Page 104 of Vengeful Union

Ten minutes later, I’m exactly where I want to be, curled up next to him with my head on his shoulder. I’m sure that Rory will be up all night, but instead, he’s snoring quietly not long after pulling the covers over us.

I guess all the adrenaline rushing out of his body must have allowed him to shut down.

Unfortunately, I’m not so lucky. I can’t seem to calm down, tossing and turning. I keep looking at the ceiling until I huff and turn to one side. By now, Rory has shifted in his sleep, and he’s facing away from me.

I can’t stop thinking about what happened tonight, how Rory killed all those men, and all for what? For me? A girl he barely knows, in the scheme of things.

He says he loves me, but can he? Can he really? I know how I feel. I know that he’s the one for me, but part of me can’t help being suspicious that I’m going to end up not being enough for him. Or that he’ll resent me because of all he’s had to do for me.

Not to mention, his father is Niall Murphy. I know from being friends with Bree that I can’t hold that against him, but how will we end up together in the end? Can we really find directproof to take to the police? Even if we do, can we do it without incriminating ourselves and my father?

I know how deeply it affects Rory to hurt people, to kill. I know how much he doesn’t want to be like his father, but every time something like this happens, every time he kills to protect me, it eats away at him.

Thinking about it makes my eyes burn with tears, but I can’t help feeling like if he’d never met me, he’d be back to his accountant job, and he wouldn’t be struggling.

I don’t realize that I’ve slept at all until Rory’s burner phone starts to ring. Surprisingly, Rory doesn’t wake, so I reach over him and pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Lara,” Gray breathes, and I relax slightly.

“Gray, thank God, I thought maybe it was something bad?—”

“It’s not good news, exactly,” he warns. “But it’s what we’ve been looking for.”

I glance at Rory, who is still sleeping, eyes bruised beneath as if he hasn’t been sleeping well for a long time. Instead of waking him, I wriggle out of bed, walking out on the balcony to finish the call.

“Is it about Ma?”

“No. It’s about Bree and Rory’s mother.” He sighs. “Declan would have called, but he’s been comforting Bree ever since they found the information.”

“What information?”

“I talked to one of Niall’s men that has since defected. He used to live with the family, was high up in the Murphy clan. He’s been in hiding from Niall for years now.”

“What did he say?” I start pacing around the balcony, biting at my cuticles until they sting and bleed.

“He said that the day that she ‘left,’ all her things were still there. Her clothes. Her purse. Her phone. She didn’t take a single item from the house. He wasn’t a part of the order to clean things up, but he overheard it. Niall talked about how they had to leave no crumbs, not even a single thread to lead this back to him.”

“That’s... that’s not quite proof.”

“Maybe not, but it’s the best we’ve got, for now. I’m still waiting on a call back from Niall’s old cleaner–it actually is someone that we used to work with. Ivan.”

“Ivan the Russian?” I remember the man from when I was little because he used to love kids, liked to ride me and Paige around playing “pony” on the floor while Da took phone calls.

“You know any other Ivans?”

I roll my eyes at my brother’s sass, but it’s not unusual. At least he’s not still suspicious of Rory.

“Let me know if you hear from him. He’s a trustworthy guy, so if he has any information, we know it to be true.”

“Will do.” He pauses. “Da says to tell you he loves you.”

Tears fill my eyes all over again. “I love him, too. I love everyone. I hope to see you all soon.”

Gray hangs up, and it's only about thirty minutes of me still stomping around the balcony and wreaking havoc on my cuticles before he texts me:Ivan says it’s true. He says he cleaned it up.

Shit.

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