4
Mac stared at the weathered headstones marking the two graves next to her uncle’s. After all these years, the engraved words still sent a sharp sliver of pain slicing through her heart.
Salvador Giovanni Moretti ~ Beloved husband, father, brother, and son.
Vanessa McKenna Moretti ~ Beloved wife, mother, and daughter.
Several minutes had passed since Luca had left her standing there alone. She should’ve followed him but found herself unable to walk away from her parents’ final resting place quite yet.
Lost in her thoughts and memories, Mac didn’t hear the person approaching her from behind.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Whipping her head around, she started to reach for her concealed weapon but froze. Her breath stuttered inside her lungs when she saw the man staring back at her.
“Coop?”
“Hey, Mac.” He shook his head. “Or maybe I should call you Abigail.”
“W-what…” She scanned the area for possible threats. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“That greeting reserved for everyone these days, or just me?
“I use it when someone shows up unannounced and uninvited. Now answer the damn question.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sureyou’rethe one who needs to cough up some answers.”
Reeling from the fact that he was here, it took her a few seconds to realize what he’d said.
He’d called her Abigail.
Oh, god. He knows.
Mac’s stomach became a pit of dread, the swirling ball of acid making her sick to her core.
“Trevor told you.” He’d swore to her he wouldn’t.
“I saw him. We talked, but no, he didn’t tell me. I figured it out on my own, and I gotta say, I’ve seen you pull off a lot of shit. Gaining access to a fake ID and documents good enough to fool the United States Military when you were only sixteen? That’s pretty impressive, even for you.”
She took a hastened step forward but stopped. If she got too close, she might do something stupid like reach for him.
With her head on a swivel, Mac checked the area again. Her mind worked overtime to process what was happening.
Coop was here. He was here, and he knew her secret. Part of it, anyway.
How is this even possible?
“I’ll explain everything,” she promised. “As soon as I get back home. I’ll tell anything you want to know, but for now, you really need to leave.”
Skin flushed with anger, Coop ripped his hands from his pockets and curled his fingers into tight fists as he stormed toward her.
“I just flew halfway across the damn country to find you. After you left me alone in your fucking bed. Thanks for the note, by the way. I locked up, just like you asked.”
Unable to think of a response that wouldn’t piss him off even more than he already was, she kept silent while he ranted on.
“Then I get here and find you at a freaking mob boss’s funeral. Only Tony Moretti wasn’t just some criminal mastermind, was he? The guy was also your uncle. And you”—he shook his head, betrayal pouring from him—“I don’t even know who you are, anymore.”
Tears threatened to fall, but she refused to allow it. “Please, Sean. I know you have a lot of questions—”
