Page 151 of In Love and Revenge

Her gaze bounces between me and my father, a line deepening between her brows. ‘Did you ... Were you at my father’s trial? You can’t have been. I never saw you there.’

My throat tightens, preventing me from speaking. All I can manage is a curt shake of my head. Aurora’s shoulders soften, but confusion is still painted over her face.

‘I wasn’t there,’ I manage to get out, but my voice sounds strained and not like mine at all.

‘The solicitors read these things out sometimes if it’s more of a formality,’ my father continues, seemingly unaware of the magnitude of his choice of conversation topic. ‘Like I said, Rafael was the best. Cases like your father’s weren’t anything special. All in a day’s work, eh, son?’

Aurora stares at me, a gut-wrenching, horrified understanding uncoiling behind her eyes like a cancer spreading through the bloodstream, infecting all in its path.

‘You gave evidence against my father?’ she whispers.

‘Not evidence. I just ...’ I glance around the table at the silent, grave faces of my family. ‘Please, let’s go home and talk about this.’

‘Just what?’ she scoffs. ‘Just what?!’

‘I was going to tell you.’

‘Tell me now!’

‘Aur—’

‘Now, Rafael!’ she cries.

I clear my throat and reach up to tug at my collar, which is cutting off my air supply. ‘I still get asked to provide my ...’ I wince at the words. ‘...expertiseon occasion.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means I give my professional opinion to the court on whethertheoreticallya crime could be orchestrated in the way the prosecuting solicitors claim it has been.’

Her eyes widen and she shoves my hand from her thigh under the table. ‘You gave evidence against my father?’

‘Not evidence. Just his professional opinion on whether the methods were possible,’ my father chimes in.

It’s one of the first times in my life he’s stood up for me. But right now, I couldn’t want it less.

I couldn’tdeserveit less.

‘And what was it? What was yourexpertopinion?’ Aurora gapes at me, the blood draining from her face as she blinks rapidly, like she’s trying to hold back tears.

‘Aur—’

‘What was it?’ she shrieks.

I tuck my chin and pull in a breath through my nose. ‘Yes. I told them that yes, what they were claiming was entirely feasible and could have been carried out by someone with the access and knowledge that your father had.’

‘Oh my God.’ Aurora trembles in her seat.

I’ve never felt like a bigger goddamn arsehole in my life.

A low whistle echoes around the room. ‘Fuck, bro. You helped bang her dad up?’

‘Shut the hell up, Angelo,’ Dove snaps, looking at Aurora with worry etched into her face.

‘He did his job. He never said the man was guilty. The court decided that,’ my father says, waving a hand in the air like this is just small talk, and not something that has the power to destroy me.

I search Aurora’s crumpling face, tilting my head to try to get her to look at me.

‘Aurora?’ I choke in a strangled whisper. ‘It’s not what you think. I didn’t know what was going to happen between us. I answered the few questions I was obligated to, that’s all.’