A little girl stepped halfway into view, clutching the sleeve of Rini, the restaurant owner.
She was no older than seven, with dark curls, wide eyes, and a silver bracelet around her tiny wrist. Cass turned just enough to see her, and for the first time all night, fear touched her face.
Not fear for herself.
Fear for the child.
Marcus saw it instantly.
“Cass,” he whispered, “who is she?”
The tallest man answered with a thin smile.
“A mistake that should have been corrected years ago.”
Cass stepped between him and the child.
“Her name is Lily.”
Marcus stared at the bracelet on the girl’s wrist. His expression changed slowly, painfully, as if an old wound had reopened under his ribs.
“That bracelet,” he said. “My sister had one just like it.”
Cass looked at him then.
And in her silence, Marcus understood.
Lily was not random.
She was family.