Page 62 of Mason

David Eddy was a man who always got what he wanted.

Handed promotions. Given authority. Granted every advantage on a silver fucking platter. He walked through life like he was untouchable, like the rules bent to his will.

But then he met Shelby Monroe.

And the woman wrecked him.

She told him no—and meant it. She fought back. She didn’t let him wear her down, didn’t let his persistence erode her defenses the way it worked on others. She got out, and she stayed out.

And that? That shattered him.

Because in David Eddy’s world, no one leaves him.

He leaves them.

But no one dares to walk away from him first.

And that curvy redhead?

She didn’t just leave—she demolished him.

Shelby and Clay’s house was always going to be collateral, the perfect smokescreen to shift the attention where I need it to go. To make sure all the evidence leadsawayfrom her. Because even though I had orders to leave her alone for all those years, I never really did.

Some part of me had still wanted to protect her.

And yet, here I am, setting fire to her life.

Because she doesn’t deserve what’s coming.

Not the weight of it. Not the judgment. Not the cold steel of a system that never once protected her when it actually mattered.

If the hierarchy finds out the truth—that it was Shelby who brought down David Eddy—they’ll bury her without hesitation. They'll make an example of her. A girl like Shelby, caught in the gears of their machine? She wouldn’t survive it.

And maybe the law would call it justice. Maybe the files would call it homicide. But I call it something else entirely.

A reckoning.

He had it coming.

I’ve seen the evidence.

The mental bruises, the fear in her eyes, the way she still looks over her back anytime she gets into her car.

I know the kind of man David Eddy was when no one was watching.

I know the kind of woman Shelby became because of it—quiet, resilient, carrying years of pain in her spine like it was stitched there on purpose.

So no, I won’t hand her over.

I won’t let them put cuffs on her like she’s the villain in this story.

Because if this world has any balance left in it, Shelby Monroe has already paid her debt in full.

And if covering for her means crossing the line?

Then I’ll cross it.

Gladly.

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