Chapter 42
WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS
Matteo
Leo parks on the edge of the private hangars where the lights make slick halos on the wet tarmac.
The Gemini jet idles with its belly open, my family’s shadows pacing under the wing.
I can make out Ale with Alessia at his side, Serena tucked under Antonio’s arm, and Bella shoulder to shoulder with Raf. It’s like walking up to a firing squad…
Cat falls into step beside me, hood up, and hands jammed into her pockets. I catch her sleeve before we hit the pool of light.
“Kitty Cat, wait.”
Her chin lifts, blue eyes sharp. “If you say stay in the car—”
“Donal was there.”
The three words land like a blade balanced on glass. I’d been trying and failing to tell her the whole ride over here. She goes very still. “At the mill?”
I nod. “He was in Tiernan’s office when we breached, but he slipped out in the chaos.”
Her mouth flattens, anger first, then the inevitable resignation. “Of course, it was him. Tiernan didn’t get that close without inside help.”
“I didn’t tell you before because—”
“—you didn’t want to hurt me.” She huffs something like a laugh with all the humor bled out. “Newsflash, Rossi: my family did that a long time ago. They’re nothing like yours…”
I want to touch her, but I don’t. I know she’s on the brink, tears welling in her eyes, and if I push, she’ll crumble. And I know she won’t want to meet my family like that. So instead, I say, “We’ll deal with him. Together.”
Footsteps drum and the cousin crew spills out of the hangar like a tide that couldn’t hold. Alessandro reaches me first, grabbing my jacket, dark eyes scanning my face like he’s counting my bones.
“You unbelievable bastard,” he grits out, and then he drags me into a hug that cracks three ribs I already offended. “Don’t you fucking dare ever die again.”
“No promises,” I choke out, thumping his back in return.
Serena barrels in next and slaps my shoulder hard enough to wobble my soul. Then she’s hugging my neck, voice wet and furious. “You text me ‘Post-mortem’ like this is a meme? I had cupcakes made, Matty. With your sorry face.”
“Save me one?” I wheeze.
“I’m saving you several punches.” She pulls back, eyes narrowing past me. “And I knew there had to be a she involved.”
Antonio claps my cheek like he’s checking if I’m real. “You look like roadkill, coglione. Glad you’re alive.”
Alessia folds me into a quick, fierce hug that smells like designer perfume and reluctant relief. “You scared the hell out of us, shithead.”
Bella and Raf are next, my cousin’s eyes glassing over as she flicks my ear. “Damn you, Matty.” Then, her voice softens. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
Then her boyfriend shakes my hand and doesn’t let go. “Say the word and I’ll salt what’s left of that Irish dynasty.”
“Later,” I murmur. “We’ll need a shovel.”
Only when the storm of them eases do their eyes find Cat. She still has her hood up, throat bruised and chin up like she’s daring the wind. The air shifts. Ale’s shoulders bunch, typical instinct.
“It’s okay,” I call out, louder than necessary, holding up a palm. “She’s with me.”
Serena’s gaze flicks between us, interest flaring like a match. “That’s the she.”
“Careful,” Cat warns, voice even, the Irish lilt she’s fought so hard to hide cutting through the hangar noise. “She bites.”
Serena’s mouth tilts. “So do we, sister.”
I step between all the unsaid things and take the hit for everyone.
“I owe you all the truth. I should have told you from the start of all of this.” My voice sounds like gravel in a prayer.
“Caitríona is the masked shooter. The one who came for me. She’s also the reason I’m not a chalk outline, twice, maybe three times.
I can’t keep track anymore. She warned me.
She could’ve killed me multiple times and didn’t.
Tiernan Quinlan had her by the throat for disobeying his command, and Donal—” I glance at Cat, but she doesn’t flinch.
“— her own brother helped put the noose there.”
“So you decided to give Tiernan a body,” Raf cuts in.
I nod.
“You should’ve fucking told us.” Serena shakes her head.
“I know and I’m sorry, but it had to look real. I needed all of Gemini’s forces on a rampage so I could make my move on Tiernan.”
Antonio whistles low and Bella’s brows shoot up. Raf mutters a quiet merda. And Ale’s jaw ticks. Then his face goes very calm. It’s that dangerous calm he learned the hard way. “And the shot at Rory?”
My stomach knots, and I move instinctively closer to Cat. “I was the target. This is on me. Cat missed wide on purpose, but she never meant to hit Rory. I believe that with everything I’ve got.”
Cat’s voice is sand and steel. “It’s true. If I wanted your wife dead, Alessandro, she would be. I don’t shoot strangers to make a point.”
I wince, the urge to tuck her behind me and protect her from Alessandro’s wrath overwhelming. Ale’s glare remains locked on Cat, icy and assessing.
For a minute, I run through a litany of possible scenarios. If he goes for her, what would I do? I could never hurt my cousin, my brother in every sense of the word, but I would never let him lay a hand on her either. I would never allow anyone to hurt her, ever again.
Silence stretches long enough to creak.
Then he turns that hard glare on me. “La ami?” Do you love her? Straight for the gut punch. My cousin never was one to mince words.
