Page 47 of Vows of Blood

Sienna is looking at me earnestly. "He hasn't changed."

"No. He hasn't."

The silence stretches between us as our thoughts drift back to those days. When we were madly in love, unstoppable and absurdly happy.

"I'm sorry about your parents," I say, the words coming out before I can stop them.

Her hands go still, and she turns to look at me, her eyes wide and glassy. A strand of dark hair, sleek and shiny, hangs down at the side of her face, and the irresistible urge to push it behind her ear gets the better of me.

"How do you know about that?" she whispers, staying perfectly still as I tuck it back, the gesture completely unnatural and perfectly normal to me at the same time.

For a moment, she leans slightly into my touch, eyelashes touching the pale skin of her cheeks. It gives me a glimpse of the girl I used to know, the one who trusted me with everything.

I wish I could tell her I know because I checked in, kept tabs on, or even better, secretly stayed in touch with her parents behind her back. But I didn’t.

"Nico ran a background check."

Those words dash any hope she had that I wasn’t a complete asshole. She angrily retucks the strand of hair like she's ridding herself of my touch.

"Of course," she says the words flatly. "Ever hear of privacy?"

I scoff. “There’s no such thing as privacy in this line of business.”

She’s about to hit me with a comeback, sharp and cutting, which I find myself eager to hear. But instead, her mouth closes, and she turns back to the folder of photos.

The fight she chooses not to have with me guts me more than any words could.

"You don’t have to sit with me," she says curtly. "If I recognize someone, I’ll let you know."

Did she just dismiss me? In my own fucking kitchen?

“Yes Sienna, you will. Because you’re stuck here until we find out who did this.”

She glares at me before returning to scanning each page. Sienna doesn’t seem to appreciate just how scary and intimidating most people find me. Or how serious this is.

My phone buzzes. Pulling it out, frustrated at the interruption, I glance at the screen and curse. This can’t be good.

"I need to take this." Sliding out of the chair, I’m oddly disappointed when she doesn’t even acknowledge my departure as I step into the hallway, phone to my ear, and brace myself.

“Luca? You should get down here. Now.” Nico sounds anxious, rare for him, and it sets my nerves on edge. He’s never worried.

"What's happened?"

A pause. In the background, I can hear the clammer of distant conversations, movement, and the sterile echo of an empty hallway.

"It's Kate. She’s… gone." Another pause, longer this time. "Maeve O'Sullivan just arrived. Finn's with her. They don’t know yet."

Kate's mother, the matriarch of the Irish family, and a woman whose reputation for calculated brutality rivals my father's, is there.

I press my palm flat against the wall, cursing loudly and repeatedly. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to tell them about what happened to Kate, and fast.

“Luca?” Sienna’s worried voice drifts to me from the kitchen, but I can’t focus on her right now. She’s already gotten me distracted, and being distracted in this line of business gets you killed.

"I'm on my way," I assure him, the enormity of this ever-worsening situation sinking in.

“Hurry,” Nico warns, obviously not wanting to break the news to them himself.

I can’t blame him. It’s not going to be pretty. Shooting the messenger in this instance is a real possibility.