I shouldn't do it but...
I do.
"Just keep him from saying anything to harm us."
"It would be helpful if our brother hadn't tried to brutally murder his sister," I snap.
Murder, of course, being the kindest fate that Caterina Rossi could have met that night.
"Aye," Liam nods. "But now we're allied with the Rossi’s."
"How?"
He grins. "Wedding bells."
My eyes open. "Anastasia."
"Yes. So. I need to get married. Before the trial. And Marco needs to keep his mouth shut."
"He will, if that's the case."
Liam shakes his head. "We don't know what he'll say. Marco De Luca may be allied with Elio, but he's always been his own person. Clearly," he says, eyebrow raised. "As I don't think he's here right now, is he?"
I don't answer that question.
With a sigh, Liam stands. "I won't bother you further, sister. But be careful of Marco De Luca. He's dangerous. Can't be trusted. Will he be back in time?"
"Yes," I say confidently.
Liam looks at me, his eyebrow raised.
"He will," I insist.
Shaking his head, Liam heads for the door. "He better be. Or all of this is going to come down. And we're going to be to blame."
3
ROISIN
The dateof the trial inches closer, and every day that I can't find Marco feels like another day that I'm drowning.
Finally, it's the night before. I'm sitting on my couch, listening to the same punk rock record that I've been listening to since I was a mere eight years old.
I can't explain it, but the clashing of the music makes me feel... settled, somehow.
Complete, in a way that I've never been able to before.
Eyes shut, I picture how the trial is going to go tomorrow. It's just the beginning, a hearing to get everything going. But if Marco doesn't show, it's going to be clear that I lost him.
That he hasn't been in my custody.
Which is going to get me fired. So fired, in fact, that I may have an investigation directed at me. Which would lead to the inevitable outcome of Seamus, and my entire team, finding out that I'm the bastard MacAntyre child.
Which would definitely lead to not only my arrest, but the arrest of my brother, and...
"Your taste in music really needs to evolve."
I shoot up off the couch.