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“Come on, we’ll find you a place.”
And he did. While her muddled brain worked on getting her phone out of her purse and then trying to remember what time it was in Florence, Italy, Liam found her an empty hospital room.
“Take your time. I’ll be right outside.”
She entered the stark, sterile room, and the door closed behind her. It was the first real privacy she’d had since the accident, and as much as she wanted this moment to sit down and sob, she couldn’t. She had responsibilities, duties. Her uncle was depending on her. She had betrayed him in the worst way possible. The least she could do was take care of this and whatever else he needed from her.
She pressed the call icon for her mother.
* * *
Liam stood outside the door. Hearing the sobs inside, he wanted to go in and comfort her but knew she needed this time. As he waited, he kept a watchful eye on the door Syd Green was behind. He was signing papers, making arrangements. When he was done, there would be a conversation.
Verbally attacking a grieving father on the worst moment of his life didn’t sit well with him. The soul-wrenching grief was real. He believed Syd Green genuinely loved his daughter and had not planned for this to happen to her. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t planned for it to happen to Aubrey. She’d been the target, Becca had simply gotten in the way.
It could have been Aubrey. The thought kept whirling in his mind. If the killer had gotten his intended target, Aubrey would be in that hospital room with a sheet covering her mangled body. A part of him wanted to drop to his knees in thanksgiving that she’d been spared. The other part wanted vengeance.
A door opened, and Syd Green shuffled out. His expression was the living definition of defeat and despair. While Liam’s conscience told him how wrong it was to go after a broken man, his rational brain reminded him that you struck when your opponent was the most vulnerable.
“Do you know who did this?” Liam asked.
“What?” Green looked more confused than guilty. “They haven’t found the vehicle that hit them. Witnesses said it was a dark SUV, just like Aubrey described. That’s all they have to go on.”
“But you know, don’t you, Green?”
“Why would you think I know?”
Liam stared at him then, his eyes knowing, accusing.
Acknowledgment and then something like fear swept over his face. “What do you know about any of this?”
“Enough to know that Aubrey was the intended target. That she got on the wrong side of some very bad people and they want her dead. And I know you’re in neck-deep with them.”
“That’s not true. I only know…” He shook his head and his eyes filled with tears. “They’ve taken everything from me. Everything.”
“Then they need to be exposed.”
Liam saw a change wash over Green, a resolve. His spine went straight, shoulders no longer slumped, and a glint appeared in his eyes.
“You’re right, they do. But who are you? For all I know, you’re one of them.”
“If I was one of them, Aubrey would be dead, wouldn’t she?”
He saw the knowledge in his eyes before he nodded. All sympathy ceased to exist. This man had known that his niece was in danger, that powerful people wanted her dead, and he had done nothing to warn or protect her.
“You bastard.”
“You don’t understand. I couldn’t stop them—I don’t even know who to trust.”
“You know enough to let Aubrey know that she’s in danger, and yet you did nothing.” He was in front of the man before Green could move, inches from his face. “You’re going to tell me everything, and I mean everything.”
“You can’t stop them. Nobody can stop them. They’re too big. They’re everywhere.”
“We’ll see about that. I—”
“What’s going on?”
Aubrey’s alarmed voice stopped him cold. Turning, he faced her. His desire to protect her from the truth had almost gotten her killed. Even though he knew he was going to break her heart all over again, he couldn’t keep this from her.
