Page 225 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

“So, you used to date Padraig.”

“You know I did.”

“And your eldest boy is his son.”

“Don’t play coy. You know everything there is to know about me.”

“Everything?”

“Everything.” Because call it a sixth sense, but I know he knows about my sniping secret. What I don’t know is how.

“How did you find out?” I don’t feel panicked for some reason. Maybe it’s a combination of things. That I’ve had to reveal it to so many people recently. It’s just becoming second nature, combined with the fact that I trust him.

“The fire alarm incident at Padraig’s apartment. I like to keep a close eye on what those O’Connell boys are getting up to. I looked at the footage. The person who set the alarm off wore the same biker jacket you wore when you came here. Then I noticed some other similarities, say if I removed the leather jacket and replaced it with a puffer style. It was then that I had theeurekamoment.”

He smirks, his auburn hair perfectly styled as usual, his eyes striking blue against a way too good-looking face.

“Don’t worry. I’ve deleted the footage, Jaine. It can be our little secret.”

“And why would you do that?”

“I like to think that you and I are both vigilantes in our own way. We both take out the trash. One legally, the other not.”

“Any other reason?”

“I know that you know my own secret.”

“How?”

“As soon as anyone accesses those personal files, I know about it. I then decide if they can read them in depth or not.”

“And you let me.”

“A secret for a secret.”

“Do any of the others know?”

“Two of them.”

We sit in silence. I know who one of them is. I don’t bother asking who the second one is because he won’t tell me.

“Is this cozy heart-to-heart the only reason you pulled me out of the function?”

“No.”

“What was the other reason?”

“You looked troubled. I thought I’d rescue you.”

“I was fine.”

“I was the recipient of your final words, remember, Jaine. You willingly became a dead person walking in part because you thought they were both gone. I then had to listen as you took your last breath and died. I only wish I could experience a love that deep and meaningful.”

“You mean you didn’t marry for love?” I smirk. We both know Nate married his ex-wife for political gain, nothing more. “Trust me. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Obviously not, as the moment you found out they weren’t dead, you let both of them go.”

“I couldn’t choose.”

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