Page 10 of Ruthless Redemption

After what felt like forever he finally broke his silence. “You need to get cleaned up and get dressed.”

“Excuse me?” That was not the reaction I’d been hoping for. We needed to talk. Hell, I needed to make him understand what I really meant. Hate wasn’t the right word when it came to him. Not even close.

He nodded toward the window. “The sun is about to break the horizon. The club will be ready to leave and we’ve got to be ready. We’re going with them.”

I scrambled to a sitting position behind him uncaring that I was naked and a mess. “Going where?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of this although getting away from here sounded like a damned good idea anyway.

“Las Vegas. The club laid bait for your father that he chose to let someone else take. Going to him is apparently plan B.”

And the hits kept on coming. I knew down to the pit aching in my stomach what bait he didn’t take. “Me working in the gambling club was a farce, wasn’t it? A means to an end. It had absolutely nothing to do with JD wanting to help me get back on my feet.”

“JD’s motivations are always a little murky. He likes to keep his plans to himself. Does it really matter?”

I thought for a moment and figured at this point it really didn’t. I was determined to get out of my cabin and that gave JD an opportunity.

“I guess not. Although I would have preferred knowing exactly what I was getting into.

Houston nodded. “Agreed. Although I’m not sure he’ll ever share more than he wants to. What matters now though, is finding both Marco and your father and putting a bullet between their eyes. I’m sick of playing games. I just want to get the job done and move on. Nothing is going to be right until then.”

I pulled farther away until my back was against the far wall, my knees tucked under my chin. Making my father pay was high on my agenda as well. But was I truly prepared for his death? My only living relative remaining?

I had stitches on the side of my head and fucked up emotions that said yes. But a lifetime of childhood memories that gave me pause…

Marco on the other hand—I’d pull his trigger myself. Hate boiled in my stomach like acid. That son of a bitch would get no mercy.

Chapter Five

Houston

Watching Izzy attempt to shrink into the wall of his bedroom haunted Houston as they started their two-day ride to Las Vegas. Not even her arms wrapped around his waist or her warmth pressed against his back removed the chill of her fear or the hatred that had permeated the room.

He should have seen it coming. Between the trauma she endured and his disappearance, she had every right to all the emotions that plagued her. Unfortunately, it made him squirm with guilt.

It wasn’t the first time he’d left thinking he was doing the right thing. As memories of the immediate days following his mother’s death swamped him, he remembered well the desperation in Axel’s voice when he all but begged him not to leave like that.

Guilt was a funny thing though. It did not bring out his best qualities as he laid the blame of his mother’s death not only at his father’s feet, but at JD’s and even Axel’s as well.

His stomach twisted. He’d never full understood the love triangle that eroded his parent’s lives. But his delay in arriving in time to save his mother was a direct result of letting Axel draw him into a three-way with him and his girl.

No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t a kid anymore and he had no business laying that shit on anyone but the man directly responsible for his action. Him.

God, he needed a fucking drink.

Even the familiar roar of his bike as it ate the miles between him and his quarry couldn’t soothe the emotions churning inside him.

Izzy love-hated him.

Axel didn’t trust him.

JD kept watching him.

Then there was the matter of his own father that he should probably consider. He’d gone to jail for manslaughter, but because of his past criminal record his sentence had been for the maximum amount of time with no chance for parole.

It had been ten years since he’d looked his father in the eye and told him that he would never forgive him. Now that was hate. It was hard to fathom that what Izzy felt for him could come even close to that kind of loathing. If she truly understood that she would never let him touch her.

Usually he took the time spent on his bike as a chance to clear his head or work through his problems, but none of that was working for him today. As the early morning sunshine struggled to peek through a mass of clouds, he only saw darkness coming instead of hope.

How maudlin of him. He rolled his eyes. This kind of inner reflection was a fucking joke. There were no clean cut answers to any of the shit he found himself in. Every problem he faced would have to be dealt with head-on and likely in an ugly fashion.

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