put himself squarely between everyone else and Luca.
Norah closed her laptop and scampered out of the way.
“Oscar, step aside,” Devon said softly
“Fuck that.”
“Luca Campisi,” Owen began, “you are under arrest.”
“What?” Selene jumped out of her chair and joined Oscar, another barrier between Luca and whatever was happening.
“Where’s my sister?” Luca pushed between her and Oscar. She expected him to be confused or scared—she was both—but Luca was pissed. “Where is Joli?”
Oscar grabbed Luca, holding him back.
“You have the right to remain silent,” Owen went on. “You have the right to—”
“What charges?” Selene asked. “Why are you arresting him, and what happened to the Bellator Dei?”
“I think the fucking Trinity Masters lied to him,” Oscar said. “Tricked him.”
Selene went cold. “No, they wouldn’t.”
“We did not,” Devon said. “Oscar, Selene, I know you may have developed a relationship with this individual, but I need you to step away from him.”
Luca jerked from Oscar’s hold. “What did you do to them? They were innocent! Most of them, my sister—” His words tumbled to a stop, and Selene could feel the grief and anger pouring off of him.
The dark-haired man said something in Italian. Luca responded in the same language. Within thirty seconds, it turned into a loud argument, which she didn’t need a translator to understand.
“Milo, English, please,” Owen said.
“He continues to pretend he doesn’t know.”
“Pretend he doesn’t know what?” Oscar demanded.
Devon stepped up, a calm, cool presence amid the anger and accusations. “There was no one at the Bellator Dei compound. We need to assess the possibility that perhaps Luca warned them we were coming.”
“What?” Selene demanded.
“No, he didn’t, you dumb fucks,” Oscar countered.
“My sister wasn’t there?” Luca staggered as if he was going to collapse. Oscar yanked him back, held him up. “Where? Where is she? Is she still alive?”
The dark-haired woman’s eyebrows rose. She looked at Owen, whose expression had gone blank.
“The compound was abandoned,” Milo said through gritted teeth. “It was rigged with explosives. The whole thing was a trap to kill as many of us as possible.”
“Booby-trapped?” Selene asked in shock. She shook her head. She may not have known Luca for long, but no part of her doubted his honesty. “No. Just no.”
“Land mines,” the woman said in a lovely accent. “If Owen hadn’t spotted the disturbed stones, we would have driven over one.”
“I didn’t,” Luca said softly. “I didn’t tell them, but if they knew…do they know I betrayed them?” Luca began to curse quietly in Italian. Selene put her hand on his arm. He was shaking.
Milo took a half step forward, his attention on Luca.
“What’s he saying?” Owen asked.
“He’s scared his sister is being…tortured. Because they know what he’s done.”
Oscar turned Luca around, hugging him and letting Luca bury his face against his shoulder.
“I’m going to use small words, you stupid fucks,” Oscar snarled. “He didn’t contact them. I’ve been with him the whole time. Yes, even at night. We fucked like rabbits and ate room service. He didn’t contact them, which means something you did spooked them. And maybe got his sister…”
Luca shuddered.
Killed.
The unspoken word hovered in the air. Owen and Devon were looking at each other. Milo appeared uncertain, and the woman who’d come in with Owen and Milo walked over to Oscar’s computer, which was on the coffee table.
“I’ll verify that he hasn’t communicated with anyone.”
“Touch my computer, I’ll deck you,” Oscar said.
The woman held out one finger, then very deliberately poked the black laptop.
“Hold him.” Oscar thrust Luca at Selene.
“Sidika, don’t provoke him,” Milo said softly.
“You okay?” Selene asked Luca.
“How long have they had her?” Luca’s eyes were wild. “How long has my sister been tortured while I was here…”
Oscar yanked his computer away from Sidika and hauled it over to the table. He thrust it at Norah. “Here, I’ll let you touch it, but not her.”
Norah shrugged, took Oscar’s laptop, and sat down. Sidika pulled up a chair beside her.
Thirty minutes later, Norah and Sidika both confirmed that Oscar’s laptop, Selene’s laptop, and their phones hadn’t been used to write any emails—in draft form, by SMS or internet-based messaging system, by any PHP or other code-writing program—which might have allowed Luca to leave a text message hidden within the code of a website or program—or several other things Selene didn’t understand, which was rare for her.
Luca had sat still as a stone throughout their search at the dining room table, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. Selene had never seen a person so wracked with guilt