‘But that was before I knew—’

‘It is because you know that you must do it. For her sake. You know what they’ll do.’

The doors were rammed again and, this time, it was as though the whole church shook, the doors splitting and tearing, the men roaring like warriors. One more and they’d be through.

‘She’ll never forgive me,’ he protested.

‘If you love her, you’ll do it anyway.’

On the ground, Marina was stirring, trying to lift her head. He already knew what would happen if she had a choice, which side she would choose and what that would mean for her . . .

He raised his arm, staring down the length of his arm at his old friend. Santi gave a tiny nod as their eyes met. ‘Thank you.’

Arlo nodded back. And fired.

Acknowledgements

It’s true what they say – it takes a village. It may be my name on the cover but there’s a behemoth of a team behind me providing guidance and support all the way – be it editorial, grammatical, logistical or moral – so thank you to all the gang at Pan Mac Towers; to my super agent and RNA Agent of the Year no less, Amanda Preston; and to my beloved family, including the gingery, whiskered, four-legged members on whose daily walks the creative magic usually strikes.