Page 99 of Vengeful Vows

“You deserved it then, too,” I spit, panting and sitting up with a grimace, my chest and shoulder aching something fierce.

Gray chuckles. “Probably. But I don’t know why you’re going so hard for some girl you didn’t even want to marry.”

“She’s not just some girl. She’s my wife.”

Gray raises an eyebrow, still panting. “So, you’re actually accepting it?” He shifts, grimacing. “You sound like you like her."

All I can do is put my head in my hands.

Gray whistles. “Shit, Declan. You do like her. What the hell?”

“I know,” I groan. “I don’t know why it happened. I don’t know how. She’s a Murphy, for fuck’s sake.”

“Well, she’s a Burke now,” Gray says almost cheerfully, standing up unsteadily and coming over to help me up. He claps me on the back before pulling away.

“What am I going to do?” I ask, hoping for some brotherly advice, but instead Gray just shrugs.

“I don’t know, brother. You’ll figure it out.”

And then he just walks off toward his room, rolling his shoulders.

Great. What a good chat.

I figure that Gray will go to Da right away and tell him about the fight, about his suspicions about Bree, but he doesn’t. Da doesn’t even approach me until after dinner the next night.

Bree has already gone up to bed, and I’m drinking Scotch with Da since Gray is out on a job.

“I need you to go and pick up this next shipment,” Da says.

I raise an eyebrow. “Not Gray?”

“Gray’s otherwise occupied,” he says. “You can take Kael with you, he’s back home now, aye?”

“Aye.” I keep my eyebrow raised. “What’s the trouble?”

“You were attacked when we went to check that shipment. I’m worried there’s a rat in our midst.”

Things have ramped up since that first attack.

I’m afraid Bree might be the rat, but how could she? She sent one letter weeks ago. Even if she said something then, nothing that has happened since can be her fault.

Murphy is retaliating with all he has, trying to get us out where he can slaughter us. That’s the only explanation I can see.

But did Bree betray us? Betray me?

I’m still knocking it around my head, trying to figure out the potential code. I’ve read those letters dozens of times, and I’ve come up with nothing.

“Is this a test?”

“Not for you,” Da says. “For Jimmy. I told him the wrong location.”

“You suspect Jimmy?”

Da sighs. “I don’t want to suspect anyone, son, but you know how this business works. He wouldn’t be the first man to be swayed by Murphy’s money.”

I nod slowly. This will help me, too. If it turns out to be Jimmy, I can stop suspecting my wife.

If not… I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, I guess.

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