Page 155 of Dust to Dust

I momentarily shuttered my eyes at the thought of what she endured. When I opened them, I had to ask the question that had been on my mind for such a long time. “Were we wrong to never ask you about that night? I know it’s a delicate matter, but did you need us at least to ask? Did you need to tell us what happened?”

Maeve gave me a shadow of a smile. “As much as you all have sheltered and protected me, there’s some horrors I need to keep to myself.”

“Kellan had to talk to Isla about what happened.”

“I’m glad he did. It’s liberating when you free yourself of the pain.”

“You aren’t angry he shared what happened?”

She shook her head. “I want him to be able to be in my presence without crying. I want him to be everything he can be in our family without being riddled with guilt and remorse.”

“I think he’s well on his way to doing that.”

“Good. Now we can just focus on you.”

“I might be a lost cause.”

“Never.”

“I want to believe you.”

She gave me an encouraging smile. “We will find a way to get her back.”

“I think that’s as much a lost cause as I am.”

“Trust me.”

“I’ll try.”

Maeve rose out of the booth. “Got to nip to the loo. I’ll be right back.”

“Do I need to come with you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Quinn? I think I can go to a random restaurant’s loo alone without you or my bodyguard.

“Fine.”

Maeve had just gone down the hallway to the bathrooms when her phone rang. I couldn’t help glancing down at it. When the name Rúnsearc flashed on the screen, I almost came out of the booth. Rúnsearc meant my secret love.

Who the fuck was Maeve calling that?”

Without a second thought, I grabbed the phone and answered it. “Who the fuck is this?”

A pause came on the line. “I suppose I could ask you the same thing.”

My brows furrowed. I knew that voice. “Rafe?”

Another pause. “Quinn?”

The world spun around me. Raphael Neretti was Maeve’s secret love? Oh hell no. This wasn’t happening. “What the fuck are you doing calling my sister?” I growled.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

A dark chuckle came from my chest. “Oh, I bet Callum would love to weigh in on why my sister has you saved into her phone as ‘secret lover’.”

“Maeve’s a grown woman, Quinn. I think she’s allowed to make her own decisions without her brothers’ consent.”

“You cheeky bastard. You’d be losing your mind if the tables were turned, and Caterina had someone saved as a secret lover.”

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