Page 144 of Mason

“Because I’m not here for Mason. Or Shelby. I’m here for the men above David Eddy. The real monsters. And I’m not letting red tape or blood trails fuck up my shot at cutting off the head of this snake.”

I take a step back, adjust my coat.

“I’ll keep Mason out of it,” I say. “But tell him to stay out of my way. I’m not running interference forever.”

Lucky snorts. “He’s not great at staying out of things.”

“Neither am I.”

I turn for the door, but pause before leaving.

“One more thing,” I add. “If Shelby suddenly remembers anything—make sure she develops amnesia.”

After a beat, he exhales. “You know, Sax, for a Fed, you sure do wade in some murky fucking waters.”

I don’t answer, because I don’t have to.

We’re all playing the same game now.

We’re just lying about which team we’re on.

Mason Ironside?

I’ll make sure he’s safe, because he’s more use to me on the outside than he is in federal prison.

But me?

I just crossed a fucking line.

And I don’t know if there’s any coming back from that.

39

MASON

Ican’t sit still.

I’m pacing the length of the kitchen like a dog ready to bite. Every breath I take tastes like ash. Every second that ticks by without her talking to me, letting me in, letting mehelp—it feels like acid under my skin.

She’s right fucking there. Just across the damn lawn. But she might as well be in another country.

I get it. She’s traumatized. In pain. Stitched up and hollowed out. I know what she’s been through is more than most people could handle.

But that doesn’t mean I have tolikebeing shut out.

Because all I want—all I’ve wanted since the second I found her bleeding and broken—is to take some of the weight off her. To carry the goddamn burden if she won’t let me carry her.

But she won’t let me touch any of it.

Not her pain. Not her past.

And it’s fuckingkillingme.

The sound of my buzzer pulls me out of the spiral.

It’s Lucky. And Clay.

The kid looks like shit—pale, jittery, dark circles under his eyes like he’s been running on adrenaline only and hasn’t slept in a month. I know he feels guilty over what happened with his sister, and I get it. I do. He didn’t go out intending to do something that would put his sister at death’s door, but that’s where she ended up anyway. And I can only imagine that the guilt is killing him.

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