Vengeful Secret (The Burkes Mafia #3)

24. Gray

24

GRAY

That afternoon at the pool last week had been wonderful. Being with Ciara and Sutton around my family had been so great, in fact, that I want to introduce Ciara as my daughter officially.

Sutton’s been sleeping in my room, and I hope that’s something that doesn’t change.

I turn over, looking at the long line of her spine as she sleeps, the curve of her hip.

She looks so beautiful in the mornings, when I put my hand on her hip, and she slowly turns over, snuggling against me and groaning.

I chuckle. “It’s nearly noon, a ghrá .”

She blinks. “Is it?” She bolts upright in bed. “Ciara has probably been up for hours?—”

I put my hand on her shoulder, preventing her from getting up. “It’s okay. Lara and Marisol are both in the house, so we don’t have to worry.”

She bites her lip. “Are you sure they don't mind?"

“Are you serious? They love having kids in the house.”

She relaxes.

“It’s Sunday, you know,” I remind her.

“What’s Sunday?”

“Family dinner.”

Her eyes widen. “Do you want me to have dinner on family night? I could just eat in my room?—”

“Of course I want you to join family dinner.” I pause. “I also want to introduce Ciara as my daughter.”

Sutton lets out a long breath. “Do you think they’ll be angry with me?”

“No,” I say easily. “I think they’ll love you both.”

She smiles. “All right.”

She climbs on top of me, nestling her head against my neck, and we make love again before getting up for the day.

I’m starting to get used to Sutton and Ciara being in the house, and I hope that they stay forever, even after the threat is taken care of.

Ciara wants to go to the pool again, so Sutton takes her out while I get some work done.

I throw myself into it, wanting to get it over with so that I can introduce Ciara to my family officially.

I’m pretty sure Lara already suspects, but the rest of the family just thinks I’m dating a single mom. I don’t know how to tell them that I’ve been in love with Sutton for years, but they wouldn’t care, anyway. They accept everyone that I care about, and they always have. I’m beyond grateful for my family.

I peek my head in to check on Da, and Marisol is in the middle of helping him get dressed, putting his shirt on.

“We’re almost ready,” she says.

“ You all fuss over me too much. Especially you.” He looks over at Marisol with narrowed eyes, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips.

Marisol scoffs, laughing a little and quickly exiting the room, giving me and Da some privacy.

“I’ve got an announcement to make.”

Da raises an eyebrow.

“Do you, now?” His Irish brogue is more pronounced than usual, and I worry that he’s already tired from getting dressed. He has been insisting on dressing for meals every day. I suppose it’s his way of getting back some normalcy.

“Does this announcement have anything to do with the girl that you brought into the house?”

“Sort of.”

I’m bringing Ciara in to see Da now. He need to be the first I tell, and I need to give him some space to be angry or emotional. I’m not sure how this will go.

Besides, I’ve always come to Da first with everything.

“Wait here for a moment,” I say, and Da blinks up at me.

“Where am I going to go, son?”

I bark out a surprised laugh at his dark humor and head out into the hallway, where Sutton is picking at her clothes nervously and Ciara is bouncing around, holding her hand.

“I need to borrow our daughter for a few minutes.”

Sutton looks up at me with a tiny frown. “You do? Why?”

“I want to introduce her to Da.”

She swallows visibly. “I’ll wait outside.”

I want to tell her that she can come in, that we’ll do this together, but at the same time, I don’t want Da to end up angry and say something rude to her. I can handle his sometimes-sharp tongue, but Sutton can’t.

I nod, leaning down to kiss the tip of her nose, and the frown on her face turns into a weak smile.

Ciara looks up at me curiously. “Is it a surprise?”

“It is, mo órlaith . You’ll see.”

She tugs at my hand. “Then let’s go! I love surprises.”

I smile at Sutton, and then slowly take Ciara into Da’s room.

He looks up from where he’d been looking down at his hands, and his eyes widen.

“Hello, there,” he says in a low voice to Ciara.

Suddenly and uncharacteristically shy, Ciara hides behind my legs.

I feel a bit stupid, having not thought about all the machines scaring her.

“What’s your name, wee one?” Da asks, and Ciara peeks out from around me.

“Ciara. Ciara Liath McIntyre.”

“That’s an Irish name. I love Irish little girls,” he teases.

“You do? Is it because we’re related to leprechauns?”

Da bursts out laughing and glances at me, and I can tell by the look in his eyes he suspects just from looking at her.

She has a few Burke features, after all, her eyes, the way she tilts up her chin when she talks.

I clear my throat. “Ciara is my daughter.”

“Aye,” Da says, looking at me curiously but with no anger and not much shock on his face. “I figured as much.”

He turns his gaze back to Ciara before I can speak.

“That means I’m your grandda, wee one. Won’t you come and give me a kiss so I can meet you properly?”

Ciara shyly walks toward him, fisting her dress in her hands.

“Hello, Grandda,” she says quietly, and he smiles at her.

“Don’t be scared. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

She walks up and puts her hands on his knees hesitantly, and Da leans down to kiss her cheek. She giggles.

“Your cheek is tickling me.”

“Aye,” Da says with a laugh. “Need Marisol to give me a shave.”

Relief floods through me.

I didn’t realize how tense I was until my muscles begin to relax. One down, the rest of the family to go.

Da and Ciara talk for a bit about her favorite doll, Effie, and how much she loves knights and horses and princes, and then I send her back out to her mother to speak to Da alone.

She gets all the way to the door before sprinting back to throw her arms around Da, giving him a big hug before running back out of the room.

When Da looks at me, his green eyes have tears in them.

“I thought you might be angry,” I say quietly, and Da just raises an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to be angry? Are you angry, son?”

I shake my head. “Not anymore. She makes it hard to stay angry.”

“Your daughter, or your girl?”

She’s not exactly my girl is what I should say, but it doesn’t matter because she is, in my heart and soul.

I love her, and there’s no reason for Da not to know that even if Sutton and I aren’t officially back together.

“Both of them,” I admit with a smile.

“McIntyre, huh? Always knew you’d end up with an Irish gal.”

I chuckle. “It’s all I know.”

“Do I get to meet her, too?”

“In a minute.” I pause. “At dinner, I’d like to introduce her and Ciara to the family. As mine.”

“Of course, son. I know you want to shout it from the rooftops.”

I smile, my face heating up.

It’s true. I do want to shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone I know, but I’m afraid that might make Sutton and Ciara even bigger targets.

“How do I protect them?” I ask in a quiet voice, having a hard time keeping my emotions in check.

Da sighs heavily. “That’s the rub, boyo. Whoever you love is going to be a target. You just have to do everything you can to keep them safe.” He pauses. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

I tilt my head, looking at him curiously. “Do you think you made mistakes with Ma? And that’s why she died?”

“Aye,” Da says softly, and I frown.

“What happened to Ma wasn’t your fault, Da.”

“You don’t know that. You were just a kid when It happened.”

“I remember enough. You couldn’t keep her contained all the time. She wasn’t the kind of woman to stay home all the time, even if you asked her to.”

Da chuckles. “I guess you're right about that. Your mother had fire in her belly, real Irish blood.” He takes in a sharp breath. “I suppose it’s been enough years that I should forgive myself.”

I lean down and take his hand. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

Da squeezes my hand and wipes at his eyes. “All right. Enough mushy stuff. Introduce me to your girl.”

I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.

“I’ll bring her right in.”

I can’t wait for Da to meet her, for the whole family to know that those girls are mine.