Vengeful Secret (The Burkes Mafia #3)

20. Gray

20

GRAY

I leave Sutton in my bed reluctantly, heading to the shower and standing under the water until it grows cold.

I’m shaken by what happened last night. Sutton was so close to being taken, and God knows what they’d have done to her.

I can’t even think about it without rage clouding my vision.

I’m determined to properly punish the guy who attacked Sutton, but for now, I have to focus on her. I have to focus on keeping her and Ciara safe.

Lara is already sitting at the kitchen table when I make it downstairs, and she smiles up at me.

“How'd it go?”

“Not great,” I mutter, sitting down across from her and grabbing a bagel. The spread this morning is light, just bagels, cream cheese, and cut fruit.

I’m grateful for the light breakfast. After the adrenaline of last night, my stomach is in knots.

“What happened?” Lara frowns. “Is Sutton okay?”

“No thanks to me,” I mutter, and then I look up at Lara’s frown, at how worried she is, and let my face go blank. I opened up to Sutton last night, but this morning, it’s time to put on a brave face. “She’s okay. She just almost got taken.”

“Did you bring him in?”

“Of course I did.” Part of me wants to hurry up and do the interrogation, but I can leave him to sweat for a while.

Lara nods, satisfied. “Well, then some progress was made. We have someone to question.”

I pour myself a cup of coffee, since a pot of coffee and tea are sitting on the table. Marisol always thinks of everything.

I take a sip, not responding.

Lara looks at me curiously, tilting her head, but she doesn’t push for more answers. Paige definitely would have, but Lara’s more like me, calmer, more stoic.

She gets up, brushing off her shirt, and wordlessly walks out, putting a hand on my shoulder briefly before leaving.

Sutton finally comes downstairs after I’ve finished my coffee, and I smile at her mussed hair, her puffy eyes. She’s still wearing the robe I gave her, one emblazoned with my initials.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

She groans, sitting in Lara’s vacated seat and grabbing a bowl of oranges. “I still feel so sore and exhausted.”

“I know, a ghrá mo chroí .”

She raises an eyebrow as if surprised at the pet name. It just slipped out. I’m not very good at being stoic around Sutton, it turns out.

“I just want to go back to bed,” she whines, and I chuckle at her tone.

“You can, just a bit later,” I tell her, pouring her a cup of coffee and adding lots of cream, no sugar, just the way she likes it.

She takes it quickly, giving me a grateful look before she sips it.

“Why? Do we have something to do today other than picking up Ciara from my Mom’s and take her to school?”

I nod. “We’re going to go to the gun range after we drop her off.”

Sutton blanches. “The what?”

I sigh. “I can’t be with you every second, Sutton. I need you to be able to defend yourself when I’m not around.”

“I’ve never touched a gun in my life.”

“I know. That’s why we’re going to the range.”

I expect her to push back, knowing how she feels about my dangerous lifestyle, but she doesn’t.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I know you are just trying to protect me. And you’re right. I do need to know how to defend myself.”

I’m shocked at how quickly she’s agreeing to this, but I don’t complain.

“Can I get Ciara ready for school?”

Sutton chuckles. “Be my guest.”

I frown, confused. What’s so funny? She just shakes her head and takes her coffee back up to the room.

I walk into Ciara’s room and find her still on her stomach, snoring, so I shake her gently.

She groans and presses her face into the pillow.

“Not getting up.”

I chuckle. “ Mo órlaith , you have to. It’s time for school.”

“Nope.”

In the end, I have to physically lift her out of bed and sit her up.

She stares at me with green eyes, grumpy.

“Princesses shouldn’t have to get up early.” She pouts, and I bark out a laugh.

“I’ll be sure to inform the kingdom of that.”

I look around the room for a small suitcase and find a little pink one, opening it and looking at the contents.

This can’t be that hard. I can do this.

I grab a pink T-shirt and a pair of jeans and hold it up.

She shakes her head.

I hold up a dress and a pair of leggings.

She shakes her head.

We go through this about four more times before she finally settles on a pair of overalls and a green T-shirt.

“Green is my favorite color,” she says, and I’m glad she’s finally waking up and coming around.

My daughter is not a morning person. Much like her mother.

By the time she gets dressed, and I have the same problem with her shoes, Sutton knocks on the door.

“We’re gonna be late, mo stóirin . You better hurry.”

“Gray picked this outfit out,” she says, even though I absolutely didn’t.

Sutton chuckles. “It looks great, honey.”

She glances at me with a smug smile, and I blink at her. I’m sure I look frazzled and frustrated.

Ciara goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

“Jesus,” I mutter.

“You did a great job.”

“I did?"

“She usually screams and throws a tantrum.”

“My sweet princess? Never.” I crack a smile, running a hand through my hair.

It’d been wonderful, helping Ciara get ready, even though she’d been grumpy.

At least I was able to get her into something that matched, and spending time with her just made my heart swell with affection.

