Page 4 of One Kill

“You see it, don’t you?” Her question catches me off guard.

“See what?”

“The resemblance between us.”

“I see your father, that’s for sure.”

Then it hits me. The math of it all slaps my brain and shakes the shock right out of me.

“Wait a fucking minute.”

“Ah, there it is. Dad said you were sharp.” I ignore her sass and search her face for clues.

“How old are you?”

Hallie doesn’t answer my question. A deeper, darker, voice echoes from right behind me and sends a jolt of pure electricity throughout my entire body.

“Thirteen. Today is her birthday.”

Chapter Three

J

Painricochetsthroughmyheart as memories of him—ofus—fill my mind at the sound of his voice alone. Thirteen years of trying to forget the most tragic day of my life suddenly feel like mere minutes as I remember everything I pushed into the deep recesses of my very soul.

It’s impossible though.

She can’t be…

“I can see the wheels turning, Jaybear.” There’s a hint of sadness in his deep brown eyes, and all I can do is stare at the man I once loved. My insides are rioting, but on the outside I’m the picture of calm as I fold my arms across my chest and quirk a brow.

“What the fuck is this, Murphy?” Anger. That’s how I’m choosing to approach the situation because I don’t know any other way to avoid what I’m praying isn’t the truth.

“Can I sit?” He gestures to the booth, the navy-blue sweater he’s wearing tightening over what is now a much firmer chest than I remember.

“Would you walk away if I said no?” Turning away from him, I face Hallie again, her wide eyes moving between us in excitement. Strange child.

Murphy’s responding chuckle makes my heart ache again, and for the first time in thirteen years, I let myself imagine what could have been. If I hadn’t run away from him, if my parents hadn’t been murdered in front of me, if I hadn’t been spared because I was pregnant and they lived by a fucked-up code, and if I hadn’t given birth among my family’s blood to a stillborn baby…

“Scoot over, Hal. Give your old man some room.”

She immediately does as he asked and slides across the bench seat, a look on her face like she knows she’s done something she shouldn’t have done, but she also knows he’s already forgiven her. I used to look at my dad like that.

Anger boils inside me at this sick joke, whatever it is. Somehow, the Irish mafia I’ve made sure to stay the hell away from have found me again and they’re using some dirty fucking tricks. Murphy always managed to stay away from all that crap, but it seems he’s been pulled right into the middle of my personal war with them.

“I wanted to do this just the two of us first, but someone is as bull-headed as her mother and snuck out first thing this morning.” He glances disapprovingly at Hallie, his tone hard at the end, but his features so much softer than I’ve ever seen them, the love he has for her shining through as she defiantly pokes her tongue out at him.

I’m seriously questioning my sanity because I’m doubting myself. My thoughts are spiraling and I’m suddenly not so sure this is all a horrible joke or a way to get to me.

What if it’s real?

I remain silent, taking a deep breath before sipping at my coffee, as if I haven’t a care in the world.

“She’s always known about you, since she could talk. I wanted to—”

“Hold up. Who’s her mother, Murphy?” I really want him to tell me he was cheating on me as teenagers and got someone else pregnant at the same time as me, because the thought that I left behind a dead baby that wasn’t dead could very well kill me from the inside out.

“I already told you. You’re my mom.”

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