A Stranger's Affection

by Charlene Namdhari

  Although misery rimmed the edges of her sanity, Nishani laughed. “Colton doesn’t seem like the sit-down type of person.” Her gaze shifted, and snagged Maria’s anxious glance. Something was up. “Maria, is everything all right?” The housekeeper nodded not before Nishani caught the nervous flick of her gaze to Rex. Maria turned away and began wiping an already clean countertop. “Rex, give us a minute, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  When he left the kitchen, Nishani slid off her seat. “Maria?”

  “I’m sorry, señorita. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Señor Rex. Santos said he got a message for you from Mateo.”

  Nishani’s brow shot up. “Mateo? I don’t understand?” She hadn’t seen Mateo since Ashni arrested her and Clara. Even when he got caught, Nishani couldn’t see him in prison due to her rehabilitation program. “How did he know I was here?”

  “Santos told him.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Santos doesn’t know me. He hasn’t seen—”

  “I sent him the picture you took with me. Oh, señorita, I’m sorry.” The older woman squeezed her hands as though she’d done something wrong. “The day you asked me to see if Santos was here, I messaged him. When I told him you knew Mateo, he asked for a picture. Then he came here to see you after those men took you and Señor Colton went to find you. Santos said it was important.”

  Nishani offered a placating smile. “It’s okay, Maria. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Her eyes filled with instant relief. “Thank you. Can I phone Santos?”

  Curious, Nishani nodded. She waited as Maria reached for the cordless phone and dialed. The housekeeper chatted quickly, then handed the phone to Nishani. She introduced herself, and while she listened to Santos, Nishani’s headed pounded—a nasty ache she doubted any medication would ever relieve. After several minutes of conversation, she set the phone on the counter and dropped into a chair. Her mind buzzed with an erratic beat like a faulty chainsaw. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

  Maria neared her and placed a gentle hand over hers. “What’s wrong, bebita?”

  Those simple words reminded Nishani of Mateo. Not even prison bars or concrete walls could keep him from watching over her. “Santos is actually Victor.” She smiled. “Victor Santos Santiago, a man I knew well when I worked for Mateo. I have to go, Maria.”

  Maria’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Go? Where?”

  “Don’t ask me how but Mateo found out who tried to kill me.” Although in prison, the man’s reach was still influential. What he’d achieved in a day, Colton’s men couldn’t do in months. Then again, she hadn’t given them her full name or any personal details that could shed some light. Colton and Rex only knew her as Nishi Diego, not Nishani Scott Callahan, which would’ve made their search easier. “I know the truth now, Maria. I have to go,” with each utterance, cold rage gripped her heart, turned it into a pulsating ice storm ready to wipe anything and everything in its path.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Nishani shot to her feet. “Listen to me carefully, Maria...” she grasped the other woman’s hands. “Victor will be here in an hour to fetch me. He’s going to help me get back home. Promise you won’t tell Colton and Rex anything.”

  The housekeeper’s eyes widened; blatant horror stretched her lids. “I can’t lie to Señor Colton.”

  Nishani understood her concern. “Fine. Don’t lie, but don’t tell them anything for the next couple of hours. I will call you as soon as I’m back home.”

  “But why, señorita, why you can’t tell them the truth?”

  “No,” Nishani struggled to keep from shouting. Her lack of control over her anger was beginning to wane. “I know who attacked me. What I don’t know is why. No one must stop me from confronting my enemies. I need to find out the truth before they hurt my family. If I tell Colton, he’ll never let me go, and I must. Please, Maria,” she pleaded.

  “Okay,” Maria’s agreement, although half-hearted, her smile conveyed her understanding. “What will you tell Señor Rex.”

  “Nothing,” Nishani rubbed her lip thoughtfully.

  “The guards won’t let you go, señorita.” Maria’s worry was written all over her tense features, and Nishani appreciated her concern.

  “I have a plan, and it doesn’t include walking out the gate.” Her mind churned, wondering if she’d be able to get off the property undetected. On the other hand, she could just tell Colton the truth and walk out. Their relationship, if she could call it that, was over. Why would he care if she ran off?

