The funeral was outside and was in fact in the same cemetery where Nonno was buried. Unfortunately, there were few trees for Marco to hide behind as Ryan had so helpfully suggested. So Marco was forced to try to blend in with the crowd. Everyone was wearing dark clothing though, so at least that made it a little easier.

He’d had to borrow a suit from his brother, who’d raised his eyebrows at the request but hadn’t asked any questions. Other than his army dress blues, which would make him way too conspicuous, he didn’t have any formal clothes. He hadn’t had a need for them.

There was a decent-size crowd. Good. Perhaps the fact that her grandmother was obviously well loved would provide some comfort for Kat.

She stood at the front of the crowd but off to the side and not necessarily in the position of prominence that one might expect for a survivor of the deceased. That didn’t surprise him. Kat wasn’t the type to want to draw attention to herself.

However, she had Marco’s full attention. Even if he wasn’t there with the purpose of watching out for her, he still wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her. Her back was straight and though he couldn’t see her face, he’d bet her eyes were clear. Stoic was an appropriate word to describe her.

Though he couldn’t pretend to truly know her, after learning of her relationship to Ryan, he understood her a lot more. She carried more on her shoulders than any one person should, and Marco didn’t even know her full story. He couldn’t stop wondering about the bad shit Ryan said she’d gone through.

Some of that was no doubt dealing with her brother’s accident. Marco was such a jackass—when he thought about Ryan he’d never considered his family, but the accident had affected more than just his friend. His actions had hurt people he hadn’t even met. Self-loathing pooled in Marco’s stomach.

He couldn’t change the past, but he’d do what his friend had asked of him today—keep an eye on Kat. Hopefully his presence would go both unneeded and unnoticed.

The minister started to speak and it was obvious from his words he hadn’t actually known the deceased woman. Marco tuned him out, turning his attention to the other mourners in attendance.

Standing at the back corner of the sizable crowd, Marco had a relatively clear view. So far, he could detect none of the suspicious individuals Ryan was worried about. Good. Marco had been hoping his friend was being overly cautious. Another twenty minutes or so and he’d be able to slip away, hopefully still undetected by Kat.

A black car pulled up along the drive. If Marco had actually been paying attention to the service, he wouldn’t have noticed. No one else did. The car sat for a while and no one got out for a few minutes. Marco was just about to turn his attention away when the door opened.

A man emerged. He was dressed in black and wore dark sunglasses that obscured his face, but they didn’t disguise the obvious grief he wore upon his features. Marco expected him to move toward the front of the crowd, but he lingered near the back.

Could this broken man be one of the people Ryan was worried about?

Marco observed him. Scars lined his face, the worst of which disappeared under his glasses. The man had definitely been in some rough situations. But his actions didn’t raise any alarm. For all intents and purposes, he appeared to be mourning Kat’s grandmother, the same as everyone else.

Still, for whatever reason, he set Marco’s nerves on edge. That man was troubling. Whether he was a threat right now, though, remained to be seen.

Marco edged farther into the crowd and closer to Kat. He risked her detection, but instinct told him he needed to be closer.

The minister invited people up to speak and he watched as a woman next to Kat nudged her. Kat silently shook her head. The woman sighed and stepped up to the podium herself.

She pulled the microphone down toward her mouth. “Miss Fran was a lovely woman. Kind. And at the risk of drawing ire from my other patients, she was easily one of my favorites. Alzheimer’s attacked her viciously, but that’s not what I remember about her. I remember her smile and her sense of humor. Mostly, I remember the absolute joy she felt spending time with her granddaughter, Kat.”

The woman gestured to Kat and as she did, the man in black sucked in an audible breath and staggered back a step. He pulled off his sunglasses, revealing an eye patch over one eye. Marco glanced up at Kat, who tucked her head down and clenched her fists at her side. So much for her flying under the radar.

Marco returned his attention to the man with the eye patch. His visible eye was wide and his mouth agape.

Marco wasn’t the only one who noticed him. The crowd shifted as three men made their way toward the man, who noticed the movement only seconds after Marco. He took off at a run for his car. Two of the men tore after him, knocking down an elderly woman clutching a walker.

Commotion ensued as the nurse who had been speaking at the podium rushed to help the fallen woman. Kat stood paralyzed, her eyes wide and a hand over her mouth. She was so focused on the woman she didn’t notice the man advancing toward her.

But Marco did.

Just as the man wrapped a hand around her arm, Marco shouldered between the two of them. Kat’s eyes widened even farther as she looked back and forth between Marco and the man.

