Page 22 of Absolution

She sat on the couch and curled her legs up underneath her. I noticed her hands trembled.

“I went out with a friend. After she dropped me off, Gideon was already in the house waiting for me.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing really.”

I gaped at her when she didn’t continue. “What do you mean ‘nothing’?

“Exactly that. He told me how disappointed he was in that I testified against him. Other than that, nothing.”

God, I wish she fucking trusted me, because there was more. Gideon wasn’t going to send her warnings that he was getting out of prison, a placeshesent him, show up, and leave it at that. Until Gina trusted me, I wasn’t going to get more than that though. Which meant I had to accept her bullshit story for now.

There was a commotion outside, and then a pounding on the door.

“I’ll get it,” I said when she made to rise.

Making sure she settled back down I checked to see who it was. Opening the door, I stepped back and let Connor enter. Following on his heels was a stranger. His sandy blond hair was shaggy, and he appeared a couple years older than me. I assumed this was cop friend he’d been talking about.

Connor made a beeline straight for Gina and knelt in front of her. A jolt of envy pierced me when he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. I should have been the one offering her comfort, not him. I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but she shook her head in response. For a sadist, he was one of the gentlest people I knew.

He rose and turned to me. “Leo, this is Detective Daniel Webber. Webber, this is Leo Marshall. He’s one of the dungeon monitors at Eden.”

I shook the detective’s hand as he nodded in greeting. “I wish we’d met under better circumstances.”

“Me too.”

He stepped around me and spoke to Gina with a familiarity I wasn’t too happy with.

“Hey Gina.”

“Daniel.”

“Connor filled me in a little bit on what’s going on. He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“No, just scared me.”

“I’m sure. I found a report from about a week ago that you made saying Gideon had called and threatened you. I’m notifying my superior about what’s going on. A unit is going to try and find him and bring him in for questioning. It will help to get a restraining order.”

Gina sent him a look. “You know that’s only a piece of paper.”

Webber nodded. “That may be true, but at least now it’ll be on record that he illegally entered the premises.”

“I know. I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

“Legally, I can only do so much. But off the record? Get a gun, and if that mother fucker shows up again… put a bullet in him.”

I stared at the cop with a little more respect.

“You know you need protection, right?” Connor piped in.

Gina wrinkled her nose in that adorable way. “What do you mean?”

I stepped forward. “It means, you have a new bodyguard.”

Chapter 15

Gina

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