Page 36 of Redemption

“Tyrant, why don’t you go have a conversation with Rouge. Keep it light at first, but she’s not going anywhere until this is resolved.”

“And once it is?” he asks, and I wonder if he’s actually caught feelings for her.

“Then, depending on how deep she’s in this, she can go anywhere that’s not here.”

With that he leaves my office, while I continue watch Rouge pull around to the side of the building and head inside, like it’s any other day.

“I’ll dump her cell, see what numbers I can pull,” Crasher says, standing to leave, but he hesitates as he chooses his words. “I know you didn’t ask, but I looked into Sloane. Besides a ticket or two, she’s clean. I’d imagine you know she lost a brother.”

“I do,” I reply, giving him a nod of thanks. While I like to think I can read people, it’s Crasher’s job to keep the MC safe even from people I take at face value.

“Her older brother, and a couple of her cousins have been picked up a time or two,” he says as an afterthought and I remember her comment from our time at the river. “They always get a slap on the wrist and some community service. Things get expunged down there pretty easily it seems.”

“How many?”

“Arrests, I’d say about …”

“No, cousins.”

“There’s thirteen, plus her two living brothers. She’s the only girl in the bunch—which explains how she took down Any the other day without having to think about it. That family of hers doesn’t seem like the type to mess around.” The grin on his face shows his appreciation of Sloane’s ability. “Sloane didn’t exactly learn to cat-fight, did she?”

I nod, my smile even wider than his. Once he closes the door, I sit back in my chair and look up the town she mentioned.

It’s not a short trip, but there are some interesting places to stop along the way. A big family like that won’t accept hearing secondhand things about their daughter’s man; I have no doubt Paul’s already gotten word back to them about me.

Once we take care of business up here, I’ll be taking her home. She’ll need some time with them to work through her pain, that’ll give them the opportunity to understand I’m not going anywhere.

*

“Hey, babe,” I quickly spit out when Sloane picks up the phone. “I got tied up with something, so Swann and Evon are going to pick you up.”

“I can just head to Pops if you’re to…”

“I want you here, Sloane,” I tell her, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Evon might fall even more in love with you if you suggest going to Sweet Temptations to get me some peppermint fudge.”

My second statement draws a laugh from her, easing any tension from my demand.

“I’ll think about it,” she responds. “Love ya.”

I grunt, not wanting to say anything in front of my audience. Their eyes are on me when I turn back around, the terror in Rouge’s are in stark contrast to the bored expression in Tyrant’s.

Smothering a smile at the hatchet job Tyrant did on the woman’s hair, I lock eyes with him before I continue. “Anything useful?”

“She’s lying to me, thinking I’ll go easy on her,” his low voice echoes ominously around the room as he yanks the rag out of her mouth.

“Please, it was just for her family party,” Rouge says, long streaks of eye makeup streak down her cheeks as she tries to convince me.

“Yeah? Do her grandparents ride hogs?” Holding up my phone up, I make a show of scrolling through it, before aiming the screen in her direction. “The cops have been out there for noise complaints in the past week. And it’s the first time you’ve helped her.”

I’m taking the chance that her tears are blurring her vision and she doesn’t actually see that I simply showed her a community report from the local sheriff's office. Tyrant knows me well enough that when I nod my head, he shifts the blade he’s resting on her shoulder to lightly slide it against the side of her neck.

Another sob escapes her, and she starts talking. “Please! I’m sorry. My brother owes them money and they started threatening me …”

“Who?” Tyrant asks, cutting her off.

“Tyre and the others,” she quickly replies, fingering the Wretched Rebels. “Any has been hooking up with him and Able since they prospected here. She had me bring her some of her things that she left behind when y’all kicked her out and a fewof them were there waiting for me. I didn’t tell them anything, even though they kept asking me to snoop around, so I had to run errands for them. They have me paying for all their food and stuff.”

“Do they have any other women out there?” I ask her, trying not to look too interested. “Or just the guys, Any, and her grandparents.”

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