Summer Of My Secret Angel by Anna Katmore Read Free Book Online

delighted by the idea of having
their niece in the house for a while.”
    Quinn folded his hands on the table. “I was
wondering, Miss Montiniere—”
    “Oh, but please, call me Charlene.” She gave
him a quick smile.
    “Yes, Quinn, please. You must call
her Charlene.” Sugar dusted my voice. “A fitting name for a
merciless dragon, don’t you think?”
    Pain shot through my right leg. If Quinn
kept kicking me like this, my shin would be all shades of green and
blue before the evening was over. This time I returned the kick,
but missed his leg by an inch. My boot only scraped his jeans. “I
can’t believe how annoying the rats are in this restaurant.”
    “And I really can’t believe that you left
all your manners back home,” he replied, like me, speaking through
clenched teeth.
    “I beg you, Quinn, don’t be mad at my
daughter. I deserve her wrath and distrust.” My mother’s gaze moved
to mine. “Don’t I, Jona?”
    Sick to my stomach, I glowered at her. “I’d
rather you didn’t speak to me at all, Charlene .”
    Her glossed lips thinned to a line, and the
corners subtly pointed south. She couldn’t honestly have expected
I’d call her Mom after she messed up my childhood so
royally?
    The dim bulbs in the restaurant dipped her
bony face in a mystic light. For an instant, I thought a ghost of
the past stared at me through her deep brown eyes, the only color
about her face that had remained as intense as I remembered it over
the years. Distracted by her longing stare, I almost failed to
notice the forward movement of her hand. Just before it could land
on mine, I jerked my arm back and tucked both hands in my lap. The
tablecloth hid them from her touch.
    She reached for her glass of water, traced
the brim with her slim finger, and then took a sip. “I’ll be honest
with you. There won’t be an endless chance for us to talk. I’m ill.
Seriously ill. It’s cancer. With no hope for a cure. Julian sa—”
She cleared her throat, stroking the stem of her glass. “The
doctors don’t even give me until the end of the year.”
    “Alas, this is the first good news of the
evening,” I exclaimed.
    From across the table, strong legs circled
around my crossed ankles, lifting my legs off the ground. The quick
move dragged me lower into my chair, and I clasped the table with a
startled hold. Quinn’s subsequent kick missed my shin.
    “That one was predictable,” Julian said, his
eyes as dark as shards of obsidian. He lowered my feet to the
floor, then withdrew his legs, and left me wondering whether he was
referring to the kick from my friend or my cold retort.
    Everyone fell silent. Shooting a glance at
Quinn, I realized my mother’s illness wasn’t a surprise to him. She
must have talked to him this morning in the courthouse after my
spectacular failure at fleeing her presence. Probably twirling him
around her little finger with his pity for the helpless. And he
totally fell for it. Stupid policeman .
    Her days were numbered, so what? All the
better, I’d say.
    “You see, Jona.” With her mentioning my
name, my mother drew my eyes away from Quinn. “I don’t want to leave without taking the chance of making up for the hard
life you’ve had.”
    “You want my forgiveness?” That was
ridiculous. A tight laugh escaped me.
    “I beg you to accept your aunt’s offer to
live in her house. She can provide you with all the decent comforts
of life that I never could. She’ll see to you having a good start
in your adult future.” Her lower lip trembled. “And for me, I only
wish you could forgive my weakness in the past.”
    “Then I’m afraid you’ll go down with your
only wish denied.” A growl of menace made it up my throat. “I’ll do
as the judge ordered and spend the remaining six weeks till my
birthday in shackles on the vineyards of an aunt I don’t know. Not
quite the time to form a suitable future. As soon as the punishment
is over, I’ll return to London and make my living here.