Vengeful Secret (The Burkes Mafia #3)

9. Sutton

9

SUTTON

“I’m being followed,” I start, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “I don't know if they followed me here, or?—”

“Wait. Slow down." Gray sits behind his desk without pouring himself a drink. “Start from the beginning.”

I sip my vodka on the rocks, grateful for the burn in the back of my throat. It seems to clear my head. It’s been spinning ever since I was almost attacked, and all I could think about was getting to Gray.

I suppose that’s a bad sign, that the only person I could think of to protect me was in fact, a dangerous person himself.

But Gray knows this life, and he’ll be able to find out what’s going on.

“I just had this feeling, a few days ago. I guess about a week, now. I just knew someone was watching me, following me. First, I saw a blue sedan, but they drove past me, and I thought I was being paranoid. Then I saw a black sedan—more expensive, like a BMW or something, I’m not sure. They followed me home, and some big guy got out and rushed me.”

“He rushed you?” Gray growls, and I nod.

“I managed to get inside, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. I called the cops, but...”

“But they didn’t do fuck all,” he says flatly.

I shake my head. “Really, there wasn’t much they could do. I didn’t get a good look at the guy, and I didn’t have a license plate number or anything?—”

Gray’s expression darkens, and he’s quiet for a long moment.

“You and your daughter will move in here,” he says, and I blink at him, shocked.

“Gray, I don’t think that’s… There’s things... things you don’t know. Things that could complicate?—”

“I don’t care. You’ll be safe here. Both of you. The Burke mansion is like a fortress. No one has ever managed to get in, and no one ever will.”

“I don’t doubt that, Gray, but I can’t ask you to put up with both of us.”

“You didn’t ask me. I offered.”

I bite my lip. I want to argue further, but Gray’s tone is absolute, his jaw clenched.

He’s right, there’s nowhere safer in the city that we could be, but at the same time... Being here might make things worse. He doesn’t know everything.

But unless I want to spill everything, I can’t really argue with him. I need to do what’s best for Ciara, and that’s keeping her safe.

“If you’re sure…”

Gray stands up. “Of course I’m sure. I can have two bedrooms cleared out for you inside an hour.”

“I’ll have to pick Ciara up from pre-school," I tell him. “Get some of my things together.”

“I’ll send two of my men with you to keep you safe.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I argue, but Gray just stares at me, and I sigh. “All right. I’ll be back as soon as I’m packed.”

“You and your daughter will stay here until this is resolved,” he says, leaving no room for me to change his mind.

Gray’s dead serious about this, and I understand why.

While we’re close, he can keep an eye on us.

I didn’t expect all this, though. I had thought that maybe he’d assign some men to follow me, stake out my place.

I didn’t know he was going to ask me and Ciara to move in.

I nod and stand up while Gray makes a phone call.

As he does, presumably asking two of his men to follow me, I trail out into the hallway, looking at the family portraits on the walls.

As I look, someone comes out of the room next to me, startling me.

I move aside, but then I see that it’s Lara, Gray's sister. Lara and I had been acquaintances in high school, and she beams when she sees me.

“Sutton!” She comes toward me, giving me a big hug. “It’s been too long.”

“It has been,” I murmur.

Lara glances toward Gray’s study. “Are you two…?”

I shake my head.

“Nothing like that. I just… need some help. Gray’s going to be allowing me to stay here for a little while, until things calm down for me.”

Lara frowns. “I hope everything’s all right.”

“Me, too.” I give her a weak smile.

“Gray will take care of it,” she says resolutely, and then she smiles at me. “When will you be moving in?”

“As soon as I’m done packing,” I tell her. “I have to pick up my daughter?—”

Lara interrupts me, her eyes widening. “You’re a mommy? I hadn’t heard!”

“Yes, I am.” I plaster on a smile. “You’ll get to meet her in a few hours.”

“I'm sorry for your troubles, but I'm glad to see you again, Sutton,” Lara says seriously, taking my hands in hers.

I smile at her. “Thank you, Lara. It’s good to see you, too.”

“It’s been too long,” she says, ushering me to her room. “We have to catch up.”

“Not much to catch up on. I’ve just been living life, you know, the regular.”

“You’re a mommy,” she gushes. “How’s that going?”

“She can be a little hellion.” I chuckle. “But I wouldn’t change her for the world.”

“Do you have pictures?”

I take out my phone to show her a few snapshots of Ciara, and Lara squeals. “She’s gorgeous, Sutton. Looks just like you.”

Ciara does look just like me, and for that, I’m grateful.

What would I have done if she’d looked just like her father? She has his eyes, but in pictures, it isn’t so obvious.

I’m not sure I’ve thought this through.

There are secrets I’m keeping that I can’t afford coming to light and moving in with Ciara is a risk I’m taking. The thing is, I have to take that chance. It’s more important that Ciara is safe than it is that I keep my secret.

