Page 98 of Dangerous Rhythm

“I remember.” Curtis looked at her and squeezed her hand, thankful for her strength. “Rocco was threatening Sean Murphy for touching a girl. Sean was swearing he didn’t do anything to the girl. That it wasn’t him.”

“Who is this girl and what happened to her?” Marcus questioned, not expecting an answer. “Do we know any girl associated with Rocco or Sean? We can start from there.”

“I’ll get on that. I’ll have my team scour surveillance around the Stilettos’ and the Murphys’ territories for a girl seen with Sean or Rocco in the weeks before the December incident.”

Ken took his phone out and speed-dialed Kate, his second-in-command.

“Go back months if you have to,” Marcus said to Ken as he took his call to the kitchen.

“Let me get this straight,” Dean said. “You’re now thinking a girl might’ve been the tipping point of this whole thing?”

“It’s a possibility. Men have fought bigger wars because of a woman.”

“Two people dead because of one girl?” Dean scoffed. “Unbelievable.”

“What? You’ve never seenRomeo and Juliet?” Curtis questioned. “OrTroy?”

“People become idiots in love,” Marcus said drily.

Curtis gave the big man the side-eye. He couldn’t help but feel it was a dig at him.

“I guess I can understand that.” Dean grimaced. “I know I made a lot of idiotic moves in that department.”

Curtis chuckled, remembering Dean and Rae’s tumultuous courtship, earning himself a glare from his friend. “Hey, you got your girl, man. You must’ve done something right.”

“I groveled.” Dean laughed. “But only after Brandon and Chris conspired and got Rae and me on neutral ground, where we couldn’t just walk away from each other.”

Before Curtis could respond to Dean, Ken rushed back into the sitting area. “We found her.”

“That fast?”

“What can I say? My people are good.” Ken grinned. “They checked the Morrigan’s security footage from the night of the incident first, since the police had unofficially shared it with us because of your involvement. They got a ping right away. They’re scanning through other surveillance videos to be sure. But my gut is saying this is her.”

“Who is it?” Curtis asked impatiently.

“Sofia Stiletto.”

“Who’s that?” Dean asked.

“Rocco’s sister,” Lina answered with a frown.

“What does this mean?” Curtis looked from Lina to Ken, and then to Marcus.

“More questions,” Marcus replied. “Why was Sofia Stiletto with Sean Murphy at Morrigan’s? What was she doing there? Dancing? Just having a night out with a boyfriend? Wasn’t Sean like twenty? Twenty-one?”

“God, is that how old he was?” Curtis’ chest tightened.

Ken nodded once, confirming the age.

“And how old is Sofia?”

“Twenty-nine,” Ken said.

“Why would a twenty-nine-year-old woman be seeing a twenty-year-old boy?” Marcus pondered. “Seems odd.”

“We wouldn’t be questioning that if the ages were reversed,” Lina said. “But it happens.”

Curtis agreed it seemed odd but knew age sometimes was just a number if both parties were consenting adults.

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