Page 136 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“Well,” I said, “I’m incredibly grateful for what you did. Thank you.”

Grayson’s teeth captured his lower lip, holding on to it for a moment.“I’m glad you’re alive, Luna. You seem good for my brother.”

Damn these tears. But in my defense, being accepted by Hunter’s family meant more to me than I imagined. Probably after essentially being rejected by everyone in mine, growing up…

After a moment, he turned to walk out the door but stopped when it creaked open. The room’s temperature seemed to drop a degree when Detective Rinaldi entered the room, the fluorescent lights humming a little louder, amplifying the tension as Grayson stiffened.

Rinaldi’s eyes narrowed, every inch of her stance radiating authority and suspicion as her fingers tapped against the notepad she held, an unsaid challenge hanging between her and Grayson.

After an eternity, she swept her gaze to me.

“I’m relieved to see you are doing so well.” But where her tone had once been warm and inviting, it was now laced with a hint of frustration.

“Luna is under the protection of our family now,” Grayson said. “You have questions, you can contact our attorney.”

My gaze shifted uneasily between her and Grayson, like a hesitant pendulum, caught in the silence that hung heavy in the air.

“You and I both know guilty people are the ones who lawyer up, Luna. This is a bad look,” she said.

“You and I both know you’ll say almost anything to keep people talking, and a lawyer stops your ability to do that,” Grayson said. “Look at Luna’s father. Proof that innocent people get accused of crimes they didn’t commit.”

Guilt strangled my voice at using my father’s injustice as a means to protect us from our sins.

“As I told you in Hunter’s room”—Grayson stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body, every line of him poised like a guard dog ready to defend—“I’m not going to allow you to victimize them further. Process the evidence because that’s all you’re getting.”

Judging by the tightness of her jaw, the evidence was weak as hell. And evidence of what, exactly? Suspicions that the attack didn’t take place exactly where we described it?

All of the injuries were consistent with the struggle we had endured, and all of the relevant details had been the truth. Alexander was killed in a case of self-defense.

Hopefully, the only thing Rinaldi would ever have were her suspicions.

“You know we still haven’t gotten to the bottom of who the Windy City Vigilante is,” she warned.

“Lawyer,” Grayson barked.

Guilt wove through my ribs at lying to a law enforcement officer.

I had made my decision to protect Hunter, and that wouldn’t change, but it didn’t expel the moral person that also inhabited my body.

“I’ll be in touch,” Rinaldi said.

“With our lawyer,” Grayson added.

CHAPTER72

Luna

Iawoke from my nap to a ruckus outside of my room. The hospital door was open, and the murmurs of several nurses’ high-pitched voices mingled together. The two that were in my view had their gaze fixed on something down the hallway.

Smiling, they straightened their scrubs as they froze in place, waiting for whatever was coming.

I pushed the button on my bed so I could sit up straighter, wishing my thigh hadn’t been sliced through the muscle, so I could simply walk out and see what was going on.

The sound of metal scraping against the linoleum grew louder, joined by a groan that echoed along the walls.

“You should be in a wheelchair,” a female voice said.

But the metallic clinks continued, the moans increasing with what sounded like agony.

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