Page 60 of The Devil's Redemption

“I don’t know if he’ll evernotscare the shit out of me,” Sasha declares, finally walking over to me.

I pull her in for a hug.

“You’re in the clear now. I promise. He may be scary, but there’s nothing to fear from him any longer,” I assure her.

“Are you kidding?” Maggie asks. “He’s like a big teddy bear compared to my dad.”

“Don’t lethimhear you say that, or else he’ll drag you home to Gettysburg himself,” Hawk laughs.

Sasha joins in with light, still somewhat uncomfortable laughter. For the first time in too long, there’s something to laugh about. It will likely come back to bite us in the ass, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Until then, I want to keep that smile on Sasha’s face for as long as possible.

* * *

“So is this a surprise, or do I get to know where we’re headed? You know how I feel about surprises.”

We stayed in Maggie’s room for a little while longer before excusing ourselves about twenty minutes ago.

“I just want to take you back to your apartment. You can grab some more clothes and anything else you want or need. Grab it all if you want to. I’m happy to have you move into the clubhouse.”

She looks at me with mock irritation.

“Part-time, obviously.”

“Are you sure it’s safe? How do we know Jasper isn’t waiting in the bushes nearby or something?”

I take her head between my hands and focus on her eyes, intently.

“Whether Jasper is there or not, I’ve got you, little girl. But I think we’re safer in the light of day.”

She places her hands over mine and nods.

“Okay. I trust you.”

“You better.”

After laying a quick kiss on her pouty lips, I grab a gym bag and a backpack out of my closet before we vacate my room. She can use those to load up her things. Walking behind her, I quickly take my 9mm out of its holster and check that it’s fully loaded before securing it underneath my cut once again.

At the bottom of the steps, she turns to face me. I grab her chin and plant a kiss on her lips before taking her by the hand and leading her through the house toward the garage. Bon is in the kitchen making sandwiches, and I promise her we’ll come by and grab one as soon as we get back.

Once we’re on the road, I can practically hear Sasha thinking hard in the seat next to me.

“What’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours?”

“Huh? Oh…” she begins. “Actually, I was thinking about Michael.”

Oh.

“I’m sure the people at the morgue don’t feel like storing his body any longer. I should probably make arrangements to have him cremated soon.”

“All right. Are you okay calling, or do you want me to do it for you?”

“No, I can do it. But thank you for offering,” she smiles.

“Of course.”

She falls silent again, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to her about. Now is as good a time as any.

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