The man shoved Marco in an attempt to get to Kat, but Marco had anticipated his move, digging his feet into the ground. He wrapped his hand around the man’s neck and using his forward momentum against him, pushed him to the ground. The man quickly rolled and reached in his jacket pocket, drawing a gun and pointing it at Kat at point-blank range.

For a fraction of a section, Marco’s heart stopped. If the man pulled the trigger, Kat would be dead.

Marco’s training kicked in and he sprang into action, grabbing the man’s hands and forcing the gun away from Kat.

Someone behind him screamed, a shrill high-pitched sound that made him wince, even in the middle of the fight. Kat took advantage of the diversion and kicked the man in the face, once, twice, three times. Blood spurted from his nose, but he had no way to defend himself without yielding the gun to Marco.

As Kat kicked him one last time, Marco gained control of the gun. He decked him twice in the temple and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Kat’s eyes met his. “What the hell?”

Marco didn’t have an answer. His gaze searched out the other threats and his mouth hardened as he saw the black car speeding off and the two men running back toward the graveside.

He considered the gun in his hand. “Fuck.” He couldn’t keep it. He didn’t know who this man was or what crimes the gun had been used for. The only certainty in his mind was that the man was indeed a criminal.

He’d have to figure out what to do with the gun later. Leaving it in the middle of the crowd was not a good idea. He tucked it into his waistband.

“We need to get you out of here,” Marco said, and for once, Kat didn’t argue about going with him.

He grabbed her hand and they ran in the direction of Marco’s truck, which he’d parked far away so she wouldn’t notice it. Now he was cursing the action. Kat was having trouble running in her heels on the squishy grass and it slowed them down. The men were gaining on them, but the truck was in sight.

Marco fished in his pocket for the key fob, hitting the unlock button. A glance over his shoulder told him what he’d feared—the men were armed. Fuck. He wasn’t going to use the confiscated gun and he didn’t have his own weapon. Even if he did, opening fire was not a good idea. Too many bystanders in the way.

So instead, he hit the alarm button on the key fob and the truck’s horn blared. It was enough to get everyone’s attention. If the men were going to shoot them, they would have done it by now. Regardless, Marco wanted as many witnesses as possible.

They made it to the truck and as he yanked open the passenger door to usher Kat inside, the men retreated. Marco raced around to the driver’s side and jumped in. He quickly pulled out into traffic and left the men—and Kat’s grandmother’s ruined funeral—behind.

* * *

Kat’s hands shook. She’d seen some seriously messed up stuff in her life, but was nothing sacred? How could people disrupt a funeral like that?

Though she was surprised, she wasn’t shocked. There were a lot of assholes in the world. She turned toward Marco.

“What the hell were you doing there?”

Marco glanced over at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the road. He had the nerve to look annoyed by her question.

“You’re welcome,” he said gruffly.

She turned back and stared out the windshield. Dammit. Whether she liked it or not, Marco had come to her rescue back there. Her gun wasn’t in her purse because it had somehow seemed disrespectful to bring it to Gram’s funeral. The woman had hated guns.

“Thank you,” Kat said stiffly.

“You’re welcome.” This time, his tone was sincere. “Ryan asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“Oh, did he now?” She would have to have some words with her brother. He should’ve talked to her first. But then again, if he’d told her he wanted Marco to keep an eye on her, she would have told him hell no. It pained her to admit Ryan might have been right in this situation. What might have happened to her if Marco hadn’t been there? She might have been able to fight off that man and maybe someone would have come to her assistance, but maybe not. And that’s what scared her.

“Do you have any idea what that was about?” Marco asked.

Kat ignored his question, looking out the window at their surroundings. Marco was taking them toward the hotel district, where she used to work. “Where are we going?”

Marco seemed surprised by the question. “I don’t know. I’m just . . . driving. Is there somewhere specific you want to go?”

Kat rubbed her forehead. After that scene, she wanted to go home where she could mourn Gram in private and try to wrap her head around what just happened.

Being in close quarters with Marco in the cab of the truck brought on conflicting feelings. On one hand, she was still drawn to him. He’d been sexy enough in jeans and a flannel shirt. But in the dark suit, he was positively mouthwatering. Her body betrayed her—despite everything, she desired him.

On the other hand, when she looked at him, she couldn’t help but see the man who had ruined her brother’s life. That was one fact that couldn’t be changed, so she’d just have to overcome the former.

“For the record,” she said icily, her tone just as much for her sake as for his. “This doesn’t make things okay between us.”

