All Chapters of Dirty Little secrets : Chapter 161 - Chapter 169

Chapter 161 Daniel.I got up from the chair when the sky turned light gray. Ivy still sat on the couch with the blanket around her. Her eyes were open. She watched me walk to the kitchen.I filled the coffee pot again. The water ran loud in the quiet house. I put four slices of bread in the toaster. The smell of coffee and toast filled the small kitchen. I poured two cups. One for me. One for her. Black for me. A little sugar in hers because I did not know how she took it.She stood up and walked over. The blanket stayed wrapped tight around her shoulders. She sat at the small kitchen table. Her hair was messy. The bruises on her neck looked darker in the morning light. She did not try to hide them.I set the cup in front of her. She reached for it. Our fingers touched on the handle. Warm skin against warm skin. We both felt it. We both looked at the place where our hands met. Neither of us said a word about it. She pulled the cup closer. I pulled my hand back.I sat across from her

Chapter 163 Daniel She was quiet for another stretch. I felt the last of the tremor in her body ease under my arm. She was still not okay. She was still carrying every second of last night. But she was leaning into me after I had said no, and that felt like the first real piece of trust she had given anyone in a long time.“I believe you,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I would. Not when you stopped. But I do.”I tightened my arm just enough so she would feel it. “Good. Hold on to that. We’re going to need it.”We sat like that while the house stayed quiet around us. I could hear the old floors settling and the faint sound of the refrigerator in the kitchen and nothing else. No footsteps yet from the guest room. No phone ringing. Just the two of us and the weight of everything that still had to happen before the day was over.I started talking again because the silence was getting heavy and I needed her to stay with me in the present instead of sliding back into the locked room.“Wh

DanielJade went down on her knees right beside the bed, her fingers clawing at the quilt like she was trying to pull the whole mattress to the floor with her. Her chest heaved in these horrible, short bursts that sounded like dry coughing, only there was no air coming back out. Her mouth stayed wide open, her eyes locked on nothing, completely blanked out from pure terror. The sight of her spiraling hit Ivy like a physical blow. Ivy dropped straight down onto her knees in front of her sister, grabbing Jade by the shoulders, but her own hands were shaking so hard she could barely hold on.My phone vibrated in my palm before I could even take two steps toward them. The screen lit up with Morales’s caller ID. I swiped the green button, shoved the phone against my ear, and clamped my other hand over Jade’s shoulder to ground her."Morales, tell me you have a unit already rolling to my street," I said straight into the mic, not even letting her open her mouth first."Daniel, stay calm an

Chapter 167 Daniel I got everyone outside the front door the way we planned. Ivy had Jade’s hand locked in hers. Their mother stayed half a step behind them like she still thought she could shield both girls with her body if something came at them. The morning light hit hard after the dim house. Two marked cruisers sat at the curb with their lights still turning. I expected Morales to step up, take control, and move us out clean.She did not look relieved when she saw me. She looked alarmed. Her eyes cut from my face to the girls and then straight past me to the street like she was counting threats I had not seen yet.Before I could ask what was wrong she closed the distance fast and spoke low enough that only I could hear it.“Get them back inside. Now.”I did not question her. I turned my head just enough to check the two patrol cars and the men standing by them. That was when it hit me. The officers who arrived were not the deputies Morales normally worked with. I knew most of th

Chapter 169JaxBy the time I reached Daniel’s house, I had been awake for more than twenty hours, and I was running on coffee, anger, and the memory of Ivy’s voice on the phone. She had sounded scared, and Ivy was not the kind of person who scared easily. The two police officers outside the house only made things worse. One stood near the gate while the other remained inside the car, both of them watching the house like they were waiting for something to happen.I got out of the car and walked toward the gate. The officer standing there immediately stepped in front of me. “Can I help you?” he asked. “Ivy called me,” I said. His eyes moved toward the house before coming back to me. “Who are you?” “Jax.” “Jax what?” I stared at him. “Just Jax. She knows who I am.” He didn’t look convinced. “Are you family?” “No.” “Then you can’t go inside.” I glanced at the house. “She called me because she’s in danger. I’m going inside.” His hand moved toward his radio, but before he could say anythin