She looks back, her eyes sparkling. "And let you steal my secrets, American? I think not."

Then, with a laugh, she's up again, sprinting into the sea.

And the salt on my fingertips is all I have to remind me of the woman that I'd been holding.

I sigh.

That was one of the good memories, before I found out who she really was.

The woman under the skin.

I take a deep breath.

I have to show up for this fucking trial in three weeks. And part of the reason I don't want to isn't just because I'm not quite sure how to navigate what's going to happen.

It's because I have to see her again.

Roisin.

Who I thought was Roisin Kennedy.

But is really Roisin MacAntyre. Sister to the man Elio killed.

And only daughter of the Irish MacAntyre family.

2

ROISIN

I've been dreadingthe New Year because it means that I'm one day closer to seeing him again.

And I really, really don't want to see Marco De Luca.

Now.

Or ever.

Not after how we ended things, anyway. Because if I were to see him again?

I think that he might end up killing me.

The fact that Marco knows my secret is a continual thorn in my side. I wake up, wondering if today's the day that he'll use that information to his gain.

If today's the day that it will all blow up on me.

It's exhausting.

"Got your head in the cloudsagain, Roisin?"

I roll my eyes, taking the coffee that my boss, Seamus O'Hara, offers me. We stepped out of the office around midday, initially for lunch, but we decided to get coffee instead. Neither one of us is particularly interested in getting back into the flow of the Interpol station today. Seamus spent the holiday with his family, and I…

I spent it alone.

I shake my head. "You know I've never got my head anywhere but firmly on my shoulders," I snort.

Seamus winks at me. "Ah, but you're allowed to dream. You do know that, don't you?"

No.I want to scream at him.I'm not allowed to dream. I'm not allowed to do anything, except scurry from one moment in my life to the next, like some kind of goddamn rat.