Page 61 of Beautiful Liar

“It’s the tag I got when I checked in Jack’s coat at Renew. The night he tried to kill me.”

“What was in the coat?” Graham asked.

“I don’t know. It was heavy, but I didn’t ask. Mules don’t ask.”

Kieran cleared his throat, shifted in his seat. “And why would Luca give it to you?”

“I don’t know.” Not actually a lie. I didn’t know.

Wren tapped the table with his finger. “Luca is the key. I think he’s ready to knock Alessandro off his fucking pedestal.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Alessandro is a fucking pedophile who killed mymother.”

“We never found proof,” River added.

“What more proof do you need!” He got to his feet. I’d never seen him so angry. “Alessandro always had a young girl in his arms. Always!”

“They were of age.”

“But he purchased them from poor families when they were kids. They were given to him to mold as he saw fit, so when they came of age, he used them for a while and left them.”

Hearing this side of Enzo made me sick. I’d always thought I was special. That he loved me. I hadn’t known about the others.

“There wasn’t any report of sexual abuse as minors, Wren. I know. It’s sick. I’m not saying what he does, did, is right or moral, but he never hurt them and after they came of age, they stayed and left willingly.”

“Not all of them,” he said, but his argument fell flat.

“We still have no proof that he killed your mother.”

Wren slammed his hand on the table. “You don’t even belong here anymore!” Wren looked wrecked. The friendship with River took a nosedive to hell. He glared at River with such hatred, I felt it in my bones, and he wasn’t even looking at me. That I could quite possibly confirm Wren’s suspicions about the type of man Enzo was and give him justification for the kill made my stomach knot. I’d been sixteen. Sixteen when Enzo lost his mind. Moms had drugged me, and I woke up … I woke up … I couldn’t remember. The void where my memories should’ve been kept me from saying anything. What if Enzo was right? What if he’d been the victim and I had been the aggressor? What would Kieran think of me then?

I couldn’t. I fucking couldn’t. I pushed my chair back and climbed to my feet. “That’s all I have for you. Hopefully, something pans out,” I said that to Wren with an internal,I’msorry I couldn’t be braverand walked out.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kieran

Wren stormed out after Tomás.

River twitched in his chair, the color draining from his face. His shoulders drooped, looking so damn defeated. He and Wren had been best friends since I’d met them. Inseparable. We made eye contact, and he lifted his chin slightly.

He was barely hanging on.

“River,” I said. “I need you present. Are you with me?”

He swallowed thickly and nodded.

I turned to the rest of the group. “Graham,” I said. “You’re going to be on your own. We all have to participate in this fucked up game for the next twenty-four hours. You good?”

“Yeah.”

“If you need anything.Anything.I want you to contact John. Tell him he can contact Tristan for any support or extract you might need. Tristan’s not Cillian. He can be trusted. I’ll deal with the aftermath when I get back.”

Graham nodded tightly. Telling them that I trusted Tristan should’ve come with an explanation I didn’t have time for. Instead, they trusted me. Implicitly.

“Constance will not lay a hand on Henry,” Tor said, his voice taking on a deadly edge to it. “I will challenge her if she does.”

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