Page 9

The secrets are my problem. I used to think that it was cool to have so many secrets. I surrounded myself in them, wrapped like a blanket in a hundred of them.
I never thought that they could come unraveled.
At least, not like this.
"Seriously Ro, what's gotten into you today?" Seamus looks over, worry in his eyes. “You’ve always been so… together. And today you’re just… not.”
I huff and take a sip of the coffee. The streets of Dublin still bear some of the trappings of the post-holiday celebrations. The gutters smell like piss and vomit, but the trees contain merry pieces of tinsel or glitter, twinkling sadly in the wet Irish air.
"Nothing,' I lie, feeling the secret burn my tongue with bitterness. "Just thinking about the trial."
"Ah, that. No worries, darlin'," Seamus beams. "With your star witness, the trial is going to be an absolute breeze."
It takes everything in me to keep from wincing.
My star witness.
Meaning, the man that I was supposed to keep in custody. The one that Seamus, and every other Interpol agent in Ireland, thinks I still have in my custody.
The one I let walk away from me after he found out my last name. My brothers.
My rotten, foul legacy.
"Yes," I say through teeth that are clenched so tight, it's a miracle my teeth haven't cracked. "He's ready to go."
The fact that I have no idea where in the world Marco De Luca is sits on my chest like a damn weighted blanket.
You let him go, Ro. You're the one who didn't stop him once he saw the tattoo.
The circumstances around how, and why, Marco De Luca saw my MacAntyre tattoo are...
Well.
I certainly can't think about them for very long.
Not in public, anyway.
It takes a physical effort for me to shake off the memory of that day. Of his hands on my skin. Of the moment he found it, the falter in his voice…
Who are you really, Roisin?
My mentor’s voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Well, I'm off to do the paperwork for the day. The world may have taken a holiday, but crime did not," Seamus winks at me. I wave him away, then turn on my heel.
Guilt floods me.
Seamus is a good boss. He’s been kind to me, and helped me grow through the years. The fact that I lie to him all day, every day….
It used to be fine.
Now, however, I feel much less ‘fine’ about it.
I huff, sipping the coffee and considering my options.
I could go into the office. I'm certain that my own stack of paperwork is excessive, but...
Unfortunately, I have bigger fish to fry.
Such as finding out where the hell Marco De Luca is.