“I know,” Marco said quietly. “I told Ryan you wouldn’t want me at the funeral, but he insisted. I couldn’t say no. I owe him whatever he asks of me.”

Begrudgingly, she had to give him credit for that. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and his expression of self-loathing made her draw in a breath.

He despised himself for what he’d done to Ryan. She realized that he wasn’t just a spoiled rich boy who didn’t care how he hurt others, and her hatred of him slipped down a notch.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” she asked, not wanting to be completely heartless. He’d literally wrestled a man with a gun for her.

“I’m fine,” he said immediately. “The important thing is you’re okay.”

Her heart involuntarily warmed at his sentiment. Dammit. Even though she was trying her best to be reasonable, she still didn’t want to feel any affection for him.

“Kat,” he said, “do you know who that man was and why he grabbed you?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“Just before all hell broke loose, the nurse was talking and she mentioned you. A man in the back of the crowd reacted, which drew the attention of those men.” He summarized the event using military precision. “Do you have any clue who that man might be?”

She closed her eyes. “What did he look like?”

She had a pretty good idea who he might be—the one person who’d be shocked to learn he had a daughter at his mother’s funeral of all places.

“He wore an eye patch. Scars on his face. Dark hair. Medium build.”

Fuck. That was him, her no-good father in the flesh. She’d been hoping he wouldn’t show his face there. In fact, since he’d been MIA for the last six months, she’d all but assumed he wouldn’t be there. She guessed she underestimated his allegiance to his mother.

Goddammit. Kat had carefully kept her existence a secret for years. Now that Gram was gone, it should have been easier. Nurse Hewlitt meant no ill will and couldn’t have known the trouble she was stirring up, but she’d revealed Kat’s biggest secret.

“His name is X,” Kat said.

“Shit.” Marco pounded his fist on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize who he was.”

Kat looked over at Marco. “You’ve heard of him?”

“I did spend some time on the south side before joining the army, remember? He’s a notorious criminal and drug dealer, right?”

Kat hung her head and her hands fidgeted in her lap. “That’s him.”

What Marco said was true. But what he might not know was X had been involved with Natalie’s father and had kidnapped her.

Kat had made her peace with keeping her biological tie to X a secret from Natalie. When Kat first found out who X was, she’d been horrified. But she’d become friends with Natalie before she’d had her run-in with X. Kat couldn’t have known how X was going to torment her friend. And anyway, she wasn’t claiming him as a father. He didn’t even know she existed and she had planned to keep it that way. There was no reason anyone had to know.

But now, she’d be forced to tell Natalie. God, she only hoped her deception wouldn’t hurt her friend too much. Her heart had been in the right place, but sometimes that didn’t matter.

And shit—Knox and Tony. They’d once been fighters in X’s ring. What would they think about her being X’s daughter?

Marco sighed. “We can’t keep driving all day. Where do you want to go?”

She wanted to go home, but she doubted Marco would be willing to leave her by herself after he’d promised Ryan to look out for her. He was stubborn that way.

A little nagging voice told her it wasn’t stubbornness but honor that kept him there. He was making good on a promise.

She quickly dismissed the idea. There were way too many flattering thoughts about Marco floating around in her head.

“Take me to Ryan’s house.”

* * *

Marco and Kat sat at Ryan’s kitchen table while he made coffee. Marco winced when he saw the amount of coffee grounds Ryan dumped in the filter. It was going to be as thick as tar—the kind of coffee Nonno used to say would put hair on a man’s chest.

They could all probably use a healthy dose of caffeine, though.

Marco wouldn’t say it aloud, but he was worried about Kat. Her hands were clutched in her lap and her shoulders were slumped. That wasn’t the worst of it though. The dark circles under her eyes and the lack of color in her cheeks concerned him more. He’d describe her as fiery—always—but now she just sat there.

He didn’t like it.

He didn’t have all the details yet, but he could piece together enough to figure out that Kat was in deep shit through no fault of her own. Every instinct told him to demand the truth, but his better judgment said not to press her. But fuck, how the hell was he supposed to help her if she didn’t confide in him?

That was probably the point. She didn’t want his help. But that wasn’t up to her. Not anymore.

During the drive to Ryan’s, Marco had determined that he wasn’t walking away until the situation was resolved. For better or worse, Ryan had gotten him involved.

He might not be worthy of his friend’s sister, but he would damn well protect her with everything he had.

Kat would have to push aside her feelings toward him for the time being. Hell, he’d have to do the same thing. Every time he was in her presence, he reacted in two ways.

