Page 38 of Dublin Charmer

I hold up my spork and grin. “Glad you asked. The difference is that we’re the good guys and you’re working for the wrong team. It would be in your best interest and ours for you to cut ties with Gravely and join Team Quinn.”

She blinks at me, her mouth open to take another bite of toast. “Just like that? I should wash my hands of Gravely and switch sides.”

“You asked me what we want—that’s it. Plain and simple.”

“Only nothing about anything is plain and simple.”

“Gravely is a fucking monster. You realize that, don’t you?”

She rolls her eyes and picks up the mug of coffee, seemingly unwilling to get into Billy Gravely as a topic.

Grand, then I’ll try something else. “I’ve been looking into you and what happened to your father. You might not be aware of this, but families like ours have deep-rooted ties and loyalties to other families. My da respected the Rossi family a great deal.”

Her hand freezes halfway to her mouth, her gaze hardening. “I don’t know what you think you know, but…”

“I know about your father getting taken down in the Rossi takeover in 2017. I know Antonio was highly respected in our circles. It couldn’t have been easy for you and your brother to disappear and go on.”

She sets the spork down, her face carefully blank. “You know nothing about anything.”

“Emilia, listen. Whatever is going on with you, we can help. The Specter was respected as the best hacker the Rossi family ever had. Obviously he passed down his skills. You could have a place here with us. You and your brother, Gio.”

Her entire body tenses.

The shift is subtle but unmistakable—like a cat preparing to strike.

Whatever is going on with her has to do with her brother. “Where is he? Are you two still close?”

She pushes away from the table. “We’re done here.”

“Emilia—”

She holds out a pointed finger. “No. I’m Nyx to you, not Emilia. You have no right to use that name and no right to pretend you know me. I said we’re done, and we are. Get out!”

She is shutting down so completely I know there’s no reasoning with her. But that reaction when I mentioned her brother tells me everything I need to know.

Whatever is going on has something to do with Gio.

I stand and collect last night’s tray, leaving the one from breakfast. “I’m sorry you’re upset. I really am trying to help you.”

She turns away, facing the wall.

I pause at the door. She may hate me right now, but I’m a man who means what he says and says what he means. And now I know that if I dig into Gio, I’ll find her leverage point.

The lock clicks behind me as I exit, but my mind is already racing with possibilities. There’s more to Emilia Farina than meets the eye, and I’m going to figure out exactly what that is.

I return to my room and head straight for my desk to check the status of the mobile device forensic tech I have working on Nyx’s phone. The status bar reads 100% complete. The contents of her phone have been unlocked, cloned, and are now on my computer for me to sort through.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

I take a quick scan through the call log, which is hugely dominated by a contact named Dead Man Walking. Leaving that for the moment, I slide into my desk chair and access her contact list to see if I can find Billy Gravely.

There is no listing for him by name, so I take a hopeful leap and click on Dead Man Walking. When I open the contact’s window, I see they are represented by a happy face emoji with a dagger piercing its skull and blood trickling down its face.

I chuckle. “Tell me how you really feel, babe.”

Before I go through the message thread, I reach over to my side table, grab the bottle of Redbreast 12, and pour myself a double. As the warmth of the whiskey glides down my throat, I scroll through the texts.

Based on the interactions, it doesn’t take long to confirm that Dead Man Walking is what she calls Gravely. The guy is a bastard even when texting. There are a few interactions about things for her to look into: addresses, names, shipping routes…