"The point is that she thinks she can threaten my wife. I've spent weeks trying to convince myself she was just jealous," he says quietly. "Trying to convince myself she was lashing out because she lost something she thought belonged to her."
My stomach twists. "And now?"
His eyes meet mine. "Now I think she's becoming dangerous."
I look at my husband and I see that he looks genuinely concerned, not for himself, but for me.
"I'm sorry," I say. "I should have told you."
"Yes," he says. "You should have." He picks up his phone.
"Lorenzo." I reach for his arm. "What are you going to do?"
He looks at his phone, and then at me. "What needs doing."
"Lorenzo—"
"Quinn, you asked me once to trust you. I'm asking you to trust me now."
I look at him, and the fight leaves me. I pull in a deep breath and nod. "Okay," I say.
He holds my gaze for one more moment and then he walks out of his office.
The door closes behind him and I stand here for a long time, just waiting and listening.
I look down at my phone still sitting on the desk, at the message Daire sent.
My sister has spent most of our lives making me feel small, making me feel unwanted, making me feel like fighting back would only make things worse.
But as I stand there, staring at the screen, I realize something.
Daire has just made the biggest mistake of her life.
Chapter 21
Lorenzo
The drive to the Delaney house takes less than twenty minutes. My anger has been coursing through me throughout the entire ride. I had attempted to come alone, but Marco took one look at my face and reached for the car keys. The man has been at my side the majority of my life. He’s one of my closest friends and someone who has my back, always.
I keep seeing the look on Quinn's face when I read those messages. She didn't look afraid, she looked resigned. Like having her own fucking sister threaten her was a normal everyday occurrence, and I have a feeling there’s a fucking lot that I don’t know about that went on under that roof with no one to protect Quinn as she grew up.
The gates to the Delaney home open and my anger ratchets up even more.
Daire has just made the biggest mistake of her life.
For weeks I've had questions, there’s been too many coincidences, too many pieces that keep circling back to the same people. But questions aren't proof, suspicion isn't proof, and I don't destroy people based on what I think I know. The messages are different, the messages are proof. She doesn't know yet what kind of man she's made an enemy of. She's spent her entire life playing in a world where her charm and her manipulation, along with her mother's protection, have kept her insulated from consequences. She manipulated her way through Orla's death, she manipulated me at the engagement party, and she’s spent weeks sending my wife vicious messages and assumed it would continue to cost nothing.
How fucking wrong she is. Today it stops and I don’t give a fuck if it means she’s no longer breathing to ensure she stays the fuck away from my wife.
I exit the car the moment Marco pulls up out front of the house. I don’t knock. I open the door and make my way through the house. I can hear talking, it seems to be heated. I guess I’m interrupting, too fucking bad.
I find them in the sitting room, the room in which I gave Quinn her engagement ring. I think back to that bright look in her eyes when she saw it and then I remember the text messages she’s been receiving and I refocus my attention on the room.
Ronan is seated on the sofa with Bridget beside him. Daithí is standing near the fireplace with his arms crossed, looking furious as Caden is pacing beside the fireplace, and Conn is in the chair by the window, watching everything.
"Where is she?" I growl, and every single gaze comes to me, and yet, utter silence. "Daire," I hiss. "Where is she?"
"She's not here," Bridget says, straightening her shoulders, the bruise I gave her is fading, unfortunately.
