Undone Read Free

only family I have.”
    The bells continued to toll. He couldn’t stand here and argue the matter.
    “Quickly, lead the way,” he barked over the pealing bells. He’d allow her to come along for now and decide what to do with the two women later.
    She turned and ran out of the chapel and into the corridor, with Simon on her heels.
    “Bring her back here!” the Mother Superior screamed from the other end of the long hallway. “Gabriella! Stop! Do you hear me? By all that is holy, you will pay for what you are doing!”
    The Mother Superior’s words only hastened Gabriella’s steps. She didn’t even offer a backward glance and led him down more darkened corridors before she stopped at one of the wooden doors and opened it for him. He preceded her into the room.
    Gabriella darted across the room to a shelf and removed a ring of keys from behind a clay jar, then rushed to the other door in the drab chamber. Her hands were quaking, and Simon worried she was too discomposed to open the lock. But she managed to slip the iron key into the keyhole and unlock it.
    The door swung open. The moon’s silver light flooded the room.
    Wasting no time, they ran out the door.
    The bells echoed in the darkened skies. Simon immediately spotted his carriage at the gate and headed straight for it. Paul hastened to open the carriage door at his approach.
    Stepping into the carriage, Simon first laid the young woman gently across one of the seats. Then poked his head out and saw both Paul and Gabriella staring back at him. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he said to Paul.
    The young man immediately jumped back up beside the driver.
    Simon’s gaze locked onto Gabriella. As she stood before him in her drab gray garb, he couldn’t miss the silent plea in her eyes.
    He sighed and extended a hand. “Get in.” He yanked her up.
    The carriage was on its way, full speed, Simon issuing orders out the window to his men.
    The driver guided the carriage off the road, into the woods. Concealed by the foliage and trees, they waited. The men from the town would expect the intruder to be riding away from the convent in the opposite direction, yet Simon was headed straight for the town’s waterfront, where his ship was in dock.
    The sound of men on horseback grew increasingly loud until they finally thundered past.
    When he was confident they were out of harm’s way, Simon ordered the carriage to proceed, and then turned his attention to the moonlight beauty lying on the seat. Down on one knee, he moved his hands carefully over her.
    “Wh-What are you doing, signore?” Gabriella asked, a little leery.
    “I am checking for any bleeding or broken bones.” Her body was soft and warm beneath his touch. He did his best to concentrate on her injuries, laboring to ignore the appeal of her form, which despite the layers of her shapeless clothing, his experienced hands could easily discern.
    Mentally he chastised himself. These were the very sorts of thoughts that had landed him in this mess in the first place.
    Carefully, he turned her face and saw the bruise and swelling on her cheek. A fresh wave of fury crested over him. He pulled off her headdress and tossed it aside. Chestnut-colored tresses spilled out—a mass of long, soft curls. He was suddenly seized with the urge to play with the silky locks, to try to awaken her by lightly teasing her with those luscious curls against her ivory skin.
    Dieu , enough.
    Simon turned to the other female, who watched him warily. Her features were pleasing in their own right.
    “Your name is Gabriella?” He kept his voice gentle, having noted she was the type of woman who could spout tears with little provocation.
    “Yes… Gabriella Santino.” For all her previous heroics, her response was timid, and she spoke with eyes downcast.
    “And this is your sister?”
    “N-no, she is my dearest friend. No two sisters could love each other more.”
    “I see. What is her name?”
    “Angelica.”
    “ Angelica,