Fearless: No. 2 - Sam (Fearless) Read Online Free

happened the day Heather got out of the hospital. Sam was there visiting, as he was throughout those five days. He had disappeared for a few minutes, and when he got back to her room, Heather asked him where he'd been. He said, "I ran into Gaia in the hallway." That was all. Afterward, when Heather quizzed him, Sam instantly claimed to dislike Gaia. Like everybody else, he said it was partly Gaia's fault that Heather got slashed in the first place.
    But there was something about Sam's face when he said Gaia's name that stuck in Heather's mind and wouldn't go away.
    Heather's mind returned again to the card floating in her bag. She sorted through the bag and pulled it out. She needed to check again that the words seemed right. That the handwriting didn't look too girly and stupid. That the phrasing didn't seem too . . . desperate.
    She'd find Sam in the park playing chess with that crazy old man, as he often did on Wednesday afternoons. And if not, she'd go on to his dorm and wait for him there. She'd hand him the card, watch his face while he read it, and kiss him so he'd know she meant it.
    She was in love with Sam. This Saturday marked their six-month anniversary. He was the best-looking, most intelligent guy she knew. She loved the fact that he was in college.
    She had made this decision with her heart. Sam was sexy. Sam was even romantic sometimes. He wasn't a guy you let get away.
    So why, then, as she wrote the card, was she thinking not of Sam, but of Gaia?
Dear Sam,
    These last six months have been the best of my life. Sorry to be corny, but it's true. So I wanted to celebrate the occasion with a
very
special night. I'll meet you at your room at eight on Saturday night and we'll finally do something we've been talking about doing for a long time. I know I said I wanted to wait, but I changed my mind.
    You are the one, and now is the time.
    Love and kisses (all over),
    Heather

LONELY HEARTS
    He smiled at her. This time it was sweet, open, real.

REMARKABLE GIRL
    "THAT STUPID PUNK WILL NOT KILL Gaia!" he thundered. "Do you understand?"
    He strode to the far end of the loft apartment and kicked over a side table laden with coffee mugs. Most rolled; one shattered. One of the two bodyguards who hovered in the background came forward to clean them up.
    He spun on Ella. He hated her face at moments like this.
"Do you understand?"
    "Of course I understand," she said sullenly. "I wasn't expecting her to climb out the window," she added in a scornful mumble.
    "Learn
to
expect
it!" he bellowed. "Gaia is
not
an ordinary girl! Haven't you figured that
out?"
    Ella's eyes darted with reptilian alertness, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.
    "Gaia is no use to me dead. I will not let it happen. I don't care how crazy the girl is. I don't care if she throws herself in the path of a bus. I will
not
let it happen!" He was ranting now. He couldn't stop now if he wanted to. He'd always had a bad temper.
    "Show me the pictures," he demanded of Ella.
    Reluctantly Ella came near and put the pile in his hands.
    He studied the first one for a long time. It was Gaia sitting alone on a park bench. Her face was tipped down, partly obscured by long, pale hair. Her gray sweatshirt was sagging off one shoulder. Her long legs were crossed, and a little burst of light erupted from the reflective patch on her running shoe. A box of doughnuts sat open on the bench next to her.
    Her gesture and manner were so familiar to him, he felt an odd stirring in his chest. Though Gaia was undeniably beautiful with her graceful, angular face, she didn't resemble Katia. Katia had dark glossy hair, brown eyes flecked with orange, and a smaller, more voluptuous build.
    In the next picture Gaia's head was raised, and in the shadow behind her was the boy pointing the gun at her head. The boy looked agitated, his eyes wild. Yet Gaia's face was impossibly calm. He brought the picture close. Remarkable. Utterly fascinating. There was no fear in those wide-set blue