Page 104 of Vengeful Secret

But the dream was so vivid. So plausible.

It’s still not over.

I can defend myself, Gray basically said so, but if I’m ever caught without my weapon…

I reach into the nightstand, finding the butt of the gun, and I hold it for a long moment, its heft making me feel better.

I don’t sleep another wink.

28

GRAY

Sutton’salready up when I wake, which is unusual given she likes to sleep in.

I frown, sitting up and putting on a robe before walking toward Ciara’s room. Sure enough, Sutton’s in there, lying with our daughter, her eyes closed.

I smile at my two girls.

I suppose Ciara must have gotten up in the middle of the night and asked her mother for cuddles, as she does sometimes. Sutton told me that they used to co-sleep when she was smaller.

I don’t wake them since Ciara has the day off school, some kind of teacher’s workday. I’ve got her schedule memorized and on my phone.

I shower and shave quickly before dressing and heading to my office, wanting to check and see if I have any work messages on my burner phone.

I only have an unofficial invoice from Murray for the cleaning job, and I transfer the money to him immediately.

A knock on the door startles me, and I look up to see Liam standing in the doorway, frowning.

“Something wrong?”

“We just received a letter. An invitation, looks like.”

“So?”

“It’s from Niall Murphy.”

I freeze, standing up and taking the card stock envelope from him.

It chills my blood that Murphy has addressed it to me instead of Da.

I use the letter opener and rip open the envelope, and the embossed invitation suggests a parlay with an address and a time—midnight tonight.

It’s rather formal, but that’s the way Murphy has always done business.

“Fuck.”

Liam clears his throat. “Should we call a meeting?”

I stare down at the invitation for a moment longer before nodding. “Call Declan and Kael and have them meet me here in an hour.” I pause. “You come, too, Liam.”

He nods briskly and leaves the room.

I sit down hard in my chair, throwing the invitation on the desk.

A parlay?

From what Darragh had said, Murphy wanted scorched earth. Scorched earth didn’t include meetings about what is going to happen.

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