Free 01 Untouchable - Untouchable by Lindsay Delagair

with
me, but I whole-heartedly agreed that I wasn’t going any further
than the driveway.
    He opened the passenger door and I slid
down in the kid-soft leather seat. I was amazed that I liked the
interior even better than my Porsche, but I was sure I could blow
him away in a race. “This is gorgeous,” I told him as he lowered
himself into the driver’s seat. “What’s under the hood?”
    “ An engine,” he
smirked.
    “ Very funny…”
    “ Annalisa,” he spoke my full
name causing me to go silent. “Who are these people?”
    I hadn’t expected that question. “Wha—I
don’t understand what you…”
    “ Yes, you do. You told me
you were a liar this morning, and I’m starting to feel like your
whole life here in Pensacola is just some kind of fake front. And
don’t tell me they’re your aunt and uncle.”
    “ They—they are,” I began to
stammer.
    “ Really? Then how come
Beverly said she’s your mother’s sister?”
    “ She is,” I said feeling
completely vulnerable to his prying words. I suddenly didn’t sound
confident at all. “She’s my aunt.”
    “ What’s your name? You’re
real name. Don’t say McKinnis because that’s Matt’s last name.
Unless your mother married Matt’s brother, there is no way you guys
have the same last name.”
    It suddenly dawned on me the flaw in
the name. Matt would have had to have said he was my uncle on my
father’s side for it to have worked. Unfortunately, Beverly had
been too anxious to answer his question and had volunteered herself
as my aunt. I thought about trying to say that Matt’s brother was
my dad, but I knew there was no way it would fly at this
point.
    The tears welled up, distorting my
vision. Tonight had been a mistake. My hand reached for the door
handle.
    “ Don’t go, Leese—please, I’m
sorry,” he said, grabbing my arm. “I just want to know who this
girl is that I’m…” He left the sentence unfinished. Just the hint
that he was falling for me stung worse than the tears.
    “ I can’t tell you very much,
my parents would kill me.”
    “ Tell me what you can,” came
the simple reply.
    “ My family isn’t from
Alabama, but I’m guessing you’ve figured that out, too.” I didn’t
look at him, I just kept talking. “They aren’t having marital
problems, my mom—my mom,” I began to sob, “is slipping off the deep
end.” I didn’t have a tissue so I was using the sleeve of my hoodie
to dry my tears. “My grandpa committed suicide two years ago, but
she thinks someone killed him.” I looked into his face with a
pleading stare, “She thinks someone is going to try to kill me and
Kimmy, so she sent us here to keep us safe.”
    His arms wrapped around me as I began
to shiver. It wasn’t that cold tonight but it suddenly felt like it
was twenty degrees as I cried my eyes out. “I can’t tell anyone, I
mean it would be like what was the purpose of coming here if
everyone knows who I am?”
    “ Who are you?” he repeated
in a whisper against my hair.
    “ I can’t tell you, but my
real first name is Annalisa.”
    “ Why would someone want to
hurt you?” he coaxed gently.
    “ My—my family has money. A
lot of money,” I finished with a hard swallow. “I guess someone
might be trying to get to it through us. Evan, all this has got to
remain quiet. You can’t tell anyone, please.”
    “ There is no way I’d say
anything about it,” he said tucking a loose lock of hair behind my
ear. “I just want to be someone you can trust, someone you can be
alone with and feel safe.”
    I couldn’t tell him that I wanted that
more than anything, but I wasn’t there yet. I still didn’t know
much about him and sitting in the driveway was as alone with him as
I could possibly venture.
    “ I’ve got to get inside.” I
wiped my eyes and hoped I hadn’t just smeared mascara all over my
face.
    He flipped down the passenger’s sun
visor and opened the vanity mirror on the back. “You might want to
fix that