Page 73 of Savage Justice

Cristina doesn’t argue. “I’ll go round up Lucy and Seb.” She hands Noah over to Beth. “Back in five.”

I wait until Lucy has trooped off with Beth and Cristina and the two little ones, then I set off to make my way back up to the tower studio. I pass Nico on the stairs.

“I was looking for you,” he says, dropping a kiss on my mouth. “Kids sorted?”

“They’ve gone to the pool with Cristina and Beth.”

“They’re in good hands. Cristina will have Noah swimming before he can walk. She used to be Olympic standard.”

“She did? Wow.”

“Yes. She was in the Moldovan national squad. A triathlete. Won international medals, I gather.”

“Why did she stop?”

“Not sure. Some family trouble, I think. It was a long time ago. What are you doing today?” He turns to follow me back upstairs.

“I was going to hang around with Marlowe. I might be able to help.”

“I doubt it. He seems pretty self-contained to me.”

“You’re right. Even so…”

We reach the foot of the spiral staircase leading up to the tower room.

“Are you coming up?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “I’m flying over to Inverness with Tony later. Some business we need to follow up.”

By which he probably means someone’s not been paying their dues and needs a reminder. I know better than to ask.

“Have you seen Marlowe this morning?” he asks me, changing the subject.

I shake my head. “Knowing him, he’s either still in bed or been up since before dawn and started work already.” My money would be on the latter.

Nico rakes his fingers through his over-long dark hair. “He’s an interesting guy.”

I eye him sharply. “You don’t like him, do you?”

“Not sure. I respect his skills. And his loyalty.”

My brow furrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We had a chat yesterday…”

“I know. I was going to ask about that.”

He slouches against the granite wall. “I asked him if he was Lucy’s father.”

My jaw drops. I gape at him. “You did what?”

“I asked if—”

“I heard what you said. Why? Why would you ask that?”

“Because I could tell he was related to her. They’re like two peas in a pod. Haven’t you noticed that?”

“No!”

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