  “Please be careful. Señor Colton loves you. He’ll be mad if you get hurt.”

  Gobsmacked, Nishani stared at the other woman as though she’d just peeked into Nishani’s thoughts. And for one blind moment, she forgot the shocking news Victor had just shared. “Loves me?” She uttered a laugh—an uncharacteristically nervous one. “Where did you get that insane idea, Maria?”

  Slowly, the housekeeper shook her head. “Señor Colton and Rex treat me like a mother, and I take care of them like my sons, bebita. Only a mother knows her children’s expressions well. He loves you. His eyes tell me everything when he looks at you.” Maria smiled.

  Nishani doubted the woman knew what she was talking about. She’d mentioned love to Colton, and he hadn’t denied or confirmed anything that night her memory returned. He told her she could leave once she found her attackers and Liam, nothing more. And now she’d found both; she could go. Maybe pride prevented her from telling him what she learned from Victor, or perhaps she wasn’t ready to face the truth of her relationship with Colton. After all, love meant nothing to her.

  With that last thought, she dropped a quick kiss to Maria’s cheek and did what she was good at—run from emotion.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S gone?” Colton snarled. “How the fuck did that happen?”

  “I’m sorry, boss.” Brody shook his head. “Nishi duped everyone into believing she was asleep. It’s the reason Rex hadn’t checked in on her. By the time he did, it was the next morning. The men searched the entire property. When James returned from his trip to the place you found her, he did another sweep of the estate. She’s gone.”

  Rage ignited a spark so intense; he could kill. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding, Brody. How the hell did she just disappear without anyone seeing anything.” He tossed a chair across the boardroom. “Have we hired an entire fucking army of idiots that a simple woman could give them the slip,” Even as he said it, Colton accepted Nishi was anything but simple. So far, he’d done well to control his emotions after she told him the truth. But having her leave without saying goodbye, messed with his head. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

  “Everything all right?”

  Colton swung sharply. Avinash Rai stood at the door to the boardroom, his gaze fixed on the toppled chair lying on the other side of the room. If it hadn’t been for the close on the waterfront deal with Rai, he would’ve been at home when Nishi woke. “I’m sorry, Avi.” Colton approached the other man. Damaging another man’s property wasn’t on the cards. “Nishi’s missing.” Earlier that morning, he’d given Avinash the shortened version of DeLuca’s kidnapping of Nishi. He only explained since he’d canceled the trip scheduled for the day of the abduction.

  “Shit. I’m sorry, Colt. Do you need to go?”

  Annoyed, he shook his head. “We’re almost done with the contract. Besides, Rex is handling the situation back home.” He hoped like hell; his brother could find out something quickly. About the chair—”

  “Forget it.” Avinash grinned. “I probably would’ve reacted the same way. If you’re sure you don’t want to leave, come into my office, I’d like you to meet my wife. Maybe she can help.”

  Colton nodded and turned after Avinash left the room. Brody mumbled something into the phone then cut the call. “That was Rex.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Maria told him that Nishi called
one of Diego’s men. Someone named Victor. You’re not going to believe this.”

  Diego? Colton expelled a frustrated breath. “What?”

  “While the men were searching, Rex went after Victor. He caught up with him at the airport. Victor was coming in on a flight from New York. Nishi’s in New York.”

  “What? How the fuck did he get her through without papers?” Colton scratched his chin and paced the room. “Why New York? Why not Colombia?” He stopped and stared out the ceiling to floor window. Any other day and he would’ve appreciated the dusk settling over the Manhattan skyline. Right now, he wanted answers.

  “Boss.” He glanced at his bodyguard. “Nishi’s full name is Nishani Scott Callahan. She’s from Darien. A town outside Connecticut and her husband, Liam...”

  Colton hated the sound of those two last words. Almost like a nail to a coffin, it lasered a sense of finality into his relationship with Nishi—Nishani. No wonder his men couldn’t find details on a Nishi Diego anywhere. That name never existed. “What about her husband?”