Lara hands me my phone back, still smiling widely at me. The action brings me out of my dark thoughts, and I’m grateful.

She was a friend to me in high school, but we were never besties or anything. She seems to be excited to see me again, though, and it’s good that I’ll be around friends and not just Gray.

“How has Paige been?” Paige was a couple of years behind me in high school, and I didn’t know her very well.

“Getting married next month,” Lara says, huffing out a breath. “Can’t believe her prince turned out to be Kael Sullivan.”

I frown. “Kael? That’s… Declan’s best friend, right?”

“Right. And my sister hated him. Until she didn’t.”

I laugh. “You’re just mad you didn’t beat her to the punch.”

“Maybe a little.” She plops down on the edge of the bed. “I’m really happy you’ll be staying here. Since Paige moved all the way out, it’s just been me and the boys.”

She wrinkles her nose. “And of course, Bree, but she’s busy with the pregnancy.”

I frown again. “Bree? I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is.”

“Bree Murphy. She’s Declan’s wife. She’s great, you’ll meet her soon enough!”

“It must be nice to have such life in the house.”

“It is. Especially now that Da is hurt,” she says softly.

“How is he?” I hope that it’s not a sore subject. Gray told me about his dad being shot, but not much information about how he’s recovering.

“He’s doing better now that he’s home.” She pauses. “It’ll just be a long while before he’s back to normal again. I miss him.”

I give her a quick hug.

I know how close Gray is to his father, and I assume his siblings are the same. They’re probably having a hard time with their dad so injured.

I’ve never been particularly close to my family, especially not my father, so it’s something I really admire in Gray.

Once upon a time, I thought we’d have that—a close-knit family, a handful of kids.

I never thought I’d end up alone with just one that I have to keep hidden for her own safety.

“Are you and Gray...”

“No. Nothing like that. He’s just... helping out.”

It’s the truth, but it still sounds like a lie when I say it.

Gray and I have never been friends. We’ve always been more, and after we hooked up the other night...

“You’re old friends,” Lara drawls, looking at me with a little smirk.

What is that supposed to mean? Does she suspect that Gray and I used to date? We kept it under wraps from his family and mine, but…

I breathe in deep and let it out through my nostrils.

“Sure, we are.” I have no idea what she’s getting at.

“Would you like to come to the in-house theater tonight? Watch a movie with me and Bree? You’ll love her; I promise.”

“Maybe.” After this long day, do I want to continue it by being social? “Any way you could show me to the guest room?”

“Oh, sure.” She stands up and leads me out into the hallway. “You’ll have your pick of suites.”

I’m a little surprised by how ornate and fancy everything is at the Burke mansion. I know Gray doesn’t have any money issues, but this is even more than I thought..

Walking through the house and seeing just how high the ceilings are, just how fancy all the furniture. Individual suites instead of guest rooms? It’s crazy.

There are portraits on the wall, a big one of Gray’s mother, who has his green eyes.

I look up at it, and Lara hums in the back of her throat.

“She’s so beautiful, right?” she murmurs, looking up at the portrait. “I’ve always been jealous that Paige looks more like her than I do.”

I look up at the portrait, at the matriarch’s long, slender frame, the elegant way she holds herself. She’s got a perfect bone structure that’s reflected in Lara’s face.

“You do look like her. You’ve got the same nose, same bone structure.”

Lara beams at me. “You really think so?”

“I do.” I smile back at her, and she looks up at her mother with the most intense expression of longing I’ve ever seen.

I open my mouth to speak, to ask if she’s okay, but then she just moves past me and opens the door to one of the suites.

I peer inside.

The king-sized bed sits in the corner of the room, and there’s a desk on the opposite wall with a full PC. There’s also a flat-screen television hanging on the wall opposite the bed, and when I walk further inside, I notice a walk-in closet and a huge bathroom with a big clawfoot tub and a half-shower.

“This is perfect,” I murmur, and Lara grins at me.

“You haven’t even seen the others. There’s one closer to the pool?—”

“I don’t have to. This is wonderful. Thank you, Lara.” I clear my throat. “I should go, do some packing.”

“Would you like me to come with you? I could meet the little one.”

I think about it.

It would certainly be nice to have someone to help me carry things and watch out for Ciara, but I don’t think I want Lara to meet her before Gray does. He’s the one going to all this trouble.

I shake my head. “I need to talk to her first. You know, prepare her for meeting new people, being in a new space.”

“Oh, of course.”

Lara walks me downstairs to the door and waves at me from the porch as I get into my car.

I leave the mansion with a sense of something like dread washing over me.

How long can I keep this secret? And who’s following me?

What’s Gray going to think when he meets Ciara? Will he hate me? Will he kick us both out?

There’re too many questions, and not enough answers.