Page 120 of Vengeful Secret

“I need to talk to you,” I say quickly. “After Ciara’s in bed tonight.”

He frowns but nods. “Okay,a ghrá. You know I’m here for you, anytime.”

He kisses my temple, and I feel slightly better as I pull away from him.

I go through the motions the rest of the day, eating dinner with the family, giving Ciara her nightly bath with Effie, and telling her a story about a princess and a knight as she goes to sleep.

Did I make the right decision?

32

GRAY

Sutton walks into the bedroom,and I’m sitting on the bed, looking at her.

“Something happened today,” I say, and it’s not quite a question, but Sutton nods nonetheless.

I swallow hard and stand up, walking toward her.

She doesn’t back away, looking down at her hands.

“Talk to me,” I order. “Look at me,a ghrá. I’ve got you. Whatever happened, I’ll take care of it.”

She slowly pulls a business card out of her pocket. All it has is a phone number on it, in white letters. The rest of it is black.

“What’s this?” I look down at it in my hand, frowning.

“One of Murphy’s men.” Her voice is low and calm, but her eyes are swimming with tears as she looks up at me.

“When did you talk to one of Murphy’s men?” My nostrils flare. “I’ll kill those guards, they were supposed to keep an eye on you.”

“They did,” she says quickly, putting a hand on my arm. “It was only for a moment. He just wanted to talk.”

I scoff. “Talk about what?”

Sutton looks away, and then back at me. “He wanted me to give you up. Give them information to lead to them taking you down.”

“What?” My nostrils flare again, heat from my hot Irish blood raising to my skin.

I’m not the hothead that Declan is, but something like this? Murphy trying to turn my own girl against me?

She wouldn’t, though. She couldn’t. Right?

“I told them no,” she says finally, searching my face as if I won’t believe her.

“Of course, you did,a ghrá,” I soften my voice, getting closer to her.

She backs up against the wall, and I put an arm above her head, looking down at her.

“Sutton. You never have to be afraid of me.”

“They said they’d keep us safe. Put us in a house out of state, leave us alone forever. They said we’d be out of this life. I was… I was tempted, Gray.”

I rub a hand across my face, stepping back a couple of steps. “It’d be crazy if you weren’t.”

She blinks. “You think so?”

“You left me all those years ago to stay safe. To keep Ciara safe.” I pause. “But you didn’t tell them anything?”

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