  “He’s alive and lives in New York.”

  Bang! Brody’s statement drove the last nail into Colton’s semi-open coffin. His heart heavy, he looked out the window once more. There goes your woman. She found her husband. Colton had mentioned she was free to leave when she did. “I need a few minutes—”

  “I haven’t finished, boss,” Brody cut him off.

  “There’s more?” he asked without taking his eyes off the view outside.

  Brody cleared his throat. “Liam’s responsible for Nishi’s attack.”

  As though Brody had just slapped him, Colton’s head snapped sideways. He turned fully. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

  The satisfied look on his face told Colton his bodyguard was thrilled by that news. “He arranged the whole thing. Only, it didn’t go according to plan. Nishi escaped before she found out the truth and before Liam finished the job.”

  If someone told him that his silent wishes for something to go wrong with her marriage were responsible for the divulgence, Colton would be too shocked to agree. It wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. “How the fuck did we find this out?”

  “Mateo.”

  “The man’s in prison.”

  “Victor told Rex that even though Nishi left her life with Mateo behind and started afresh—whatever that means, your guess is as good as mine.”

  Colton knew what his bodyguard referred to. Nishi had mentioned she started living a normal life again. “Go on.”

  “The old man had his men keep tabs on her. By the time he found out about Liam, the deed had already taken place. Liam gave Mateo’s man the slip at the airport when they left on their honeymoon. And when Maria sent Victor Nishi’s photo, he called Mateo, and the old man instructed him to tell her the truth.”

  “Jesus. She had her very own guardian angel—”

  “Boss, that’s not the worrying part—”

  Colton picked up quickly on Brody’s thoughts. “Oh, shit. She’s going after Liam. Fuck.” He slammed the table with such force; it rattled the tray with glasses sitting in the center. “Do we know Liam’s whereabouts.”

  Brody shook his head. “Rex asked Victor to get his men working on that.”

  “Do they have any idea why Liam planned the attack?”

  “Victor said only Mateo knows, and it’s information he wouldn’t share with his men. Probably protecting Nishi.”

  “Yeah, but from what?” Colton slipped his hands into his pants pocket and paced the room. His mind worked overtime, trying to remember everything Nishi told him about her past. He came up blank. “I’m going in to finish with Rai. Stay on top of Rex and Victor. The minute you hear something, call me.” Colton headed for Avinash’s office.

  When he entered the other man’s lavish office, Avinash stood and skirted his table. “Colt, I’d like you to meet my wife, Detective Ashni Rai. Babe?”

  Colton smiled and glanced at the woman turning away from the window. “What the fuck,” he couldn’t stop the words even if he wanted. Astonishment curved his smile into a grimace.

  “Excuse me?” A distinctly familiar arch of her brow challenged him as did the piercing blue eyes beneath. Probably taking offense to his response, an all too shocking resemblance of Nishi glared at him.

  Next to him, Avinash mistook his curse for a compliment. “Okay, not the response I expected, but I can understand your awe. She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” The man’s gloating earned a not too friendly scowl from his wife.

  Colton’s thoughts raced faster than a cheetah after a helpless buck. If she were back in New York to avenge her attacker, what the hell was she doing here? Avinash’s wife? And who the hell was Ashni if her correct name was Nishani Callahan? Surprised she hadn’t recognized him, he stepped forward. “What are you doing here?” he growled.

  “Colton?” Avinash questioned the same time his wife balked.

  “I beg your pardon?” Despite the usual sass, there was something off about her. Her hair—it was longer, darker. Her skin—a lighter tone, not the deep tan that gave Nishani’s coloring a distinctive glow. The smile. Beautiful, but lacked the tease of ‘catch me if you can’ he’d gotten used to every time Nishi appeared.

  “Nishi?” Colton stared, unaware he’d whispered out loud until her eyes widened.

  “What did you say?”

  “You’re not Nishi,” he muttered, his tone accusing.

