Page 114 of Redeemed

After we’ve finished eating, Colton leaves to get Haven switched over to online classes—something I’m sure she’d have to be present for if it was anyone other than Colton Heverly. Xander has to leave for class, so it’s just me and Haven until I have to leave around eleven.

I retrieve a box from mine and Xander’s room before calling her up to the loft. I nod to the couch, and she sits, her eyes flicking between my face and the box.

“Since we couldn’t get your laptop from your dorm, we got you a new one. By the time you’re done setting it up, all the details for your online classes will probably be in your inbox.”

“Oh.” Haven takes the laptop, chewing on her lip as she does. “This is brand-new?”

“Yep.”

Eyes widening, she lets the box drop the few inches to her lap. “But that—that’s expensive. I can’t—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

She gapes at me. “Lucas,howam I not supposed to worry about this?”

With a shrug, I plop down next to her. “I dunno.”

“Are you going to make me pay you back for it? Is that your plan? Keep buying me things so I’m indebted to you indefinitely?”

“However fun that sounds, no, that’s not our plan. If we wanted to trap you here, we could, and all we’d need is some restraints and the cage upstairs.”

Watching the blood drain from Haven’s face is pretty satisfying, but it pisses me off, too. Again, I feel like I’ve gone back in time, and my brain can’t comprehend sitting on a couch next to Haven andnotbeing on good terms with her. So seeing her afraid hurts, too.

Still, it’s fucking stupid of me to expect Haven to let her guard down around us. She doesn’t have any reason to trust us. Hell, she straight up shouldn’t.

“You promise me this isn’t a trap?” Haven asks, her voice small.

“We promised to take care of you, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” she whispers.

“That’s all we’re doing. Making sure you’re taken care of. It’s just holding up our end of the deal.”

Haven eyes me suspiciously for a second longer than needed before nodding. “All right. Then… thank you.”

“Whatever. Now get that thing out of the box. It’ll take a while to set it up.”

She frowns. “Set it up?”

“Yeah, haven’t you—oh, right. Of course you haven’t.”

“Haven’t what?”

“Ever had a piece of tech that was brand-new. My guess is you had hand-me-downs from Athelia or some shit like that?”

“They weren’t all from Athelia,” she says defensively. “But… yeah.”

Sliding the lid off the box, I pull out the laptop. “Anything that’s brand-new usually needs to be configured in some way. It’ll probably need to update, then you’ll have to create an account, set your preferences, approve or deny some settings, et cetera.”

“That… sounds like a lot.”

Dammit.She needs the laptop, but I had no intention of spending the rest of the morning helping her. But what am I supposed to do? Let her set it up herself? She’ll probably fuck up all the settings, and then I’ll have to un-fuck it later.

I let out an annoyed sigh. “I’ll help you. Take this and plug it into the outlet, will you?”

She takes the cord I hand her and does exactly as I say. And fuck, it’s nice when she does what I tell her to without question. It’s the reminder I need that this deal isn’t one-sided.

“Good girl,” I say quietly when she sits back down.

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