Even when she’s being a little contrary, she’s my little girl. I’m shocked that paternal feelings have happened so quickly, especially since I didn’t get to bond with her until now.

It’s like she was always mine, like I always knew.

Just like Sutton, it was love at first sight.

Ciara takes my hand when she comes out of the bathroom, and my heart flips over in my chest as she turns her small face up to mine, grinning.

“Let's go to school.”

Her determination makes me smile, and we all head to the car.

Ciara hums in the backseat while Sutton and I remain quiet. Ciara doesn’t seem to mind, and it’s a comfortable silence.

I walk Ciara to the door, and she turns to wave at me before heading into her classroom.

Back in the car, Sutton grins at me.

“You’re really taking to being a dad.”

“You think so?” My chest swells.

She nods. “If you managed to get her into anything resembling an outfit without a fight, she likes you a lot.”

I can’t help but smile as I drive toward the gun range.

Sutton bites her lip, looking around at the range.

I’ve brought in a briefcase with two handguns in it, and I pull one out, quickly putting it together. She watches me with curious eyes.

“You don’t need to know how to clean it, yet.” I chuckle, and she smiles.

“Just to shoot it, huh?”

I nod and hold it in my hand by the butt, letting it point toward the floor.

“Three rules. One: There’s no such thing as an unloaded gun. Even if you think it is.” I take her hand and place her finger on the safety. “Two: always have the safety on when you’re not actively using it.”

“And three?”

“Never point it at anything you don’t intend to kill.”

Sutton swallows visibly and slowly takes the gun from me, by the handle just as I handed it to her. She keeps it pointed at the ground, trembling only slightly, as I put together my own gun.

We’re already standing in front of the targets, and I place my gun down in the case and put her noise-canceling headphones on.

“Point at the target,” I tell her, and she nods, turning to do so. “Put your finger on the trigger.”

I chuckle at the awkward way she’s holding the gun and stand behind her. I use my thigh to spread her legs apart, taking her hand and placing it correctly on the gun.

“Don’t close one eye. I know it's tempting, but you’ll see better with both eyes.”

Sutton takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly through her nostrils.

“Good,” I murmur, keeping my hands on her hips. “Now, aim at the middle. If you have to shoot someone, try to do it in the torso. The head is too hard to hit for a beginner.”

She aims the gun slowly, and then takes in another deep breath.

“Good, a ghrá . Good. Slowly squeeze the trigger…”

She does as I say, startling slightly at the kick, but even given that, she hits it right in the torso.

“Be careful of the kickback,” I warn. “Now, squeeze the trigger again, try to hit the same spot.”

She shoots again, righting herself after the kick, and a second hole appears, right next to the first one.

“Perfect.” I kiss her temple. “Keep doing that, it’s a semi-automatic, so you’ve got more shots. Just keep trying to hit that first spot.

She does so until she runs out of bullets and starts dry-firing, and I grab her hand, putting the gun down and chuckling.

Sutton grins up at me. “I did good, didn’t I?”

I look down at the target—several shots, all in the same area, in a little row.

“You did amazing, a ghrá ,” I assure her, smiling.

“Let me see you shoot,” she insists, and I raise an eyebrow.

“All right.”

I place my legs apart, aiming the gun, and shoot four shots in the torso and two in the head in quick succession.

When I turn to look at Sutton, her eyes are half-lidded.

“That was hot,” she blurts out, and I laugh out loud.

“Glad you think so. It’s just practice. Now, let’s change out the magazine and go again.”

Sutton’s doing an amazing job, and I have to admit it’s sexy how well she’s handling this. I know it can be overwhelming, learning this kind of thing, but Sutton’s a natural.

Her shots get closer and closer together as we practice, and by the end, they’re all in a little circle, just the way I taught her.

She’s gotten more comfortable with the gun, so I show her how to take it apart.

“Make sure you always pop the chamber when you unload.” I don’t have to tell her to keep the gun away from Ciara. She knows to put it somewhere safe if it’s not on her person.

Sutton lets out a shaky breath. “My heart is racing.”

“I know." I grin. "Isn't it great?"

“Like being on a rollercoaster.”

“You love rollercoasters.”

“I do, but I don’t want to be on one every day.” She chuckles. She looks up at me, her smile fading. “I don’t want to have to shoot anyone, Gray.”

“Hopefully, you won’t have to. It’s just in case. For your protection.”

Sutton dismantles the gun just the way I showed her, and I can’t help beaming with pride.

If there was any doubt in my mind that I was in love with Sutton again, there isn’t any now. She’s great at taking instruction, and she’s a natural marksman, making more progress in one session than Declan had in five when he was young.

I hope she never has to use it, like I told her, but I’m glad that she can handle knowing how. She’s so strong and beautiful, and I hope against hope that we can find our way back to each other.

To be honest, I don’t know if I can lose her again.