Page 118 of Give Me Redemption

I shrug, sniffing as I sit down on the arm of the sofa, propping my bare feet up onto the coffee table. Coasters go unused and ashes are sprinkled over the top. The rotating fan above feathers them across the table. This place is a mess.

“I’m not judging you. I haven’t been doing much better,” she says.

I lift a brow and rub under my nose before taking another hit.

“We were in a good place, ya know?” She shakes her head, bunching her brows together as she stares at the table. “I’d never been there. Never stepped foot in the basement. He was excited for me to see it. And even though Iknewwhat he was doing was illegal, I just let it be.”

“Because you love him,” I say. And that’s exactly why I’m having such a hard time.

Because I love Dalton.

Hopelessly love her.

Harrison’s eyes go back to me. She rolls them as she leans her head back and exhales, scanning them over the ceiling. “Yeah. I’m sick in love,” she spits.

I want to laugh, because damn, if that isn’t exactly how I feel.

I’m sick.

Love is ignoring all the signs you shouldn’t. It was right in front of my face this whole time. Dalton told me without telling me over and over. But I shook it all off.

Harrison stands, walking over to pour another glass of bourbon, and I wonder if that’s all she’s been doing.

“Bones came by to visit Bryce,” she tells me.

“Really?” I’m surprised. I thought for sure after everything that went down, Bryce wouldn’t be communicating with Danny “Bones” O’Brien anymore. Especially since Harrison has said she wanted Bryce to stay away from him.

Bones is this dark motherfucker. Bryce met him one night gambling in the basement. Harrison’s best friend, Claire, had a psycho for an ex-boyfriend. His name was Cain. He held the girls hostage at Claire’s place of work one night a while back. I was with Bryce when it all went down. My crazy-ass brother had paid Bones to get rid of Cain, but somehow he survived a slit throat.

Anyway, Bones showed up at the restaurant a little after we did. Bryce was fighting Cain. Bones walked in and shot Cain in the head like it was nothing, and that was that.

None of us have talked about it since.

It was fucking insane.

“What was that about?” I ask.

“He wants to buy Red and Bryce’s contacts.”

“You’re kidding? In exchange?” I ask, wondering what the deal is here.

There’s always a catch when you’re dealing with people like Bones. Bad men don’t become bad men for being nice and thinking of others. No. They always have an ulterior motive.

“For Bryce’s freedom,” she says. Bones wants to buy Red and Bryce’s contacts in exchange for getting Bryce out of this shit. It seems like Bryce is in more trouble than I thought. Man, I would have liked to have been there for that conversation. I know my brother. I know his anger issues. I can’t imagine that went down smoothly.

I look off for a moment, but then back at Harrison, scanning my eyes over her. I know how much Red means to him, how hard he worked to build that place up. It’s his life, and from the way she’s talking, I know what he’s thinking of doing.

“He won’t do it, will he?” I say.

She brings her glass to her mouth, her silence giving me the answer I already know.

“Damn, Harrison.” I exhale, rubbing my chin. This is rough. My brother loves that girl, but he’s devoted his life to Red. I can’t imagine this would be an easy choice for him.

Hell, I’m not sure what I would do if I was in his position.

And then it hits me again. I’m the reason he’s in this situation.

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Damn.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Your mom is at the apartment.”

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