Page 44 of Jig's Last Dance

“Alice, your father was a good man. Whatever you think of him now, know that he would’ve died for you.”

My eyes fly to his, and I search his expression before whispering, “What are you saying?”

He takes a drink from his wineglass while I stare at him numbly, a thousand thoughts flying through my brain.

“Nothing dear, just that your father loved you very much,” he says, picking up his fork and taking a bite of his food.

I turn back to my own, but whatever hunger I might have had is long gone. Did my father die for me?

No fucking way.

∞∞∞

The facade is much the same as the last time, and with a serious dose of heartburn, I knock on the threshold and suck in a breath.

Marco’s at the curb, and when I glance back, I see he’s staring at me with a frown. He didn’t want to bring me here, but I insisted, even going so far as to point out that Castinetti thought it safe enough the last time.

He finally gave in, but he’s not happy.

“What?” Iris says, poking her head through a gap in the door.

“Um, Iris?”

“Who’re you?” she asks, glancing behind me with a frown.

“I’m Alice. I came the other day.”

She looks at me blankly, and I shift on my feet. Shit. she must have been flying so fucking high.

Finally, she says, “I don’t care.”

Incredibly, I watch her turn away before clearing my throat. “Bastion sent me.”

She pauses, weaving in place before she swings around and snarls, “What the fuck did you just say?”

“I was here before. You gave me a key. Jig—”

“What about Bastion?” she barks, and I take a deep breath. “He sent me.”

“Who the fuck are you?” She steps onto the porch, and I push her back when she gets in my face.

With a grunt, she flies at me, skin and bones and light as a feather, and I push her to the door, pressing my arm into her throat. “You done?”

Snarling, she looks away with a huff. I step back, waiting for her to gather her dignity. Eventually, she raises her gaze, her dark eyes shining. “Who are you?”

“I came here a week ago and found a set of keys. You said you took them from Jig.”

She stares at me blankly before sliding her eyes over my shoulder. “Yeah, so?”

“What did you mean? Where did you find them?”

“Look, I’m not—”

“Uh-uh. You wanna bring my dad into this, then you’re gonna give me answers.”

“I don’t know anything about your dad.”

“Where’s John?” I say, pushing past her and into the shithole. She follows behind and leans against the door.