A sharp nod. With every bone in my body and every sliver of my broken soul. I don’t say the words out loud though because I promised her I wouldn’t. Technically, she did say them the other day, but it was out of desperation. They don’t count.
Ale heaves out a frustrated breath. “She gets one pass, cuz. Only for you.”
My head dips sharply. “Thank you.”
Serena folds her arms, studying Cat like a puzzle she’s itching to solve. “So you were Eoin Quinlan’s fiancée?”
Cat’s jaw tightens. “Once.”
“And you—” Serena flings a pointed look at me. “—fell in love with her?”
My cousin has little room to point fingers considering how her relationship with Antonio started.
“It all started four years ago,” I explain. “Before any of us knew of the Quinlans or any of this shit. I only knew that my father’s enemies would eventually come to her door. So I left to keep her clear of it and failed spectacularly.”
“We’re going to need a much better explanation,” Serena chimes in.
“Yes, all the details,” Bella adds.
Alessandro drags a hand down his face, voice low. “And Tiernan?”
“Dead,” I answer. The word feels like a door closing. “He won’t touch another soul.”
He exhales, a dark, satisfied sound. “Good.”
Bella’s gaze softens by degrees, shifting from me to Cat. “What do you need?”
Cat blinks like she wasn’t expecting that one first. “A day where no one points a gun at my head.” A rueful chuckle slips out. “And for my younger sister to stay forgotten.”
“She will.” Alessandro’s voice surprises me. It’s in that quiet tone, an oath I’d trust over any contract. “If Matteo vouches for you, then so do I.” His eyes cut to me. “But hear me out, if she burns you, she burns us all.”
“Understood,” I reply. “She won’t.”
Serena elbows me, not gently. “You should’ve told us sooner, idiot. We could have helped watch the Vault. We could’ve watched your back instead of hosting a fucking funeral on a group chat.”
“I know.” It’s a clean admission, no varnish. “I was wrong.”
Serena eyes Cat again, then steps forward and sticks out a hand. “Serena. Loud, fiery but faithful-as-all-hell cousin. I do slaps and an occasional cupcake.”
Cat stares at her hand, at the woman attached to it, then takes it like she’s putting her hand in a fire pit. “Caitríona. I do knives and bad ideas.”
“Perfect fit,” Serena says, releasing her. “Welcome to the circus.”
Bella moves in beside Serena with a softer smile. “We protect our own. If you’re his—” a deliberate pause “—you’re under our roof while you’re in it.”
Cat swallows, the smallest crack in her armor, and then nods once. “That’s appreciated.”
Leo clears his throat from the shadows like a stage manager who wants the scene change. “Jet’s prepped. We should move before airport security decides to make themselves seen.”
Alessandro claps my shoulder once more, a benediction and a warning. “Debrief in the air. Then you’re calling Papà before he digs to Belfast with his bare hands.”
I grimace. “Can’t wait.”
We start for the stairs.
Cat’s shoulder brushes mine, then her hand clamps around my forearm. “I can’t leave Belfast…”
“What? Why not? There’s nothing for you here anymore, Kitty Cat. Come with me, please. We can start over—”
She presses a finger to my lips. “There’s something I have to show you first.” Her eyes shimmer with emotion.
“Okay.” The surrender is immediate. “Ale, wait,” I call out.
He spins around, one foot already on the steps.
With my hand firmly clasping Cat’s, I fix my gaze on Ale then on the rest of the cousin crew. “There’s something we still need to handle here in Belfast.”
“Matteo…” Alessandro growls.
“I promise as soon as it’s dealt with, we’ll be on the next flight to Manhattan.” I cock my head at Cat. “Right?”
She nods.
“Don’t make me regret this,” Ale grumbles. “Your mother is going to kill me when I get off that plane without you.”
“I’ll call them and explain before you do.”
“You better get this shit taken care of before our wedding,” Serena interjects. “It’s coming up in a few weeks already.”
“I know, Sere. Like you’d ever let me forget.”
Cat curls into my side, a rare moment of vulnerability. “Thank you,” she murmurs into my shirt.
“Anything for you, Kitty Cat.”
Before heading up the air stairs, Serena whirls toward us. “I knew it was a she,” and Antonio says, “Babe, you think literally everything is a she.”
Then Bella fires back, “That’s because competence is a she,” and Raf adds, “Facts.”
A chuckle slips out and with Cat safely beside me, I heave out a breath like maybe the ground under us will hold.
Halfway up the stairs, Alessandro speaks without looking back. “Matteo.”
“Yeah?”
Turning, he tips his chin at Cat. “Don’t make me choose between you and the family again.”
I meet his eyes and don’t blink. “You won’t have to.”
Cat doesn’t say anything, but her fingers tighten around my palm. It’s quick like a promise she’s not ready to say out loud.
Then we stand there and watch as my cousins, my family, the people I love most in this world, duck into the jet’s warm, humming belly. The door seals, and I tuck Cat closer into my side. I’m ready for whatever comes next, as long as we’re together.