Dr. Weiss arrived in Scarlett’s hospital room early the next morning. She blinked open sleep-heavy eyes, barely managing to focus on the clock hanging beside the television bolted on the wall. It read seven-forty, and she yawned, more of a reflex to the early hour than an actual tiredness. Her head was still heavy, and her thoughts fuzzy, but she wasn’t sleepy.

“How are you feeling, Ms. Terini?” Dr. Weiss shone a bright light into her eyes.

Wincing away from the light, Scarlett said grumpily, “I’ve felt better.”

“How’s the head?” He mercifully removed the light from her eyes and gently turned her head to examine the bump.

“Better,” Scarlett answered in a rush, not wanting to stay another minute. Even returning to Braxton’s home was better than staying in the hospital. “It feels kind of...” She searched for the word. “Um, full? Like there’s water sloshing around in my brain or something.”

“That’s to be expected—just a result of the concussion. I don’t see any cause for alarm, Ms. Terini. I’ll get started on those discharge papers while you have a light breakfast, then give Mr. Braxton a call.”

Scarlett’s stomach lurched with panic as she realized she didn’t know Carter’s number, and she had no other way to reach him. Was she going to be stuck in the hospital until he arrived? What if he decided to leave her there? Why hadn’t he stayed?

Taking a deep breath, Scarlett plastered on a fake smile and said, “I seem to have forgotten his number, Dr. Weiss. Would you be able to get it for me?”

The doctor agreed and left Scarlett to attend to his paperwork. Twenty minutes later, a nurse brought her a tray of bland hospital food and a slip of paper. “Here’s that number,” she said while drawing the bedside table forward for Scarlett.

“Thank you.” Scarlett grimaced at the poached egg glaring balefully up at her, then turned her attention to the runny oatmeal and barely toasted toast. The nurse left, and Scarlett ate as much of the food as she could tolerate. Then, feeling nervous, she took the phone off the side of the railing and dialed Carter’s number from the slip of paper.

Kent answered, and Scarlett told him she was being released. “I’ll send the car for you, madam,” was his rather uninterested reply. After hanging up, Scarlett rose from the bed on slightly shaky legs and hobbled her way to the closet where her t-shirt and shorts were neatly folded.

It took some time to get dressed, as she had to sit on the bed for most of the process. Her ankle hurt too much to bear any weight, so she had barely finished dressing when Dr. Weiss returned with her discharge papers and a strange-looking contraption. “This is a brace,” he explained. “You’ll need to keep it on for at least a week, except for showering.”

Scarlett wrinkled her nose when she saw the mass of purple and black bruising on her horribly swollen ankle after the doctor removed the bandages he’d placed on last night. He slid her foot into a shoe-type brace before bringing up the sides around her leg and fastening the Velcro straps to keep them in place. “When can I walk on it?”

“Oh, I imagine you’ll feel up to walking in three or four days. If it hurts when you try, you aren’t ready. I want you to rest it completely for the next three days.”

Scarlett nodded, accepting the papers from Dr. Weiss. He wanted to see her again in his office in a week, and Scarlett assumed Carter or Darren would know where to take her. She was ready to go when Darren arrived thirty minutes later. A nurse wheeled her out to the town car, and Darren lifted her inside. Scarlett told herself that sudden drop in her stomach was not disappointment when she realized Carter was not in the car with her. It was relief, she assured herself. Why would she want to see Carter?

* * *

When they returned to the mansion, Darren carried her inside and left her in a small entertainment room. Scarlett flipped on the television, but quickly found it boring and soon switched it off again. She was twiddling her thumbs when Carter came in the room a short time later. “Hi.” She felt shy with him after last night’s talk.

“How are you this morning?”

“Much better, but I’m bored out of my mind. There’s nothing on television, and all my books are upstairs.”

“I’ll get them for you before I go to my meeting.” She was surprised he offered to retrieve them himself. “Once I’m gone, if you need anything, please feel free to ask Darren or one of the other staff members.” His eye kept wandering to her legs, and Scarlett watched him with interest.

What was it about him?

* * *

Scarlett spent a boring day just lying around the entertainment room. Later in the afternoon, she had Darren carry her upstairs to her room, and a tray of food was brought up. After eating and taking a pill for the pain, she found the yawns increasing in frequency and turned in for an early night.

Upon awaking the next morning, Scarlett hobbled into the bathroom and drew a tub of hot water. There was a tickle in her chest and her throat was sore, but she was not unduly concerned. She’d expected to catch some type of bug after being in the rain for several hours.

The bath consumed a large portion of her time, but it was still only ten when Darren came across her trying to make it down the stairs. “Why didn’t you ring me?” He gently carried her down the stairs, into the breakfast room.

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” said Scarlett as the maid came in the room to take their requests for breakfast. “Will Carter be joining us?” Scarlett inquired casually.

Darren shrugged. “He usually does.”

Scarlett peered behind her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t behind her. “Why am I here, Darren? What’s going on?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “That’s not my place to say, Scarlett. It’s between your father and the Carter.”

“Don’t you think it concerns me too?” Scarlett frowned. “I’ve been signed over as collateral for six months, and I don’t even understand what’s going on.”

“I can’t tell you anything except you wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t agreed to the deal.”

“Well that isn’t any help, Darren.” Pursing her lips, Scarlett decided to try a different track. “How did you come to work for Carter?”

