A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(44)

Grey turned to her then, hiding her from everyone’s eyes. “You’re okay?”

“Yes.”

He shook her shoulders slightly. “What were you thinking? He could have killed you.”

She shook her head, unable to explain what had been going on in her mind. To describe the numbness that was spreading through her body.

“Irelyn?” His hand gently cupped her chin, tilting her head up. “You called him Kevin. You knew him?”

She nodded slowly.

“Who was he?”

“My brother,” she whispered. “He was my brother.”





Chapter Eighteen





His hand on the small of her back, Grey gently ushered Irelyn into the apartment. She had been quiet since they’d left the theater. He knew she was in shock, exhausted and hurting, both physically and emotionally. He hadn’t pushed her. She needed gentleness and care, not questions.

She pulled away from him. “I need to take a shower.”

Intending to help her, he said, “All right,” and walked with her toward her bedroom.

Without looking at him, she said in a too-distant voice, “I can do it. I’d…like to be alone for a while.”

“Irelyn, look at me.”

She raised her gaze then, and he felt a punch to his gut. The depth of pain in her eyes clawed at him. She had saved his life tonight and in the process had killed the only family she had.

“I’m so sorry.” He had no other words he could say.

She nodded. “I know. I am, too.” Clearing her throat, she darted a look to her bedroom door. “I’ll be okay. Just need a moment alone.”

“I’ll make us some tea.”

She didn’t acknowledge his words, and he wasn’t even sure she’d heard him. Her main focus was getting behind those doors so she could be alone. Before she disappeared into her bedroom, he said, “Thank you for saving my life.”

The look she sent him spoke volumes, but her words almost brought him to his knees.

“I’d do it again if I had to.” She closed the door.

He took a step toward the door and then made himself stop. Hell yes, he wanted to follow her. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, let her cry in his arms. But he also knew how important control was for Irelyn. He would respect her privacy for now.

He wasn’t sure who needed to be held more, him or Irelyn. He could have so easily lost her tonight. She had stood there, motionless, watching as the shooter aimed directly at her. If Grey hadn’t called out, the bastard would have killed her. He had no doubt about that.

He still didn’t know how or why she thought the man was her brother, although he had seen a slight family resemblance, but it was obvious there had been no brotherly love for her.

Rubbing the tension at the back of his neck, Grey headed to the kitchen. While he prepared tea, he reviewed the night’s events. They sure as hell hadn’t gone down the way he had planned.

The assassin had waited until the movie ended. Grey had sat up front, alone, and waited. Apparently, the killer had been waiting, too. The man his people had caught and detained was no one other than a guy looking to see a movie for free. Little had he known that he had fallen into a trap set for an assassin. The guy had likely learned his lesson and wouldn’t be doing that again.

Since it had obviously been a justified shooting—Grey had three holes in his tuxedo jacket and some ugly bruises on his back as proof—the questions from the police had been routine. The knowledge that someone had tried to kill him already had gone a long way in shutting down suspicion of anything other than self-defense.

Grey had left Gallagher in charge of cleanup. He had wanted to get Irelyn out of there as soon as possible. Though her answers to the police had been coherent and precise, he had recognized that she had put herself somewhere else until she could be alone.

Liberally lacing both teas with sugar and Irelyn’s favorite whiskey, he carried two mugs to her room. He knocked, and after hearing her say, “Come in,” he opened the door.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, hair caught up in a messy knot. She wore no makeup and had on her favorite blue fuzzy robe. He found himself struck, as he often was, by her incredible, natural loveliness.

The droop of her mouth and her slumped shoulders told him something else. She was devastated. Though the heat of the shower had brought some color to her face, she was still too pale for his liking.

He handed her the cup of steaming tea, and then, pulling the chair from her vanity, he sat in front of her.

She stared down at the tea but didn’t drink it, and Grey figured he knew why. “It’s not drugged. Just added a bit of Irish to warm you.”

She nodded and took her first swallow.

He waited till she’d downed several sips. When she settled the mug on the bedside table, he took that as a cue.

“Feel better?”

“A little. Thank you.”

“Feel up to talking?”

“Yes. I guess I owe you an explanation. Several, actually.”

“I want to hear it all.” One particular question was hammering at his head and his heart, and he had to know. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t even know I had a brother.”

Coming from anyone else, that might have sounded strange. But he knew Irelyn’s history. What she had been through. Not knowing she had a brother was completely plausible.