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But he’s been good to me.

So far.

Is this what the look on Seamus’s face means? Good so far. Nice so far.

“I think you should answer him as honestly as you can.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“You know something,” he says, “about the man he killed for you. About your sister’s boyfriend.”

I frown. “Is she in trouble? Is that it? I?—”

“Fuck, I’m just saying, we found out a few things. And the fact that you were there when we came for Mitchum, and then the cops turned up… and the guy…”

“John.”

“The cop.”

I gape at him. “The what?”

“Cop.”

“John wasn’t a cop. I don’t know why he pulled a gun. He said Headley, his friend and my sister’s boyfriend, wanted to give her something. I was supposed to get it from him. That’s it. I don’t know why he hit me. And when he grabbed me, I panicked and?—”

“Ah, Lucie, my brother’s soft in the head around you, just a little, but it won’t stop him from getting to the truth. And I’m not as cruel as he can be. So just tell me?—”

“I am.” Tears prick my eyes. My head’s spinning. I pushpast him to the living room and snatch up my phone. Then I stalk back in the hall to him and shove the unlocked phone at him. “Go through it. Look him up. John. Viv gave him my number. I think he’s texted me a handful of times. We’d chat when we all went out, so we were casual friends. But a cop? I don’t—” I stop. “Wait, where’s my sister? Where’s Headley? I thought maybe she ran off to marry him, but now with your questions and that strange bunch of texts from her, I don’t know. No one picks up when I call her number, and?—”

“Jesus, Seamus. Didn’t Mam teach you manners?” Callahan says behind me, a warning coiled in his tone.

“She taught me the same lessons as you, like never take a pretty face at face value, pardon the pun.”

There’s a big, deep silence, and heat shoots up through me, making my face suddenly burn hot. “He’s just?—”

“Don’t try and protect my brother, love.” Then he pauses and comes around to face me, too. “But Seamus, ham-fisted as he is, has a point. Your story’s got a hell of a lot of holes.”

“I don’t…” I clutch the sides of my head, frustration lacing my words. “Why would I lie? If John was a cop, why would I meet him knowing that? My father’s mafia. I’m a de Rosa.”

“Murphy now.”

I ignore him. “I lived at home, I’m twenty-one, so any money isn’t coming my way until my twenty-fifth birthday. Same with Viv. And to betray Dad…” I shake my head, vision blurring as the tears press hard. “I wouldn’t. Ever. It would destroy everyone. Not to mention how I’d even do it. I mean, yeah, I’d hear things, but nothing to take to the cops. And why would I meet a cop outside a strip club? Dad wasn’t there; he had nothing to do with that place. John said?—”

“Luce, meet me at the following address; it’s on your way to the dance party. Got something for Viviana from H. A surprise.” Seamus sounds disgusted as he reads from myphone. “Unless that’s code, then she might be telling the truth.”

“I am.” I lunge for my phone, but he holds it out of my reach and then continues to scroll.

“Seamus.” The warning’s more pronounced.

“I’m looking, Callahan. One of us has to stop being beguiled by this girl, and it’s not gonna be you or Declan. And since Torin likes to play things neutral, it’s up to me.”

“To be a prick?” Callahan says. “Because like I said, her story’s got holes, but that doesn’t mean she’s hiding something.”

“If I was going to betray Dad, I’d want a lot of key information, and more so, I’d take an escape route—” I stop, hand flying to my mouth. “Wait. Don’t you dare hurt my sister. Promise me. Promise me right now, Callahan. She wouldn’t betray him, either. And if she did, it wasn’t a betrayal of you. Besides, no one’s come to arrest my father, have they?” I shake my head and step back. “She ran because she didn’t want to marry a man she hadn’t met because she was in love.”

And she abandoned me to that fate.

To Callahan.