Vengeful Secret (The Burkes Mafia #3)

27. Sutton

27

SUTTON

Gray puts Ciara to bed all by himself, and I wait out in the hallway, wanting them to have some time to bond.

“Are you tired?” he asks me when he walks back out, and I shake my head.

I’m actually pretty energized, especially after the raucous family dinner.

“Let’s do some target practice,” he suggests, and I raise an eyebrow.

“Now?”

“No time like the present,” he says, and I go into his room to grab my gun case.

He grabs a handgun out of the top of his closet.

“Where are we going to shoot?"

He laughs. “There’s a gun range on the grounds.”

Wow.

I think I’m getting used to the incredible nature of the Burke estate, but something always comes along to surprise me.

We get on the golf cart outside to ride there, and it’s better equipped than the gun range we went to earlier this week.

There are several different guns available, but I hold tight to the one in my case, feeling oddly attached to it.

I suppose I could use any gun, but this one is the one I first shot, and I’m kind of attached to it.

Gray has holstered his handgun, and he looks at me. “I’m breaking this one in.”

Do guns need to be broken in? That doesn’t sound right.

Gray laughs at my confusion. “It’s just getting more comfortable with it.”

Oh.

I feel dumb. That makes a lot more sense.

“I think I’ll stick with the one I’m already comfortable with.”

“I wouldn’t call it comfortable,” he says gently. “You’ve only practiced with it once.”

“I’m comfortable enough.” I start to put it together, just like the taught me, pointing it either at the floor or the ceiling.

“Good job, a ghrá ,” Gray murmurs, getting closer to me. He grins. “Bet you can’t hit that target in the head.”

“Bet I can.” I’m not exactly competitive, but a little competition can be fun.

Besides, Gray will beat me at this game, but at least I’ll learn some things.

“It’s nighttime, so it’s going to be more difficult to see. You never know if you’re going to be attacked day or night, though, so I want you prepared.”

I nod slowly, standing in front of the target as Gray helps me get positioned right.

“Make sure your legs are always spread. Hold the gun with two hands whenever you can. Good. Good.” Gray’s comments and praises make me feel like I can do anything.

I shoot at the head but miss completely, and I sigh heavily.

“I missed it by a mile.”

“That’s okay. We’re going to keep practicing. Did you keep your eyes open?”

I wince. “No, I closed one.”

“There you go. Try it again. Both eyes open. Legs spread. Both hands on the gun.”

I hold the gun with one hand and steady my aim with the other, firing off a couple of rounds. One misses, but one hits the target right on top of the head, near where a hairline would be on a real person.

“I did it!” I jump up and down, and Gray chuckles, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“Close enough, a ghrá . Try for the torso again. Tight circles, try to keep them all in the same area, remember?”

Gray steps next to me, focusing on his own target.

I breathe in slowly and breathe out through my nostrils, squeezing the trigger just like he taught me and hitting the torso in a wide circle.

Gray fires off three or four shots, and then presses the button to get the targets to come back to us.

He compares them, showing them to me.

His circle is much tighter and smaller, but at least I didn’t miss the target completely.

I really can’t see at night. Maybe I need glasses.

“You did good,” he praises, bringing me close and kissing the top of my head.

“Not as good as you,” I whine, even though I’m not really upset.

“Then let’s practice some more,” he says with a chuckle.

“I just can’t see well at night,” I admit.

He nods. “Let me get you a bigger, more solid target. If anyone comes after you, it’ll be a lot more solid than that piece of paper.”

He walks over and grabs a few cans, placing them on the railing one after the other. One is a paint can, and the others look like they used to contain food.

I tilt my head.

“Do you really think cans will be a better target?”

He laughs. “I’m not sure. That’s why we’re trying. It takes some trial and error to find out your strengths, a ghrá .”

“I guess so,” I mutter.

Part of me wants to just instantly be amazing at this, but I guess it just takes time.

He walks behind me. “Now. Try for the big one first, the paint can.”

I nod, squeezing my eyes shut for just a moment before popping them open again.

I let out a long breath, getting in the stance that Gray keeps putting me in and aiming the gun.

I squeeze the trigger like Gray taught me, and the paint can shows a shot clear in the middle.

I whoop, looking back toward Gray with the gun pointed at the ground.

“Good! That’s good, a ghrá . You hit it right in the center. That’s what you should be doing—aiming for the center. If you’re not accurate enough, aiming for the head won’t be enough. If you aim for the torso, I promise you that you’ll take them down.”

