Free The Broken Angel by Monica La Porta Page A

sparring partners. But by the way she acted around him, unguarded and relaxed, he was aware their budding friendship was being built upon a lie. She felt safe around him, that much he had understood before meeting her ex-husband, but only after seeing what a poor excuse for a mortal he was he had fully realized why she seemed to trust him so easily. To her, Samuel wouldn’t represent a threat. Simply put, she probably didn’t even think of him as a man. He crossed his legs at the ankles and hugged himself. “Plus, I needed to do something with my time. I spent several years in solitude and I’d had enough of it. I came back to Rome and looked for any job that could be a good fit for me. I found one position and it seemed I was the right man for it.”
    She cleaned the croissant’s crumbles from her lips with the napkin. “Why would you spend time alone? At the gym, you’re always surrounded by friends. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but you don’t seem the kind of person who would forgo company.”
    He was surprised she had an opinion about the kind of person he was. If asked to describe himself, Samuel wouldn’t know what to say beyond the obvious of his mangled physical appearance. He couldn’t see past his mutilation. “I wasn’t used to having people around before the accident, and after, I needed time to heal. It took me a while.”
    She kicked her shoes to the floor and brought her legs up on the couch. “I’m sorry. Of course I’m not saying it’s the same, I would never dare suggest your accident, whatever happened to you, is similar to a divorce, but I can relate to the taking time part.”
    “Only your divorce has left you crippled inside, hasn’t it?” Samuel realized a moment too late he had voiced his thought out loud.
    Martina paled, but gave him a small smile. “And here I thought I was doing such great job at hiding it.”
    “You do.” He leaned forward and reached for her hand. When she didn’t move it away, he gave it a squeeze. “You do.”
    After that exchange, they finished their breakfast sitting in amiable silence, both of them looking outside the window at the Coliseum. Somewhere near, church bells gave the hour.
    Martina looked at her watch and gasped. “I should call work and say I’m late.”
    He was taken aback by her statement and stood too fast, but remembered at the very last moment to look less stable on his legs and leaned over the back of the couch to support himself. “You just spent a whole night at the hospital for a concussion. I think you should take the day off. As a matter of fact, I think you should take several days off.”
    “Don’t be silly.” She took his plate and hers and walked to the sink. “I didn’t need to spend the night at the hospital. The doctor simply bought me some time to get rid of my ex.”
    He watched as she discarded the crumbles from the plates, then rinsed them, her hands slightly shaking. “You haven’t slept.”
    “I feel fine. I’ll sleep tonight.” She dried her hands on the towel he kept by the sink.
    “I really don’t think is a good idea to—” He realized he was acting as if he had enough familiarity with her to express his worries.
    She regarded him with a puzzled look. “I appreciate your concern, but there’s a case I’m working on, and the judge and the other lawyer won’t wait for me to take a nap.”
    Samuel bit back what he wanted to say and walked to the coffee table by the entry where he usually threw all of his keys. “At least let me drive you to your office.”
    An hour later, he had dropped her off before a modern building in Corso Francia. “Call me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up.” She had seemed pleased, and he had left feeling lighter.
    The sentiment didn’t last long. As soon as he rounded the corner and merged into the traffic, Barnes called him.
    “Are you planning on coming to the office today?”
    From the way his boss had spoken, Samuel knew another long day awaited