!”
“Shut it, Declan. Last thing my headache needs is a lecture.”
Declan immediately turned a contrite face to his sister. “Do you feel up to talking?”