“Or at least slow them down,” I add, and Gray nods.

“That’s all you need. Just a moment to get yourself out of that situation.”

I nod, smiling at his praise.

He gestures back toward the cans. “Now, try again. Remember, aim for the center.”

I turn back, getting focused before I squeeze the trigger again in quick succession—once, twice, three times. I miss the fourth can entirely and huff out a frustrated breath.

I lower the gun, and Gray walks over to pick up the cans since they’ve been blown off the railing.

He whistles, showing me them one by one. “Right in the center, every one. You’re doing amazing, Sutton.”

“I missed the fourth one.” I look over at his row of cans, seeing that he hit all of them.

Gray sighs. “You’ve always been like that, focusing on what you don’t succeed at instead of what you do.”

My face heats up.

I guess I do focus more on my failures than my accomplishments.

“You’re right. You know, I used to think that you kept us a secret because you were ashamed of me.”

Gray stares at me. “Sutton, that’s crazy. I was so wild about you I couldn’t see straight. I just…”

“Didn’t want me to be a target. I know that. I knew it then, too, but something in me just kept saying it was just a fling, and you didn’t really like me.” I chuckle at my insecure younger self, but Gray isn’t laughing.

“I’d never be ashamed of you.” He walks toward me, pulling me into his arms.

I smile, leaning up on my tiptoes to brush my nose against his. “I know that.”

“I wanted to tell everyone in town that you were mine,” he mumbles.

“Yeah?” My heart swells with affection. “That why you always left marks all over me?”

“Mmhm. Wanted everyone to know who you belonged to.”

Pleasure rushes through me.

“I wanted everyone to know, too.”

He moves his hands to my arms, rubbing them up and down. Goosebumps have prickled along my flesh since it’s chilly out.

He takes off his jacket, putting it around my shoulders just like he did that first night we reconnected, and I don’t move away.

“Are you ready to go again?”

He sets up cans, more of them this time, and I find it a lot easier to hit them than the paper for some reason.

This time, I end up shooting all of them, and I jump up and down after placing the gun down.

Gray laughs. “Way to go, a ghrá !”

His supportive words make me feel like I can do anything, but Gray’s face sobers quickly. “Can I ask you something?”

I frown, looking up at him. “Of course you can. Anything.”

“Was there anyone else? Back then?”

My eyes widen. “What? No, of course not. Was there for you?”

Suddenly, my heart drops into my stomach.

What if there was someone else for him? What if there’s someone else now ?

He shakes his head fiercely. “Wasn’t room for anyone else.”

“For me, either,” I admit, and then frown. “Were there women after me? During our separation?”

He presses his lips together. “A couple.”

Jealousy rolls through me, but I can’t exactly be too angry. There were a few dates for me, but nothing sexual.

I can’t blame Gray for having a couple of flings. After all, I was the one who left.

“For you?”

I don't answer right away.

He steps closer to me, looking down at me with a serious expression.

“Give me names. Addresses,” he growls.

I know he’s joking, but his face doesn’t show it. I laugh.

“No one,” I confess, and his face relaxes. “I was too busy taking care of Ciara. Had a couple of dates, but nothing that led to the bedroom.”

Gray nods. “It was just a couple of one-night stands for me.”

I wince. “I don't really want details.”

Gray smiles, leaning down to kiss me passionately, making my knees go weak.

“You’ve always been the only one for me, Sutton. I was devastated when you left. I thought other women might help me feel better, but they never did,” he says once he pulls away, keeping his arms around my waist.

“Good. Because you’re always going to be the one for me.”

Gray searches my face, and then leans down to kiss me again.

“I think practice is over for tonight.”

We grab our things and drive the golf cart back toward the house with our fingers interlocked together.

I look up at the stars, picking out constellations and muttering them to Gray as he looks up here and there and smiles over at me.

It’s beautiful here. All of the grounds are well-kept and there’s just so many stars, even though we’re close to the city.

When he parks the golf cart, we get off and I walk slowly, taking in the sights, but Gray just keeps looking at me.

We make it back inside, and the house is dark, everyone tucked into their beds.

Gray keeps hold of my hand as he leads me back into the bedroom.

Gray removes his clothes, sliding naked into bed, and I watch him with wide eyes.

The curve of his Adonis belt, the six-pack abdomen, his broad back and shoulders—all of him makes me want to drool.

