Page 5 of The Secrets We Share

I don’t want to lie to her. Our relationship didn’t start on an honest foot from either of us, but we’ve come a long way. This just has the potential to change everything, and I’m not ready for that.

“Come on, let’s get you dressed so we can hit the road,” I say, breaking the unease in the room.

“I can dress myself. You’re only needed when it comes to removing the clothes.” She winks at me, ever the playful minx.

“Fine. Meet me in the living room. We need to leave soon, before it gets too dark. But, little one, I’d take my sweet timedressing you if we weren’t in a hurry.” I leave her with that and call Cinder to follow.

The headlightsof a passing car shine brightly through the windshield. Fucking asshole didn’t turn off his brights. The invasion wakes Keira, and she stirs in the passenger seat. Cinder snores loudly in the back. Cracking the lid to another energy drink, I tip it back, chugging down the excess caffeine I’ve been running on the last couple of days.

“Do you want me to take over? You can’t keep running on fumes,” she chides, her tone still laced with sleep.

“The last thing we need is to get pulled over.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve gotten much better, thank you very much.”

Laughing at her confidence in that statement, I say, “That might be the case, sweetness, but we still can’t take the risk. I’ll be fine.”

The hours pass, more miles through the dark, speeding by in a blur of shadowed landscapes. We cross the New York state line when dawn finally crests above the horizon. But instead of heading back to the city, like my girl would love to do, we proceed upstate toward Albany.

James is set to meet with us once we get to the short-term rental I secured through a falsified LLC. God only knows how long we’ll be there, but it’s closer to ground zero. Domenico’s bound to pop his head up eventually.

From what James has reported, his empire is in the hands of the man who carted Alina off, Marcello. It seems Keira has more family than she anticipated. Yet, another thing I’ve kept from her these last few months. But the truth about everything is due tocome out. Once we’ve settled into our new place and I’ve taken the time to make sure she’s fully relaxed.

THREE

KEIRA

MATCH MADE IN HELL - Dutch Melrose, benny Mayne

The small Craftsman-style cottage we pull in front of sits back from the road surrounded by more trees. It gives the illusion of privacy, but so did the snow-covered mountains of Colorado. The truth is, we’re back and the hiding needs to stop. There are too many unanswered questions. The biggest yet, where my father is hiding and, secondly, what the hell he wants from me.

Harkin put a damper on his plans when he showed up like a white knight, with his band of masked men. It still blows my mind when I focus too hard on the whole encounter. I have a family. A father who knew I was alive this entire time but chose to stay away. And a sister, a twin I thought dead the last few years. Not to mention, the elephant in every room Harkin and I are in when the topic comes up surrounding my niece, potentially his daughter.

I know he’s sitting on the results, waiting for the right time to unveil yet another secret. When James emailed me with myresults to see if I was a donor match for my niece, Sofia, I’d asked if Harkin’s results were in too. James didn’t think twice about telling me, probably assuming Harkin was on his way to share them with me anyway. That was weeks ago.

His only redemption was that I didn’t think he’d taken the step of opening them. When I’d asked him before we left, I could see the hesitation in his eyes, the truth fighting to break free, but he decided to keep quiet. I’m not going to push; in the end it’s his business and I want him to trust me enough to open them with me. But our relationship will be tested if he doesn’t come clean soon.

Whether he likes it or not, I am a match. My niece is in dire need of a bone marrow transplant, and while I assumed it’d be true as her mother’s twin, you never know. I am curious as to why Alina can’t donate to her own daughter. Another secret for another day.

“You coming in or what?” Harkin calls, already standing on the small front porch with our bags. I don’t remember him getting out of the car, too caught up in the mess that’s become my life over the last year.

Leave it to Alina to throw a wrench in my happily ever after. I should have seen it coming; girls like me don’t get happily ever afters, where the prince swoops in and saves the day. We get thrown to the wolves and, if we’re lucky, we survive the fight from the pits to freedom. But the fight leaves us jaded, if not prepared for the next unexpected complication.

The car door shuts behind me, echoing against the quiet day. Stepping through the front door, I suck in a deep breath. We’re one step closer to regaining our lives. Not that I think my life will ever go back to being the lonely girl, working at the airport.

How does one go back to such a mundane life once she’s learned her father is the head of a crime family. From what Harkin’s learned, it’s not just New York. That’s his kingdom. Hisreach runs across the US and his connections are deeply seated back in his family's home country.

My family’s home country, at least half of it.

“Earth to Keira,” Harkin says, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. “What’s got you so wrapped up in your head, you’re walking around like a zombie, sweetness?”

“My mind’s moving a mile a minute, being back in New York. We might not be in the city, but it’s like crossing the state line sent everything rushing back, tenfold,” I answer, staring out the big bay windows at the back of the house off the kitchen. His arms tighten further, pressing my back into his hard chest, grounding me to the moment.

“We’re going to figure everything out, Keira. I promise.” His lips skim across my neck as he whispers that heavy declaration in my ear.

“We might know more than we did three months ago, but we don’t have a plan. I don’t want to run and hide anymore. This can’t be what you want for your life. You didn’t sign up for this insanity when you met me.”

“Neither did you.”

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