“He saved my life.” Darren rose to help the maid as she returned with a large tray bearing their breakfast. “My motorcycle crashed, and he dragged me out of the wreckage seconds before it exploded.”

“Oh so he’s a hero?”

“I don’t think he would agree with you there.”

“What’s the big secret?” Scarlett asked impatiently. “I’m just trying to find out a little background on my captor.”

“Your captor?” Carter asked coolly from the doorway. “I thought I was the man who held the lien on you, but I guess captor works.”

Scarlett frowned at him. “How long have you been lurking there?”

“Long enough.” Carter walked farther into the room. “Darren, would you excuse us for a short time?”

Without complaint, Darren gathered up his plate and left the room. A heavy silence descended behind Darren, and Scarlett swallowed. Her throat hurt, and she took a gulp of grape juice to relieve the pain, which had the added advantage of breaking their eye contact.

Carter smiled, with just a hint of coldness in his eyes. “I’d appreciate you not grilling my employees for information about me. They are completely loyal, but it’s possible that someone as devious as you may be able to trip them up. I would hate to have to fire anyone over you.”

“Devious?” Scarlett hissed in outrage. “I’m not devious, but I am in the dark. I was just trying to get a little background on you.”

“My life and my past are none of your concern. You’ll mind your own business in this house, Ms. Terini. Perhaps it won’t hurt you to learn to respect others while you’re with us. Maybe I can send you back to that worthless rat-bastard a better person.”

Scarlett blinked at the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. No one had ever spoken to her in such a hateful way before. “Why are you speaking to me like this? Where did you get the impression that I’m devious and have no respect for others?”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Carter said cryptically. “I know you and your type, and I’ve never liked it. You’re a spoiled rich girl who’s always gotten her way, and you don’t know how to treat people who you feel are beneath you.”

Shaking her head in confusion, Scarlett whispered, “That’s not true. I’m nice to everyone, except you,” she said with sudden spunk.

“Yes, I’ll bet you’re real nice.” He snorted. “Tell me, have you ever given any of your old clothes away to the maids, or the servants’ children? I’ll bet you also make sure they get at least half a day off on Christmas, and one day off a week,” he said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

Scarlett shifted uncomfortably. She did pass along her clothes to Marcia and the other staff, and she always tried to make sure they alternated who worked Christmas. He was making her good deeds sound selfish and unimportant. “What’s wrong with that?” Her chin inclined a notch.

“Did it ever occur to you to make sure your maid had enough money to buy her own clothes, or even to ask her if she wanted your cast-offs? Did you ever think that your staff has a family and a life too, and they might not want to spend their holidays waiting on your family?”

“Look at this house.” Scarlett swept a hand around. “It doesn’t run without a large-sized staff either. Can you say that all of your servants have Christmas off?” she queried in a biting tone.

“No, but when they are forced to work holidays, they’re allowed to participate in the festivities. Have you ever invited anyone in your father’s employ to join you for dinner?” Carter lifted brow his brow, his expression skeptical.

Scarlett dropped her eyes, unable to say that she had.

Carter’s voice returned to its normal cool drone. “I didn’t think so after seeing your surprise the night of your arrival when Darren joined us for dinner.”

“So, I’m just shallow and spoiled?” Scarlett asked in a choked voice.

“How can you be anything else when you are Rocco Terini’s daughter?”

Scarlett nodded, folding her napkin in deliberate squares. “Will you please have Darren return me to my room?” She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

He didn’t respond for a moment and she looked up at him, his eyes had softened but there was still anger beneath the surface.

“I want to go to my room. I don’t want to sit down here with you anymore, don’t you see that? Or you can’t, because you’re so cruel?”

The last line made him move. Darren appeared only a few moments later and helped her to her room where she found herself crying into her pillow.

* * *

By the next morning, Scarlett was truly miserable. She’d spent the rest of yesterday in her room to avoid running into Carter. To her humiliation, his words had wounded her, and she’d spent an hour weeping over them. After the tears abated, she felt even worse, and her throat was so sore she couldn’t eat her dinner.

Ann, the maid, whose name she finally asked, brought her another tray for breakfast, but Scarlett waved her out after asking for her to bring a glass of apple juice instead. She was huddled under the covers a few minutes later when there was a knock at her door. Carter entered imperiously without waiting for an invitation. “Listen, princess, Ann has better things to do than wait on you hand and foot. If you don’t want to eat what you’re offered, you can come downstairs and get it yourself.”

“Get out of here,” Scarlett managed to croak out, keeping her back turned to him.

“If you’re on a hunger strike, it won’t work,” Carter said blithely. “All you’ll do is lose your pretty figure and make yourself ill, but you won’t soften my attitude. Fits and tears won’t get you home any sooner.”

Tears seeped from her eyes again, and Scarlett wondered why he was being so harsh with her. That night at the hospital, he’d been so kind to her, had even apologized for letting her get lost. Now he seemed determined to tear her down and hurt her at every opportunity. “I’m already sick,” she managed to force through her swollen throat.

Carter’s mouth snapped shut, and he sat down on the bed beside her. She felt his presence but didn’t respond. He gently rolled her over to face him. Carter placed a hand on her forehead. “You’re warm. I’ll call Dr. Weiss,” he said in a gentler tone.