Page 103 of Ashes of Saints

“This is going to be bad,” Killian said, shaking his head.

“Yup.” Maddox sipped his coffee. “Make sure you keep an eye on him at the club.”

Pretty sure we are all mentally reciting our code.

Strength in silence: revenge is a patient man’s game. We act in the shadows and never reveal our hand too soon.

“But until he needs us to pick up the pieces, let’s focus on what Parker needs,” Maddox says. “Are you in love with Aurora?”

“Yes.” I admit. “But it’s not that simple.”

“Never is.”

These men know. They’d lived through their own hell. But those green eyes are reminders of that hell. My past. Yes, I love her. I just don’t know if I can be with her.

Now that Aurora knows who I am—the little boy she remembers—and what took place in her home, I doubt she could love me back.

Plus, there’s something else that has been nagging at me.

“Aurora asked me who her mother really is. As if Mary-Anne Whitlock is not her real identity.” I share. “Some of her own memories and experiences don’t add up.”

Maddox watches me for a long moment and a chill runs down my spine.

“What?”

“Send me some of that footage. I don’t want my security teams touching it, but I think the Black Hawke Security guys in Los Angeles might help us. They have access to some dark web and government files that shouldn’t exist. They don’t exist.”

Got it.

Don’t ask.

I’d heard Maddox talking about Josh and Aidan on the odd occasion. The former Navy SEAL and US Marine started the private security company on the West Coast a few years ago. Maddox must supply them with tech equipment.

“I’ll send it over this afternoon. What are you thinking?” I ask Maddox.

When he starts sharing my blood turns cold. I know in the core of my being that he’s right. I hope not, but it all makes sense.

Proving it is one thing, but telling Aurora will be a whole other ballgame.

One that could destroy her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

AURORA

“I wish you’d told me sooner, but I understand why you didn’t.” Chloe tucks her legs under her on my sofa while she sips her coffee.

I glance out the window as rain slides down the pane. It feels like I’ve been cold since the day I walked into my mother's closet and found Parker in front of the TV.

It’s not just my body. I’m soul-deep cold.

Now I have some tough decisions to make.

While I’ve pushed Parker away, I always knew this relationship wouldn’t last. For a moment I thought I might be wrong, but now it’s clear it can never work.

Not because he used me to uncover the sordid shit that my mother was involved in. He didn’t find that hidden room by accident. He was looking for it.

Why? Because Parker was that little blue-eyed boy.

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