One—he wanted her. God, he wanted her. Even now when she wore a modest black dress, plain black heels, and minimal jewelry, he couldn’t be more attracted to her. Her understated style showed she didn’t like drawing attention to herself, but it hadn’t worked with him.

He wanted to peel that dress off her and explore her body, which was anything but understated.

It was both infuriating and inappropriate.

His second reaction to being with Kat was the guilt that consumed him, sometimes unexpectedly overwhelming him. Over the years, he’d learn to push the guilt down, to ignore it. But when he was in the company of those whose lives he’d affected, it wasn’t so easy. It ate away at him, a black mark on his conscience and his soul.

He couldn’t risk hurting Ryan and his family any more than he already had. After what he’d done, he didn’t deserve the chance at happiness with Kat.

“Tell me again what happened,” Ryan said, positioning himself at the table.

He’d looked at Kat when he spoke, but Kat remained silent, so Marco answered.

“The nurse outed Kat as Fran’s granddaughter. Two men took after X and another one grabbed Kat,” Marco relayed succinctly. “I got her away and now we’re here.”

Ryan scratched his chin. “It seems like we’re missing something. It’s way too simple. That can’t be the full story.”

“Speaking of the full story,” Marco said, “it would have been helpful if you’d have clued me in on the fact that X is her father. I would have been better prepared.”

“That’s her secret to tell.”

“Not anymore,” Kat muttered, the first thing she’d said since they arrived.

Both men looked at her. Ryan sighed.

“Kat, it was only a matter of time. Things like that don’t stay buried forever.”

“Why not?” she asked sharply. “I’m no one special. Why should anyone care who my father is?”

Marco understood the point she was trying to make—it wasn’t like she was a celebrity who was featured in the tabloids. No one was hunting around for dirt, so theoretically the truth could have stayed buried.

But she was dead wrong about being no one special.

Kat rested her face in her hands. “Maybe I should have skipped the funeral,” she said miserably, giving in to self-pity. “If I hadn’t been there, the nurse wouldn’t have called me out.”

Ryan snorted and Marco gave him a dirty look at the insensitive gesture. But when he saw the fire return to Kat’s eyes, he retracted his judgment. Ryan knew his sister a hell of a lot better than he did and it was obvious he cared about her. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

Ryan wasn’t the one she needed to be protected from.

Marco was.

How could he protect her when he was the one she needed to be protected from? Despite everything, he wanted her just as much—maybe more—than he had when he’d kissed her that first time. But he was no good for her. He was only four short years removed from his destructive habits that nearly killed her brother. He had no right to pursue her, not when he’d already gravely hurt her by hurting her family.

“You know you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you didn’t go,” Ryan said, his tone gentle.

Marco lowered his eyes. He hadn’t attended his own grandfather’s funeral and he regretted it. He’d been halfway around the world and it had happened so suddenly. There simply wasn’t time for him to return.

Kat shook her head. “I shouldn’t have gone. If I hadn’t—”

Ryan interrupted her by snorting again. “What is it you told me just the other day? You can’t play the ‘what if’ game. You have to deal with ‘what is.’”

Kat narrowed her eyes at her brother, then pushed back from the table. She stalked over to the coffeemaker and yanked open a cabinet with more force than was necessary. Any harder and she’d have yanked the flimsy door off its hinges.

Marco looked at Ryan with a question in his eyes because he was yet again out of the loop, but Ryan just shook his head.

“It would be a lot easier if we knew who those guys were who went after X,” Ryan commented.

Kat slammed a mug down in front of her brother, and coffee sloshed out over the rim. “No shit. But what do you want to do about that? Should I post a question on Facebook? Or better yet, I’ll post an inquiry on Gram’s wall on the funeral page website.”

Ryan shot her an annoyed look. “Is that necessary?”

If the situation weren’t so dire, Marco might have laughed. The bickering between these two reminded him of him and Tony.

Ryan ran his finger along the edge of the mug to wipe off the spilled coffee. Then he promptly waved his hand in the air to dry it. “Damn, that’s hot.”

Kat gently placed a mug in front of Marco, not spilling it like she’d done with Ryan’s, so that was something.

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, appreciating the gesture.

Kat sat back down with her own mug, cradling it in her hands. “The important thing now is that those men don’t find out you’re my brother.”

“I’m not worried about me. It’s not like your crippled brother is any use to them.”

Marco cringed and Kat leveled her gaze at him. “Stop with that crippled shit. You’re just saying that to piss me off.”

“Is it working?”

“What do you think?” Kat snapped.

Ryan grinned. “Good. I much prefer you pissed off to lethargic. Now tell us everything you remember Fran saying about X.”