“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That she’s falling for you.” Connor’s voice drops. “That for the first time since this nightmare started, she actually seems happy.”
The admission hits me like a brick to the chest. Because I’ve been falling for her too, and now I just got confirmation that our entire relationship is built on her father’s manipulation, lies, and betrayal.
“She has no idea any of this was orchestrated.”
Connor shakes his head. “None. She thinks she cracked that vault to protect me from the Tribunal. She has no clue Da was using the intelligence to leverage this exact marriage arrangement.”
“And you were just going to let her keep believing the lie?”
“I was going to let her be happy!” Connor yells. “Do you see her face when she talks about you now? Do you see how she’s changed? For the first time in her life, Tierney Blake isn’t angry at the world. She’s safe, she’s cared for, and she’s with a man who actually...” He stops.
“Who actually what?”
“Who actually loves her. Even if you won’t admit it yet.”
He’s not wrong. Somewhere along the way, protecting Tierney became more important than the mission. Her happiness became more important than my family’s expectations.
“She deserves the truth,” I say.
“The truth will destroy her.She’ll blame herself for being manipulated, blame you for being part of it, blame me for lying to her.” Connor scrambles to his feet. “And then what? She leaves, the marriage falls apart, and the Murphys comes for both of us anyway?”
“You can’t build a life on lies.”
“Can’t you? Look at her this morning. Tell me she wasn’t the happiest you’ve ever seen her.”
He’s right, and that makes it worse. This morning, Tierney looked at me like I was her choice, not her obligation. Like maybe we could have something real.
Connor nods, looking like a man facing execution. “Will you try to make her understand that I was trying to protect her?”
“I’ll try. But Tierney doesn’t forgive betrayal easily. And this is going to feel like the worst kind of betrayal. From both of us, and your da.”
I head for the door, my chest tight with dread. The same woman who looked at me this morning like I might be worth loving is going to learn that her entire life has been built on lies.
THREE HOURS LATER
Kingston weaves through darkened neighborhoods of huge estate homes out on eastern Long Island. A gated mansion finally comes into view. He lowers his window and stabs the button next to the intercom to announce our arrival.
The black wrought iron gates creak open. We pull into a driveway that leads to the mansion at the bottom of thehill. The place is dark except for a few lights on the main floor.
The front door opens before we have a chance to knock. A man in a dark suit wordlessly leads my brothers and I toward a large drawing room where two other men sit.
“Gentlemen,” the lead Tribunal member says, his Italian accent thick. “Thank you for coming. Kingston, it’s been awhile.”
Kingston shakes their hands and nods, a tight smile on his lips. I’m sure he’s thinking it hasn’t been long enough. Reign and I shake hands with him after Kingston.
“My name is Carlo Rossi and this is my associate, Giovanni Fiorentino. And we set this meeting to clarify our position on the Blake situation,” Carlo says.
He and Giovanni sit next to one another, leaving us to sit across from them.
My stomach clenches as I settle into the chair. “Which is?”
“We were never actively pursuing Connor Blake. The boy witnessed something minor, but nothing that warranted our intervention. Hardly worth our time,” Giovanni says.
Reign leans forward. “Then why all the threats? The surveillance?”
“What threats?” Confusion twists Carlo’s expression. “We’ve made no moves against the Blake family. Why would we waste resources on such small players?”
