Page 75 of Vows of Blood

"Yes, here I am."

She regards me for a moment then leans forward.

“And I want to know why,” Maeve says, hands clasped in her lap. “Why would a nice, normal girl want to get mixed up in this?” She holds her hands up, acting like we’re sitting in a drug den rather than a palatial mansion.

Luca glares. “We’ve known each other a long time…”

Maeve holds up a hand, keeping her attention fixed entirely on me.

“I want to get justice for Kate. If I can help find the killer, I will.”

Regarding me closely, she mulls over what I’ve said. “Perhaps. I believe that’s part of it. But there’s more.”

Shifting in my seat, Luca’s presence at my side consumes my thoughts.

“I’m scared. The press was camped at my door. I was about to be evicted. There might have been an assassin hunting for me…”

Maeve shakes her head. “If you were easily scared, you wouldn’t be sitting across from me.” She gives me a mischievous smile.

“Luca, give us a minute?” Maeve requests.

Luca stills. Being dismissed in his own living room is not what he was expecting. He stands, checking with me that I’m okay, before he leaves the room. “I’ll get us some tea.”

After his footsteps down the hall have fallen silent, Maeve returns her attention to me. “Is this about money?”

Affronted, my back goes up immediately. “No.”

When I don’t elaborate, she nods, seeming to take my word for it.

“But you want something, otherwise you’d have gone to the police, fled to the other side of the country, hid. So what is it?” she prompts. “Do you even know?”

For the first time since this rollercoaster began, I pause and really think.

“I want a do-over.” I shrug, knowing that probably sounds ridiculous. “Alfonso’s meddling stole our future and tore my world apart. This is my chance to have a fresh start.”

Maeve smirks.

“Most people who want a clean slate opt for a simpler life. This, marrying Luca, is most definitely not that.” Watching me closely, eagerly, she inches forward in her seat. “There’s more. What else?”

She’s giving me the distinct impression she knows already but just needs me to admit it.

“I want to see Alfonso’s face when I marry his son.” Feeling conflicted, and well aware how terrible that sounds, I scramble to explain. “I loved Luca. And this, well, who knows what’s going to happen between us. Back then, when Alfonso ruined me, I was young and powerless. This is my way of taking that back, showing him he didn’t win.” I groan. “That probably makes me sound like a bitch.”

Maeve’s eyes dance as she waves away my shame. “It makes you sound like a fighter. Which is what you’ll need to be if you’re going to do this.”

It sounds like she’s here to counsel me, to make sure I’m prepared. Maeve glances past me toward the window, movement outside briefly drawing her attention.

“I’ll admit, Alfonso deserves to suffer for what he’s done to you, but I’m afraid that it’s you who’ll come out of this the worst. He’s a dangerous man, Sienna. And the wedding will only be the beginning.”

His vicious stare when he saw me on Luca’s arm last night flashes behind my eyes. It was enough to steal the air from my lungs, and the bravado I showed when confronted by Sophia vanished completely.

“Luca needs me.”

Maeve smiles. “There it is.” With a sigh, she glances at her watch before shouting out shockingly loudly in her lilting Irish accent. “Luca?”

While we wait, she pulls out her phone and types away, leaving me with my thoughts about how and why I’m doing this.

With gritted teeth, Luca reappears a few moments later.