Ciro looks at me. "Daire?"
"She came to me with this information weeks before Quinn is set to move into this house. She timed it to make the biggest impact for Quinn. The night of her engagement party." I look at him. "What does Daire gain from me suspecting Quinn?"
He's quiet for a moment. "Instability in the alliance."
"Or something else entirely." I sit back because I have no fucking idea what goes through her head. "Find out."
They leave, and I sit in the quiet office, and I think about the crack in the certainty, the thing that won't sit still no matter how many times I push it down.
Something is missing.
And the problem with missing pieces is that you don't know what you don't know until you find them.
I drive to the Delaney house at three in the afternoon. I’ve tried to stay the fuck away, but I can’t. I have so many damn questions that need answering and the only place I can find them is in this house.
When I arrive no one is here. The housekeeper tells me that Miss Quinn will be back any moment and leads me to the sitting room. Marco stays beside me, not wanting me to be alone in case this is a set up. Then again, they didn’t know I’d be here, so I doubt anyone would do anything right now.
Fifteen minutes later and I see two cars entering the drive. Quinn and Daithí. I watch their interaction as they exit their cars and I’m surprised by how close they are. I didn’t realize that they got along well, let alone as close they seem.
Marco is at the front door, opening it for them both, I don’t want anyone to give them the chance to warn them and have them leave, Quinn enters the sitting room first. I watch through the reflection in the window as she pauses slightly as she spots me. Daithí comes to stand beside her and I take that as my cue to turn.
"We need to talk," I tell her in way of greeting.
Daithí steps forward, his jaw tight as he watches me. “Lorenzo?—”
"I need five minutes with your sister," I say. "You can wait."
I watch the anger flash through his eyes. I’ve never been this dismissive of him before. We’ve actually been friends, but his family is pissing me the fuck off and I can’t deal with his bullshit right now.
He looks at Quinn and she gives him a small nod. He steps back but the tension coming off him is palpable. “I’ll be right outside,” he promises her.
“I’ll be fine, Daithí,” she assures him.
He gives me a glare before he exits the room, softly closing the door behind him.
I take a seat and I’m surprised to see that she stays standing.
"Orla Geraghty," I say, ready to get this over and done with. I watch her face and I watch as she flinches back, pain slashes across her face but as quickly as it comes, she cools her expression and then there’s no emotions displayed at all.
"Lorenzo—" she begins.
I cut her off not wanting to listen to any lie she’s about to tell me. "I had people looking into it. The death is real and your name is all over it, although Ronan buried it." I hold her gaze. "Tell me what happened."
She breathes in as she holds my gaze. "It isn't what you think."
I raise a brow. "Then tell me what it is."
"Daire has a habit of twisting things. She rarely knows what the truth is. Whatever she told you, she's?—"
Well I guess things in the Delaney household aren’t as rosy as they’d like everyone to think. The venom in Quinn’s words tells me that she dislikes her sister immensely. "I know Daire is twisting things," I say. "I've known that from the beginning. What I need from you is the untwisted version."
She looks at me, her shoulders curling in as she exhales deeply. "It's complicated," she says as though that should be enough to quell my need for answers.
"I have time."
"I can't—" She stops, her beautiful eyes begging me to listen to her. "There are things I can't tell you right now. Things that would hurt people who don't deserve to be hurt by having it come out the wrong way. I need time?—"
"You've had two days since the party."
