Page 60 of Give Me Redemption

“It’s complicated,” I reply, uncrossing my arms and sliding my drawer out to grab my keys. I don’t make eye contact. I’m usually good at covering shit, but I’m tired, stressed, and it’s been a long ass day.

“Complicated?” he asks. “Wait.”

My eyes jump to him. I swallow. Please don’t say what you’re about to say.

Please don’t…

“You catching some kind of feelings for this guy?”

“Fuck you,” I say, brushing him off.

He stands up. “You are.” Like the Cheshire Cat himself, Monroe grins wickedly. “This is good,” he says, rubbing his hands together.

I eyeball him. “How is this good?”

“Because you never do this. You breathe work. It’s good you’re into someone.”

“Are we forgetting that someone is a case? That someone has a brother who I’m going to try to put in prison for doing illegal shit?”

“Is it that serious?”

“Yeah,” I say. “If what we have on him is true, then he’s big-time. He’ll go away for a while.”

“Damn, Dalton.” He rubs his face. “That sucks.”

“I know.” I look back at Davy’s office. “Why don’t you ask Davy if you can take over?”

He laughs. “I already have. I knew you didn’t want the case when he first gave it to you. He told me to fuck off.”

I blow out a huff of air. “This is the most complicated shit I’ve ever been in.”

“Yeah, I don’t envy you right now. But you know what you’ve got to do, right?”

I look over his face for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I have to take down his brother.”

“Yeah.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jace

Missed calls and unanswered texts. That’s what I’ve been dealing with for the past week. Well, I’ve had enough of that shit. I went to her house, but she didn’t answer the door. So here I am, standing outside of Hudson’s. Her car is in the parking lot and I see her through the window sitting beside a man.

He’s an older guy.

Dalton is a few years older than me, so maybe she decided she wanted an older guy. Fuck, I don’t know. He’s much older, though.

Shit, it might be her dad?

Am I ready to walk into that?

Meet her dad?

I scrub my face before I hit my smoke. I look like a creeper out here. Why won’t she just talk to me?

I mean, I know I stopped calling for those two weeks, but I was trying to get my shit together. Dealing with the fact my brother was lying about Mary, I needed to clear my head, so I went out to the ranch. But I’m back now. Things are better, so I need to talk to Dalton.

She’s the only friend I’ve got.