Page 28 of Vengeful Secret

After the detective leaves , I look down at my phone for a long time.

I wish I had kept Gray’s contact number. Why didn’t I ask for his number when we hooked up?

There is only one thing I can do now.

I have to go to him.

8

GRAY

Declan sitsat his desk across from me with Kael bringing up the rear, leaning against the closed door with his arms crossed.

We’ve been in this meeting for half an hour, and we’ve resolved absolutely nothing.

“What about retaliation for Paige?” Kael asks, and Declan holds up a hand to stop him.

“We can’t focus on that right now, Kael. We have to worry about Da and keeping his injury as quiet as possible from our enemies.”

Declan’s right, but it’s something that’s been in the back of my mind for weeks.

If Da wasn’t injured, we would never have allowed our baby sister to be kidnapped and abused without going after Murphy’s men.

But if we strike now, we start a war, and we’re down our strongest general.

It’s not something that we can handle at the moment. I can understand why Kael is so gung-ho about it. She’s the love of his life, and if anything like that happened to Sutton, I’d want to burn the world down.

“As far as people know, he’s still up and running things. Only our own men know that I’ve taken over in the interim.”

Da doesn’t usually do drop-offs or pick-ups, anyway. He runs things from behind the scenes while Declan and I are more visible. That’s worked to our advantage over the last few weeks, and I’ve tried to be as much in the public eye as possible, given all my work back at home.

There are always phone calls to be made, meetings to be had. I can’t keep up, but I’m trying my best.

“It’s only a matter of time before they find out. Murphy’s the one who put out the hit, who saw the damage it caused. I’m sure they had men staking out the hospital, knowing how long he was inside,” Kael points out. “So, why can’t we go after them now?”

“I know that you’re worried about Paige.” I can understand it. But at the same time, Kael only has to worry about Paige. I have my whole family and the clan at large to worry about. “We all are. But it’s easier to keep her safe if we’re not going after Murphy right now. There’s too much going on.”

Kael huffs out a breath but seems to understand.

“I want to discuss things with Da, but I also don’t want to impede his health.”

Declan looks at me curiously. “You want to run things without his input?”

I rub a hand across my face. “Want is a strong word. What Iwantis for him to get better, and his health is fragile right now, as much as I’m loath to admit it."

I don’t say it, but I’m thinking that I don’t want any of this. I’ve always been groomed to take over for Da, and I’m willing to accept the responsibility, but notnow. Not when things are so up in the air with Murphy.

We started a war between the Burkes and the Murphys when Declan kidnapped and married Bree, and we thought we were prepared.

We weren’t.

“Aye,” Declan agrees. “But he would want to be kept in the loop.”

“I’m not saying we go behind his back. I’m just saying that I don’t want him worried about the day-to-day stuff. He’s barely awake these days, and I don’t want him getting daily updates and having to worry.”

Da always wants to know exactly what’s going on, a play-by-play, but right now, he just needs to focus on getting better. I know he’d push himself too hard if he knew that I’m struggling, and it may impede his recovery. I can’t have that on my conscience.

Declan nods. “I understand. You’re more than capable of doing this on your own, Gray.”

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