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months when he’d proposed, and she’d
thought it the happiest day of her life.
    But he’d just proven that their courtship,
their marriage, was all illusion, a fairytale. Her prince was a
villain in disguise. If she’d learned anything useful from her
mother, it was that you never forgave a man who hit you. Constance
had been quite vehement on that point. She’d never explained why,
and Kate hadn’t asked. She’d just trusted the look in her mother’s
eyes when she’d said it.
    It was the only advice she’d ever taken from
her mother. Maybe she should have taken more.
    Well, it wasn’t too late for that. But first
she had to get out of harm’s way.
    Kate hurried out of the apartment and hopped
on the nearest autobus that headed toward the orphanage. Dottor
Laurio owed her a month’s pay.
    She just hoped the director didn’t ask too
many questions about Vince’s handiwork. Kate smirked as she thought
about the word. Handiwork—pun fully intended. At least she could
still laugh.
    As the tiny bus lumbered through Cernobbio
and then up into the hills above the town, she thought about where
to go. What about Florence? She hadn’t seen it yet, and it was big
enough that she wouldn’t stand out. She’d be just another
tourist.
    A little bubble of hope warmed her chest. She
could manage this. All she had to do was get her check and get out
of the Lake District without running into Vince.

    If I’m lucky , he won’t pry ,
Kate thought as she headed straight for Dottor Laurio’s office.
Hopefully he’d be in early—never a certainty with Italians—and
could cut her a check right away.
    She knocked on his door, her heart
fluttering. No answer. Time to try his secretary. She knocked on
the door next to the director’s. A throaty voice bid her to
enter.
    Gina, a fading beauty in her late fifties,
gave Kate a soft smile when she walked in. That smile immediately
turned to concern. “Caterina, la tua faccia !” she said,
gesturing to Kate’s face.
    Kate’s hand flew up to cover the mark and she
flushed. “It’s nothing. I ran into a door, that’s all.”
    The secretary clucked her tongue. Cocking her
head to the side, she studied Kate. “Caterina, that is not what
happened to you.”
    She took a deep breath. “Do you mind if we
don’t talk about it?”
    Gina pursed her lips and sat back in her
chair. “If you insist. How can I help you?”
    “I need to see Dottor Laurio. Do you know
when he’ll be in?”
    “He is ill. He will not be here today.”
    Damn . Now what? “I need my
paycheck.”
    Gina glanced at Kate’s cheek again.
“ Sì . If you can wait, Signor Lucchesi will be here this
afternoon. He can issue your check.”
    Kate nodded. The wait was risky; then again,
it would be that much less money she’d have to ask her parents
for.
    Hopefully Enrico wouldn’t inquire about the
bruise, although he seemed like the kind of man who would. Even if
she’d spoken to him only a handful of times, he felt like a friend.
He’d definitely tried to make her feel welcome and to help her fit
in. He’d even advised her to teach the children English in order to
learn Italian, and it had worked. She still had a lot to learn
before she’d be fluent, but her Italian was much improved.
    She said goodbye to Gina and headed to her
office. Nothing to do now but wait. And write a letter of
resignation to Dottor Laurio.
    Kate sat at her desk and looked around her
cramped little office. It wasn’t much, but it was hers. She’d
personally gone through at least a quarter of the papers in the
still overflowing metal file cabinets behind her, had read the
histories of the children as she’d converted their information to
the new electronic system.
    Oh God. She’d have to say goodbye to the
children. Tears filled her eyes again—could she do nothing today
but cry?
    At least she had one thing to thank Vince
for; he’d inadvertently led her to her calling. After she’d gotten
her degree in social work, she’d