Page 78 of Veiled Vengeance

Oh my hell.

Keeping the chain lock in place, I open the door a couple of inches. “What do you want, Hayes?”

“Can we talk, please?”

Resisting his crystal blue eyes is impossible. They’re my kryptonite.

“I’m not going to change my mind.”

His dejected puppy look is a kick straight to the gut. “I know.”

I yield to his request and undo the chain lock, letting him inside, but I don’t move further into the apartment. I don’t want him to think this is a long visit.

He gives the gun in my hand a questioning look.

“I’m a single mom living in the city,” I explain. It’s not a lie, but not the whole truth.

He raises his brows, letting me know he sees right through my bullshit. But he doesn’t push the question further. He scans the room and asks, “Where’s August?”

“Playing with his trucks in his room. Thank you again for getting those for him.”

“Of course.” He gives me a small smile then turns more serious. “In Boston, you said we couldn’t be together because it wasn’t safe.”

“That’s right.”

“But Anthony Cole is dead. Pierce Murphy is long gone. Isn’t it safe now?”

Pinching my lips together, I think through my answer. “No, it’s not. I’m sorry.”

I wish I could say yes. I wish I was a normal young adult. I wish I didn’t have the thought of my upbringing looming over my head.

But one day, The Company will come for me. They’ll find out where I am and expect me to pay my dues, and I can’t let Hayes get on The Company’s radar. They’ll use and exploit him to get me to do what they want. I already had one psycho do that to my son. I can’t let that happen again.

Mother always said that to love is to show weakness. She made sure I learned my lesson over and over. If only she could see me now, with a son and a man I’m completely in love with.

“Why not?”

Sealing my heart behind a metal door, I prepare myself for this conversation. “There are other people who want to find me. Because of them, it’s not safe.”

“Who?” he insists.

“I can’t tell you.”

His jaw tightens in frustration. “Can’t, or won’t?”

“Can’t.”

Hayes runs his hands through his hair and paces back and forth for a moment. “You’re not the only one with secrets, you know.”

“I know.”

He’s getting flustered. He came here to convince me that we should stay together, but my mind is made up. If I never want The Company to find out about Hayes, then I need to create some distance.

My hands clasp behind my back to prevent myself from reaching for him, even though I’m desperate to fall in his arms. “I knew from the beginning that you were hiding something, but I decided that I didn’t need to know because I couldn’t share my own.”

“While we were in Boston, did you . . .”

“Yeah. I heard Kieran call you ‘Declan’ one night when I was looking for you.” I shrug.