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have a drop of makeup on, and her hair, he chuckled lightly, was coated with a dusting of flour. Her clothes looked worn and very comfortable, and he couldn’t remember her looking better.
     
    Shifting his weight and trying to get more comfortable, he remembered the one kiss he had shared with her. He remembered the softness of her lips and remembered how soft she felt just a while ago, against the wall, as he held her there. Closing his eyes, he remembered feeling her chest against his as they gasped for breath. She was small and had always felt just right in his arms. He used to chalk it up to friendship, that they had known each other forever, but he knew it was more than that.
     
    He wondered if he had acted differently back at the party, if they would have ended up somewhere else, rather than hiding out in a storage closet, sleeping on flour bags, and running from thugs who probably wanted him dead, and Katie for ransom.
     
    It was the only explanation he could think of and he itched to step outside and make a phone call, but he knew that Katie was a very light sleeper. He didn’t want to explain who he was calling and why, so he would just have to wait until he heard the light, little snore he knew so well before sneaking out to give an update on their predicament.
     
    If she knew that her mother was the person he’d been checking in with, he was sure she wouldn’t follow him to Rome. Which was where he was sure they needed to go now that there were men after her. She needed the protection of her family and her closest family was in Rome. He didn’t know Damiano and didn’t want to take the chance of trusting him. He started thinking of how they’d get to Rome in the fastest way possible.
     
    He knew she was upset at her mom. Hell, he’d been upset at her to begin with. But things had changed when she had opened up to him one day over lunch. He’d actually sat and listened to her and he could see the changes Kathleen had made. She was different and he couldn’t deny that she’d changed for the better. So he’d gone on this journey with her backing him the entire way. It wasn’t that he needed her money; he had plenty himself. But he was going to look for Katie, anyway, and if he didn’t have to touch his money while doing it, why not take the extra help. Besides, the only real cost had been hotel rooms.
     
    Looking at Katie asleep on the pile of bags, he remembered seeing her for the first time. He had watched her walk across the hot cement around the country club’s pool. She had walked towards the slide with her head held high, like she owned the place. He’d been intrigued then, so he’d watched her, and seen her laugh, seen the joy she’d experienced falling down the slide. Then when she’d hit the water, he’d watched her struggle to swim to the side of the pool.
     
    It had just been luck that he’d been watching her that day, but he still didn’t know why his eight-year-old mind had locked onto her.
     
    He still didn’t know why she was the one person he still cared more about in this world than anyone else. At first their relationship had just been friendly. Actually, she’d annoyed him at first. He had tried everything to get rid of her at the country club. He’d begged his mom to not go every day or at least at different times. But it had never failed. Every time they drove up, she’d been standing there, waiting for him.
     
    He remembered one time trying to go in through the back gate, just to avoid her. It was like she had a radar. She’d been there at the back gate that day, waiting. It wasn’t until almost three months later, when a few other boys he’d been hanging out with made fun of her, teasing her about something, that he’d finally started looking for her each time. He didn’t like having a little girl following him, but he hated bullies even more.
     
    Two years later he realized how much she’d come to mean to him as a friend. He’d tried out for basketball