I undress and climb on top of him, and he chuckles, shifting so that his erection settles just between my legs.

I bite my lip, wrapping my fingers around him to guide him inside of me, and Gray shudders, taking hold of my hips.

Sometimes, it’s fast and rough with us, especially since we have Ciara just down the hallway, but tonight seems different. It seems more like the other night, after my attack.

It’s more like making love than just sex.

He thrusts up into me slowly, his fingers digging slightly into my skin, and instead of bouncing on top of him, I roll my hips in a steady rhythm, gasping as he glides against my sweet spot.

Gray grunts and puts his thumb on my clit, vibrating it back and forth until I’m crying out his name.

I come first, clenching around him, and then Gray flips me over, kissing along my neck, between my breasts.

He takes a nipple into his mouth and then the other, and my heart is pounding out of my chest, so slick between my legs it’s almost embarrassing.

“Gray,” I murmur. “Want you to come, too.”

“Not yet,” he says, slipping down my body, pressing his face against me and inhaling before lapping at my clit, shoving two fingers inside me.

I whine and moan as he pumps them slowly, too slowly.

I roll my hips up against his face, grinding myself against his tongue, and he moans against me.

“Fuck, you taste so good, a ghrá . Like heaven.”

I flush but keep rolling my hips, desperate to get to my peak again, feeling so good it’s almost criminal.

When he latches around my clit, pumping his fingers faster, I clench around them, coming a second time with a little cry and before I can come down, Gray is sliding back inside of me.

I would have screamed, but he presses his mouth against mine, shoving his tongue in my mouth, and it comes out a deep, guttural moan.

Gray moans into my mouth, kissing me over and over as he continues to pump in and out of me.

I’m rounding the edge of a third orgasm when he stutters and spills inside me, and I tip over the edge, clenching around him, milking him for every drop.

Gray moans and chuckles against my neck, where he’s bitten a mark while we were making love.

I didn’t even feel it, but when I run my fingers across it, I can feel his teeth marks.

He collapses on top of me, and I put my fingers through the sweaty hair at the nape of his neck.

“Your hair is getting long,” I comment idly, and Gray kisses the tip of my nose.

“You don’t like it? I’ll cut it.”

“No, no,” I say quickly. “I love it. Makes you look like a rebel.”

He laughs. “A rebel?”

“You know, like James Dean. Rebel without a cause and all that.”

“You like the bad boy look, huh?”

I smirk. “Always have.”

I cup his face and kiss him before he rolls off me, pulling out with a groan.

I settle into the bed as Gray pulls the covers over us, feeling exhausted deep down in my bones. It’s been such a long night.

Gray yawns, echoing my sentiments, and then he cuddles up next to me, putting his arm around my waist and spooning me.

I yawn since his is contagious.

“You like being little spoon.”

Gray chuckles. “I do, sometimes. Don’t tell anyone. But tonight, I don’t mind being big spoon.”

I close my eyes, and I’m out like a light.

I step out into the grounds from the terrace and realize that it’s pitch dark. Where’s Gray? Weren’t we just in bed? Wasn’t he just holding me?

I’m confused, and I’m unsure how I got here.

I take a few steps out on the veranda and look up at a sky full of stars.

“Sutton.”

I turn, and Gray stands behind me, smiling. I hurry toward him, craving something familiar, and then the sharp features of the man who almost took me morph on Gray’s face.

I scream and try to run, but he’s got ahold of my wrist, and he pulls me to him.

“I’ve got your little girl already,” he snarls. “Don’t scream, or I’ll cut her throat.”

I’m going to be taken. I open my mouth to scream again, but I can’t. I can’t scream. I can’t move.

He drags me away, and I don’t even fight.

I open my eyes, gasping and holding back a scream.

Gray is snoring lightly beside me, and I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself.

Sneaking out of bed and putting a robe around myself, I walk into the hallway, peering into my daughter’s room to make sure that she’s there and safe and sound.

Ciara’s fine, snoring just like her father, and I let out a little chuckle before shutting the door.

My breath finally starts coming easier, and I climb back into bed.

But the dream was so vivid. So plausible.

It’s still not over.

I can defend myself, Gray basically said so, but if I’m ever caught without my weapon…

I reach into the nightstand, finding the butt of the gun, and I hold it for a long moment, its heft making me feel better.

I don’t sleep another wink.