  “How do you know my sister?” her question almost gouged his eyes out of their sockets. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Sister?”

  “I’ll ask this again. How do you know my sister?” She glared at him.

  Colton raked a hand through his head and glanced at Avinash, who folded his arms, leaned against the table, and eyed him intently. “We dated. Well, sort of.” Colton shifted his gaze. The fact that Nishi had an identical twin sister was already incredible. He couldn’t exactly say he’d fucked Nishi whenever he wanted.

  “What does sort of mean, and when did you date her?”

  “Did you say she was a detective?” he asked Avinash. The other man nodded. Okay, that put a whole new spin on things. “The last three months or so.”

  “Impossible.” Ashni’s gaze narrowed. The look on her face told Colton this woman was just as fearless as her sister. She stepped closer and all but poked a finger in his chest. “My sister’s been dead for the last five months.”

  “Dead?” For a second, Colton wondered just how much Nishi’s family knew about her past or that Liam had planned her death. “No. She’s been with me all this time. I found her on the road, hurt and wandering.” He opted for a slightly altered version of her story.

  “What? Nishi’s alive. Oh, my God.” Ashni began pacing. “When? How?”

  “Are you serious, Colt?” Avinash straightened, his features just as tense as his wife’s.

  Colton nodded. “Five months now. Give or take. If you don’t mind my asking, how did she disappear?” Maybe her sister could share some light on Liam’s part in all this.

  Ashni closed her eyes, inhaled deeply then dropped into a couch close to the window. “Around that timeline, Nishani went away on her honeymoon. We had no idea Liam, her husband, had changed the proposed itinerary. Two days after they left, I made several calls to Shani’s phone...” She looked up. Her smile weary. “Sorry, Nishi. We had this agreement that I’d check in on her every day ever since she went...” She trailed off as if unsure what Colton knew about her past.

  “It’s okay. Nishi told me everything.” He took a seat opposite her while Avinash slid into the seat next to his wife.

  “Everything?” Ashni’s surprise was evident. It was apparent her mind roiled with questions about the Colton and Nishi’s relationship.

  “Your sister suffered memory loss when I found her—”

  “What?” Ashni obviously couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Is that why she never contacted her family?”

  Among other things. Colton nodded
. “Her memory returned two days ago.” He saw no reason to share the disgusting details of DeLuca’s aid in the return. It took significant effort to not ask about Liam yet.

  Ashni provided the answer he sought. “Liam told us they were in a boating accident after they got caught in a bad storm. He knocked his head, trying to get the sails up. When he came too, Nishani was gone. Liam called us as soon as he got back to land and spent the next week or so looking for her. My dad and I flew down to Santa Monica.” She hiccupped on a sob, and Avinash pulled her into his arms.

  Colton’s insides twisted. That sick son of a bitch almost got away with killing Nishi and fooled her family into believing she died in Santa Monica. How the fuck did he managed that?

  “The detective handling the case, Liam’s friend, tried everything to find her and finally, a month later, confirmed Shani’s disappearance,” Ashni answered his unasked question. “Somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to accept the news. Something told me she was still alive.”

  “Call it a twin intuition,” Avinash said.

  She nodded and looked at Colton. “Just like when they kidnapped her years ago, and I couldn’t rest. It’s why I became a cop. My badge allowed me to keep looking for her. It might’ve taken some time for her to heal and accept me back into her life, but she came back. That’s when I swore; I’d never let anything happen to her again. I failed.”

  “You didn’t, Ashni.” Colton leaned forward. “Your sister is alive and well.”

  “How did you find her?”

  He hesitated. Nishi was going after Liam for revenge. He’d convinced her family her death was an accident. Ashni was a cop. There was no way Colton was handing Liam over to Ashni even if he found Nishi before her family. “Honestly, I’ve no idea how she ended up in Deepwater Ridge. She was disorientated and badly bruised. We checked with the local cops, and couldn’t do much without proper identification. I had my doctor take care of her while she stayed at my home.”