Kira didn’t bend to pick them up. “Can I have your phone, Luca? I’d like to call the authorities.”
He dug his phone out with his free hand and handed it over, unlocking it for her. Which he didn’t need to do in order for her to make an emergency call. But still, he needed her to know that he trusted her fully and was willing to give her access to his entire life.
Luca wished he had some kind of plastic ties, but there was nothing in his pockets to secure the guy. He walked the assailant a few steps away from her. “I can let you go. If you aren’t going to cause any more trouble.”
The guy hissed out a breath between clenched teeth, his body shifting. He wanted to cause plenty of trouble but had to know that might not be the best course of action right now, when the police were going to be arriving soon.
Kira walked away a couple of steps, the phone to her ear.
“I can always tell the police that you fully cooperated and realized that what you were going to do was a bad choice.”
“You mean pick up a lady’s keys?” he said. “’Cause that’s all I did.”
“That and asking about some woman who doesn’t want to be around you.”
The guy let out a groan of frustration. “She knows where Frankie is.” He looked at Kira. “Just tell me and I’ll leave. You don’t need to call the cops.”
Kira looked at the man, zero remorse on her face. “I’m never telling you where she is.”
Luca stared at her, this fierce and powerful woman who had so much vulnerability wrapped up in that strength. He wanted to protect her and see her in action.
Yeah, he’d found what he was looking for.
“It was over pretty quickly. That’s all that happened.” Kira shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ready to get out of here.
Two uniformed police officers had arrived quickly, followed by Detective Mike Martinelli, who seemed to be a friend of Luca’s. He was the one who’d asked her all the questions about the incident, as he called it, while the other cops put the man in the back of their car.
“Have you ever met him before?” Detective Martinelli was a little shorter than Luca, probably five-nine. He had dark hair and Mediterranean features. Sharp, intelligent eyes. Okay, fine. He was cute.
Luca had stood by her the entire way through the questioning. He’d come to her rescue after they both realized there was something off about the man in the elevator. She hadn’t realized then what would happen, assuming more that he would try to mug her or something like that. The fact he’d wanted information wasn’t something she’d expected.
“We’ve never met before,” Kira said. “But I think I know who he is.”
“He had his wallet on him, so we have his name. Stuart Parker.”
“I think he’s the boyfriend or husband of a woman I helped. Frankie…Hesburgh, I think.” She crossed her arms. “She came in with all kinds of cuts and bruises as well as cracked ribs. It was clear it might be a domestic-violence type of situation, so my staff would have reported it to the police.”
She told the detective and Luca about seeing the woman in the park and putting her in a rideshare car to take her to the shelter. “It wasn’t much, but I figured they might be able to help her.”
Detective Martinelli looked up from his notepad. “Something like that might have saved her life.”
“And on top of that, considering it seems like someone told him what you did, it put you in the line of fire.” Luca shrugged. “Whether you were aware of it or not.”
He couldn’t be suggesting she should’ve stayed out of it. “I wasn’t going to leave her there and not help her. And I can take care of myself.”
Detective Martinelli glanced between them.
Luca said, “I wasn’t criticizing what you did. Helping people isn’t a bad thing, but something like this comes with risk.”
“Then it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” She wasn’t going to back down on that, not when it was such a small thing to book a car for the lady.
But the last thing she’d expected was this.
Maybe the fear was just coming as a delayed reaction, because her hands started to shake now. Her breaths came quick, and all she could think about were fingers around her neck. A strong grip.
His face over her, determined to squeeze the life from her.
Luca snagged her hand with his, anchoring her in the moment, here and now. Enabling her to take a full breath.