Page 31 of Vengeful Secret

I pull out a bottle of vodka and pour her two fingers over ice. I take the drink to her, and she takes it with both hands, trembling.

She takes a deep sip, wincing at the burn before looking up at me.

“What’s wrong,a ghrá?” I ask quietly, and Sutton’s face falls.

She’s afraid, and a protective urge rises in me.

I’ll burn the world down for Sutton, if she only asks. I’d do anything for her, and I think she knows that. I think that’s why she’s here.

Sutton is an independent woman, and she’s always taken care of herself and her family. When her mother got sick five years ago, breast cancer, she dropped everything, moved in with her. She was her caretaker through the worst of it, and as far as I know, she’s in remission.

Maybe that’s changed.

My thoughts whirl, trying to figure out what it is, but finally, Sutton opens her mouth to speak.

“I need your help.”

9

SUTTON

“I’m being followed,”I start, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “I don't know if they followed me here, or?—”

“Wait. Slow down." Gray sits behind his desk without pouring himself a drink. “Start from the beginning.”

I sip my vodka on the rocks, grateful for the burn in the back of my throat. It seems to clear my head. It’s been spinning ever since I was almost attacked, and all I could think about was getting to Gray.

I suppose that’s a bad sign, that the only person I could think of to protect me was in fact, a dangerous person himself.

But Gray knows this life, and he’ll be able to find out what’s going on.

“I just had this feeling, a few days ago. I guess about a week, now. I just knew someone was watching me, following me. First, I saw a blue sedan, but they drove past me, and I thought I was being paranoid. Then I saw a black sedan—more expensive, like a BMW or something, I’m not sure. They followed me home, and some big guy got out and rushed me.”

“He rushed you?” Gray growls, and I nod.

“I managed to get inside, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. I called the cops, but...”

“But they didn’t do fuck all,” he says flatly.

I shake my head. “Really, there wasn’t much they could do. I didn’t get a good look at the guy, and I didn’t have a license plate number or anything?—”

Gray’s expression darkens, and he’s quiet for a long moment.

“You and your daughter will move in here,” he says, and I blink at him, shocked.

“Gray, I don’t think that’s… There’s things... things you don’t know. Things that could complicate?—”

“I don’t care. You’ll be safe here. Both of you. The Burke mansion is like a fortress. No one has ever managed to get in, and no one ever will.”

“I don’t doubt that, Gray, but I can’t ask you to put up with both of us.”

“You didn’t ask me. I offered.”

I bite my lip. I want to argue further, but Gray’s tone is absolute, his jaw clenched.

He’s right, there’s nowhere safer in the city that we could be, but at the same time... Being here might make things worse. He doesn’t know everything.

But unless I want to spill everything, I can’t really argue with him. I need to do what’s best for Ciara, and that’s keeping her safe.

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