Page 67 of Dark Secrets

“She won’t.” James didn’t bother letting Aidan know Delaney already suspected something was up. She just hadn’t asked the right questions yet. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, Aidan. I know how to be careful.”

“How do I know you’re not going to do something stupid over this woman?”

James clenched his hand into a fist at his side. “After every goddamn thing we’ve been through, now is when you decide not to trust me?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you—”

“Bullshit. That’s bullshit. You of all people should know we can’t help who we fall in love with.” James shoved a rough hand through his hair. “I’m doing my best to have as much of her as I can for as long as I can. And I’m prepared to lose her when the time comes.”

“You should never have let it get this far in the first place.”

“Fuck off, Aidan. I hope this life never takes from you what it took from me. I made a choice with Delaney, and as much as I probably should, I don’t regret it.”

Aidan jerked open the door of his truck and climbed onto the running board. “You’re walking a fine line here, James, and if you’re not careful, you’ll burn everything we’ve worked so hard to protect to the ground.”

“Don’t worry,” James spat, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. “The only person who’ll get burned in the end is me.”

Sliding behind the wheel, Aidan jerked his door closed and peeled out of the parking lot. James stared after him, clenching his jaw until it ached. He’d known from the start how this was going to end, how it had to end. That didn’t mean he had to fucking like it or that he owed his cousin an explanation for his choices.

Finding Delaney happened as unexpectedly as losing Maura. He didn’t ask for either one, but he’d be damned if he wouldn’t allow himself to grip onto at least a few moments of happiness while he had it.

His loyalty to the family and the syndicate would always win out over everything else, even if it meant losing another piece of himself. James knew Aidan wouldn’t say anything, at least not yet. But he also knew he didn’t have much time left with her. It was slipping through his fingers too fast. Soon, whether he was ready or not, he’d have to let her go.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

The smell of bacon and coffee teased her out of sleep, and Delaney rolled onto her back, arching off the mattress to stretch. They’d gone on a date, a real date, and the world hadn’t exploded. In fact, it was the most fun she’d had in a long time. James made her feel like anything was possible. It was a heady feeling, even if it was constantly at odds with her past and its secrets.

Rolling out of bed, she reached for the hoodie she’d stolen from him and tugged it on over her tank top, padding barefoot down the stairs. He was in the kitchen flipping something on the stove while coffee hissed into the pot, his own iced coffee open at his elbow.

He heard her and turned, and the smile he gave her warmed her right down to her toes. Then his eyes traveled up and down her body, from her headscarf to her feet and back again, and she shivered with it.

“Good morning.” She leaned up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips, stealing a piece of bacon off the plate.

“Morning, beautiful. Breakfast is almost ready if you want to fix yourself some coffee.”

She turned toward the pot and noticed the big bouquet of peonies in the middle of the kitchen table. Pouring coffee into a mug and adding a spoonful of sugar, she watched James plate the eggs he was frying and bring them to the table along with the bacon and some sort of potato and veggie hash.

“What’s the occasion for those?” She set her mug down and bent to inhale the bouquet’s delicate floral scent. Peonies were one of her favorite flowers, but she didn’t remember ever telling him that. “They’re so beautiful.”

James wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman.”

“Flowers just because? That’s very sweet of you.”

He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “Not just because. You didn’t think I’d forget your birthday, did you?”

“What are you talking about?” She smiled as his lips continued to trail over her jaw to her earlobe. “My birthday isn’t until…”

Delaney froze, and her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Her birthday wasn’t until September. Delaney Williams’s birthday was in February. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to come up with something, anything to say. James hadn’t released her, but he was very, very still, and she was afraid of what she might see on his face when she turned around.

“You’re right,” she replied, infusing as much sunshine into her voice as she could. “I can’t believe I forgot.” She turned in his arms and chanced a look at his face. It was an unreadable mask. “Thank you for remembering. And for the flowers.”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re welcome. Let’s eat before everything gets cold.”

Delaney sank into the chair James held out for her and let him add food to her plate, but the silence between them was thick. This was the moment. The perfect time to confess everything, to lay it all on the table and see what came next. She knew she could trust him with her body, with her safety, but could she trust him with her secrets?

“Busy day today?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’ve got to teach a self-defense class and then meet Aidan for a few things. You’re working, right?”

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