Dirty Love (Dirty Girl Duet #2)(52)

I freeze in shock for several beats. “Are you serious?”

Creighton meets my gaze. “As serious as murder. Now you have to decide whether you can live with it. Life isn’t black and white, Greer. He protected you, and a dangerous man went to prison. What you do from here is up to you.”

This isn’t the response I expected from my brother. I thought he’d be chairing the railroad Cav out of town and preferably to prison committee.

A long sigh escapes my lips, and I press into both pounding temples with three fingers each. “I can’t believe you’d leave a decision like this in my hands. All I’ve done is f*ck up one thing after another.”

My brother’s expression turns even more serious. “If you think I’ve made all the right decisions, then I’m afraid you’ve got me on the wrong pedestal. You’re a smart woman, Greer. All this shit with Cav just tells me one thing—you’ve got no common sense when it comes to him because you’re so damn in love with him. How can I judge you for that? Whatever decision you make needs to be the right one for you. We’ll support you, no matter what.”

A knock on the door sounds before I can respond.

Cannon.

Creighton lets him in, and Holly and I glance at each other nervously. My brother doesn’t wait long enough for Cannon to step into the living room before he fires his question off.

“How long have you been feeding information to Dominic Casso about me, my family, and my businesses?”

Cannon’s eyes widen for only a fraction of a second before he recovers his composure. I expect a denial, but when he opens his mouth, it’s the truth that comes out.

“Since a year after you hired me.”

Oh my God.

Creighton’s fists clench; otherwise there’s no sign of emotion from him. “Why?”

“Because you’re my family, and I’d do anything to protect you, even make a deal with the devil.”

His words sound so much like Cav’s, I’m taken aback. I’d do anything to protect you.

“Are you still giving him information?” Creighton’s tone would make an infantry quake with fear.

“Yes.”

My brother’s jaw muscle ticks while he absorbs the answer. “You’re fired.”

Cannon’s face drains of color. “Crey—”

“I can’t have a leak in my own house. Not from you. Not to him.”

Cannon’s nostrils flare as he crosses his arms. “I’m not going to apologize. I did the right thing. He has connections you can’t imagine. We never would’ve gotten this far without—”

The words of doom. No one should ever intimate that my brother didn’t get to where he is on his own. I think Creighton believes he could part the Red Sea à la Moses through sheer force of will.

“I don’t want to hear it. Get out.”

Cannon’s mouth clamps shut. “If that’s what you want.” The words are spoken low from between gritted teeth.

Creighton nods, and Cannon turns to head for the door. He pauses before he leaves the room. “Don’t be as shortsighted as your brother.”

Right then, I know he’s aware of what Cav did to protect me. He probably relayed the information. My mind races with the possibilities.

What the hell am I going to do now?

We all hear the door shut, and Creighton looks like he’s going to crack molars with how hard his jaw is clenched. Holly, who had already dropped her pen, crosses the room to wrap her arms around him. “I’m so sorry.”

Clutching my bag tighter to my side, I head for the door. “I’m going to go work this out. I’m sorry too, Crey. I wish . . .”

I want to say I wish I’d never met Cav, but I can’t make the words come out. Because they’re not true. Because I love him.

But can I forgive him?





I’ve searched the city for her. Every place I think she might go. I don’t even know why I thought she might come here, but I got a ticket before they closed and rode the elevator up.

The Top of the Rock.

The place she waited for me for hours before giving up on me showing. What she doesn’t know is that I did come. I came to tell her good-bye, but I couldn’t say the words to her face. I was a coward.

I can still picture her . . .




The skirt of Greer’s black dress flapped in the wind. It was May, but still cold. She’d asked to meet me here, and I knew she wanted to use tonight to forget everything that had happened these last few days.

She stared out over the city, the city she might as well be a princess of. I knew before that I had no business being part of her life, other than as the man who watched over her and kept her out of harm’s way. Somehow, in those long hours of keeping watch, I felt like I knew her. But I was wrong. I didn’t know Greer until the day she sat down at my table and threw my world off-balance. I didn’t fall in love with her until she stole my heart out from under my guard.

I would lie, cheat, and kill for this woman. And I had. I would do anything to protect her.

Even cut myself out of her life.

My meeting with Dom this afternoon had sealed it. I was banished from the family for carrying out a hit without sanction. He gave me a deadline—be out of the city by midnight. As much as I wanted to ask Greer to run with me, I couldn’t do it. The future ahead of her was too bright for her to be dragged down into my mess of a life. But somehow, I would become a better man for her. One that would deserve her. I would find a way.