“Roisin?”

Marco must have noticed that I'm at a dead stop on the path, glaring up at the house. I don’t answer him. Instead, I march forward until we’re on the threshold, feet poised to take the step up into the ancient home.

I’m surprised there’s not a security guard or something outside… or maybe there are, and I just haven’t noticed.

I crane my head up and grimace.

Yep. Someone’s sitting on the roof with a rifle aimed down at us.

Resisting the urge to yell that I do, in fact, live here, I go to knock on the door…

Only to find it’s already swinging open.

I blink, my hand raised in front of the thick carved wood panel in front of me.

“Ro?”

I let myself smile, the movement kind of rusty. “Hi Liam.”

“What are you doing here?” my brother asks.

He hasn’t noticed Marco yet. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. “I came for the wedding.”

“The wedding isn’t for a few weeks…”

“Good,” I murmur. I’m curious if Stassi is here, because if she is, I want to look at her. I want to make sure that Liam isn’t doing the thing that Kieran would do.

Which is to say… I want to make sure that he’s not kidnapping her and forcing her to be here.

I can tell the moment Liam notices Marco. His easy going demeanor shifts, and all of a sudden there’s someone in front of me who doesn’t look like Liam at all.

My fists clench. He looks like Kieran.

Kieran is dead.

“Who’s this then?” Liam rumbles.

Marco steps forward, gently putting his hand over my shoulder. “Marco De Luca.”

“I know who you are. The fuck are you doing here with my sister?”

I know Marco will have an answer.

I’m sure it’s not the answer I want.

So, before he can get it out, I toss his hand out of the way and look at Liam.

“Marco’s here to be my wedding date.”

7

MARCO

If it wasn’t soimportant for him to believe us, I’d laugh out loud at the look on Liam MacAntyre’s face.

It’s shock. Pure and simple.

The kind of shock that tells me he not only had no idea, but the whole thing is completely and utterly absurd to him.