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“Not just because he’s Irish. He’s Irish mafia. But he’d never hurt me.” I ran my hand over her hair. “He’s had to hide his friendship with me from his bosses, too.” Knox didn’t have brothers or sisters. He didn’t talk about his dad. Working for the mob had been his way of taking care of his mom until she died. Because of her, he had loyalty to the Irish.
“How did you meet Knox?”
“It’s complicated.” It was a dangerous memory, one I couldn’t share with Dee.
“Do you miss him?” She put her finger in her mouth and chewed on her nail.
“It’s not like that for us.” I tugged her finger from her mouth. “It doesn’t matter if I miss him. I won’t see him again.” I met her gaze. “Marco can never know about Knox.” I brushed her bangs from her face. “He’s my secret, and I’m his. We had to be careful. Just like you need to be careful.”
“Lanny sent me another text this morning.”
Insecurity niggled at the back of my mind, slipped along my spine, and settled in my gut in an uncomfortable heaviness. “Another text? How many times have you talked to him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a dozen times. I’m on a group Snapchat with him and Emilio.”
“A dozen?” I’d heard from Marco once.
“The funeral was today.”
“I know. So, he definitely won’t be gaming.”
A smile curled her lips. “Oh, yeah, didn’t think that one through.” She laughed. “I sent him a meme to make him smile.”
“What was it?”
She blushed. “Uh…nothing you want to see. Plausible deniability.”
“Oh my god. You’re terrible.” I stood. “Are you sure you don’t want to come out with me?”
She set her computer on her desk and ran her hand over the top. “Can we go later? My friends are online. I want to chat with them. I promise, it’s just gamer talk.”
I sighed. “Be careful.”
I returned to my room, put on my chucks, and grabbed my phone.
Hopefully, Tim was in the mood for a vanilla latte. I bounced down the stairs and headed to my father’s office to have him radioed.
My mother stood in front of my father’s desk with her arms crossed. The radio crackled.
“Search the vehicles,” my father said.
“Yes, sir,” Tim’s voice came over the radio.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
My mother spun in my direction. “We don’t know yet. Your father has the soldiers at the gate checking out the situation.”
The radio crackled again. “Two utility vans filled with wedding dresses. She’s here to see Allegra.”
My mother spun toward me. “What have you done?”
I’d done a lot of things, but nothing I’d confess to. “I didn’t order a wedding dress.”
“Should I send her away?” the guard asked over the radio.
“Yes,” my mother said.
“No,” I said at the same time.
