Page 76 of Vows of Blood

Maeve beckons him closer and holds out her phone, all business. He reads it, and whatever is written there draws a quiet seriousness from him.

“I’ll give you my support. Because I want to know who did this, and I’ll quite enjoy your father getting his due."

Luca nods and bows his head before taking a step back as she pushes to her feet. “I’ll get them, Maeve. Have no doubt.”

She pats his arm as she passes.

"I only came over to make sure your intentions were pure, but I pressed send the moment I saw you two flirting in the hallway." She rolls her eyes and tucks the phone away. "Alfonso will know immediately that I’ve done this to support you, and the alliance, despite there being no marriage to bind us. What comes next, however, because there will be a retaliation, is on you." Her gaze slides back to me one last time, brief and precise. "Take care of yourself, Ms. Fox."

She walks out, giving Luca a stiff nod, and a moment later, the front door closes.

I drop my chin to my chest, glad that’s over and relieved to have made it through that alive.

"What was on the phone?" I ask tentatively, not sure I’ll get an answer.

Luca is already moving, his own phone out. "A statement to the press telling them that Kate and I were never really engaged. That they misread a friendship, and to keep our upcoming wedding a secret, we never corrected them. But to honor Kate’s memory, the O’Sullivans wanted to set the record straight so they’d be left alone to grieve." He glances at me, just briefly. "She wasn’t joking. She'd already sent it."

"Will anyone believe that?" I ask, unable to help myself.

Everyone saw me in my waitress uniform at the restaurant. What woman would go that far to keep the ruse going? There’s stretching the bounds of believability, and then there’s this.

Luca arches one dark brow. "The truth is whatever the most powerful person in the room says it is." Then adds, “And what possible reason would she have to lie?”

I look toward the door she just walked out of. This woman made the trip over here, in the midst of her grief, just to look me in the eye and decide if I was taking Kate’s place for the right reasons.

“What would she have done if she didn’t like me?”

Luca shakes his head, scrolling on his phone.

"She's a little terrifying," I say.

"Yes." Luca almost sounds fond. "She really is."

“I might want to be her when I grow up,” I comment.

Luca’s phone starts ringing in his hand, and he looks up. “Looks like someone believes it.”

If Rebecca sees this before I tell her myself, she’s going to lose her shit. Before he can leave to answer the call, I catch Luca’s wrist before he can pull away. "My phone."

He hesitates. "What about it?"

"I want it back. Now," I say firmly. “Kate’s death is public knowledge. As is our engagement, apparently. I need to talk to Rebecca.”

For a moment, I think he's going to argue. Then he reaches into his jacket pocket and produces my phone, placing it in my palm without question.

I blink hard. The fucker had it on him this whole time.

"Thank you." I power it on as he lifts his phone to his ear and walks away, fielding questions about me, about the wedding, and reconfirming the story Maeve has just put out.

Notifications flood my screen almost immediately.

Oh God.

Rebecca's messages start confused, then concerned, then increasingly frantic.

Where are you? Call me back.

Sienna, seriously, what's going on?