“Go find Evie and Quinn, Princess. They’re probably looking for you to do the toasts by now.”
She nods and moves away. “Wait,” I call. Mac stops and turns her head. Green eyes search mine. God, she’s so precious, not at all invincible like she believes herself to be. She joked to me once when she was young about being Teflon. I believed it then and I believe it now, but Teflon only covers the surface. Beneath the protective layers, Mac is just as vulnerable as the rest of us. I know that better than anyone. “Don’t leave the party without me, okay?”
Mac cocks her head but she doesn’t argue. We never leave together. But that was before Ross. Everything is different now. “Okay.”
“Good.” I make my way through low murmuring guests toward Mitch and Henry. Mac’s brother has his hand on Henry’s shoulder, and he’s handing him a full glass of scotch. “What’s happened?” I ask, reaching the two.
Mitch looks up. “Henry and Casey had an altercation.”
“And I’m going to kick his ass,” snarls my normally easy-going best friend. I don’t think he’ll ever come to grips with the fact that Casey is seeing his little sister.
“What did he do?”
“Breathed,” Henry fumes.
“That’s unfortunate,” I sympathise, “but we have a bigger situation to deal with right now than a little tiff.”
Henry is too caught up in his anger to heed my warning but my comment catches Mitch’s attention. “What?” he asks, eyes wary.
Before answering his question, I allow myself a brief moment to seek Mac in the crowd. My shoulders relax when I find her deep in talk with friends, though her expression is etched with concern. Something has her troubled. I make a note to ask her about it later before I focus back on Mitch. “We just encountered Ross in the parking lot. Adam Rossiter,” I stress. “He was there with Eli. His older brother,” I further clarify for Henry’s sake.
“Who’s we?” Mitch asks, seemingly unsurprised at my announcement.
It leads me to the conclusion that he’s long since known the familial connection. Frankly, how could he not considering he and Eli are close friends? But thanks for sharing that information, mate. My arms fold in a tense knot. “Mac and me.”
“Who’s Ross?” Henry asks, joining the conversation.
“The leader of the King Street Boys,” I remind him. Henry knows of my past. He always has. When I met him at university, I needed a friend. I took a risk by opening up to Henry. He’s kept my past private, but I never included Mac in that history. It was too painful, and then time passed and it got easier not to mention her at all.
“Oh shit,” he mumbles.
Mitch rubs his jaw, his response even less helpful. “I heard he was in town.”
“You heard?” I growl and blink slowly, trying to get a hold on my rising temper. “You fucking heard?”
“Relax.” He places a hand on my shoulder. The placating gesture makes me want to punch him in the face. “He can’t touch you.”
A grunt of frustration leaves my throat. “You never told me he was Adam Rossiter, son of the Deputy Commissioner and Elijah’s goddamn brother.”
“There was never any need,” he says in a low voice, his eyes skimming the party to check who’s in hearing distance. “Let’s take this conversation to the bar.”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth. “Let’s.”
We weave through clusters of guests and reach the bar. Henry trails behind us. Vince, the barman, takes our drink order, and I waste no time picking up where we left off. “So? Care to tell me why I’ve been kept in the dark?”
“It wasn’t that we kept you in the dark,” he says. I listen with one ear as I seek out Mac again. She’s standing with her father now. He has an indulgent smile on his face as he chats with her. Mac is clearly not feeling the conversation. Her lips are pinched in an irritated line. “The Rossiters are an important family in Sydney,” Mitch continues, “but Mrs. Rossiter, Leanne, is his second wife. The first lives in Melbourne. They divorced at least twenty years ago, from what I know. Apparently she returned there to be close to her family and took Adam, who was only six at the time, with her.”
“What about Elijah?” I ask, my gaze returning to Mitch. My shoulders are tense as I focus on the story they should have told me years ago.
“There’s a five year age gap between the brothers. He stayed behind to attend the Academy. They aren’t close. They never have been, for obvious reasons.” Vince sets our drinks on the bar. Mitch twists to collect them and hands a schooner of beer each to Henry and me before taking one for himself. He sips it and frowns. “You say they were in the parking lot together?”
“Yes,” I confirm.
“What were you and Mac doing out there in the first place?” Henry chimes in, standing there slightly smug with his beer in hand.
Really, asshole, my eyes convey in a singular glare. This is the topic you wish to address right now?
He shrugs as if hearing me.
“None of your damn business.”
They both smirk and it riles me further. We’re in the middle of a volatile situation here and it seems I’m the only one taking it seriously.
“Now is probably a good time for you to share how you got me out of the gang, Mitch.” I never pushed the issue before when I should have. I was just grateful being free to live my life. And when you have a past like mine, putting it behind you is the smartest course of action. Unless said past returns to bite you in the ass.
“It’s sensitive information, Romero.”
My voice is tight. “Don’t make me strangle you right here in this bar.”
His lips press together. “Maybe tomorrow—”
“Now.”
“Romero, I think—”
“Now.”
Mitch clears his lungs in a long, audible whoosh. He knows I’m not going to let this go. “Can we trust you with it?”
My mouth curls in a sneer.
Mitch and looks pointedly at Henry.
“Henry stays,” I tell him.
“Okay.” He nods slowly. “The Rossiters come from a long line of wealth and a long line of gambling. Their bloodline includes an extensive history of throwing their money away. Alan, the grandson of George Adam Rossiter III, was the only brother of four that went to college rather than indulge in the playboy life style like the rest. So in his will, George gave Alan control of the entire Rossiter estate. Worried about his own sons following the same legacy, Alan subsequently changed the inheritance for Elijah and Adam. Rather than receiving a huge sum when they turn twenty-one like their predecessors, he changed it to thirty-three. Elijah comes into his funds in just three months. Adam has another five years.”