Page 91 of Vengeful Secret

I clear my throat. “Ciara is my daughter.”

“Aye,” Da says, looking at me curiously but with no anger and not much shock on his face. “I figured as much.”

He turns his gaze back to Ciara before I can speak.

“That means I’m your grandda, wee one. Won’t you come and give me a kiss so I can meet you properly?”

Ciara shyly walks toward him, fisting her dress in her hands.

“Hello, Grandda,” she says quietly, and he smiles at her.

“Don’t be scared. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

She walks up and puts her hands on his knees hesitantly, and Da leans down to kiss her cheek. She giggles.

“Your cheek is tickling me.”

“Aye,” Da says with a laugh. “Need Marisol to give me a shave.”

Relief floods through me.

I didn’t realize how tense I was until my muscles begin to relax. One down, the rest of the family to go.

Da and Ciara talk for a bit about her favorite doll, Effie, and how much she loves knights and horses and princes, and then I send her back out to her mother to speak to Da alone.

She gets all the way to the door before sprinting back to throw her arms around Da, giving him a big hug before running back out of the room.

When Da looks at me, his green eyes have tears in them.

“I thought you might be angry,” I say quietly, and Da just raises an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to be angry? Are you angry, son?”

I shake my head. “Not anymore. She makes it hard to stay angry.”

“Your daughter, or your girl?”

She’s not exactly my girlis what I should say, but it doesn’t matter because she is, in my heart and soul.

I love her, and there’s no reason for Da not to know that even if Sutton and I aren’t officially back together.

“Both of them,” I admit with a smile.

“McIntyre, huh? Always knew you’d end up with an Irish gal.”

I chuckle. “It’s all I know.”

“Do I get to meet her, too?”

“In a minute.” I pause. “At dinner, I’d like to introduce her and Ciara to the family. As mine.”

“Of course, son. I know you want to shout it from the rooftops.”

I smile, my face heating up.

It’s true. I do want to shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone I know, but I’m afraid that might make Sutton and Ciara even bigger targets.

“How do I protect them?” I ask in a quiet voice, having a hard time keeping my emotions in check.

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