Give Me a Reason (Redemption Hills 1)

Eden…Eden watched him like he was a treasure. Like every word out of his mouth was precious.

And fuck me if watching it wasn’t precious to me.

I roughed a hand over my face to pull myself out of that fantasy. One where I could deserve something more. One where I didn’t destroy the ones I loved most.

Gunshots.

Blood.

Loss after loss.

I sucked for a staggered breath as fear rushed. Bottled in my being. Dread sinking into my bloodstream.

A low, disbelieving chuckle rumbled to my side, and I swung my attention to Logan who caught me in the vicious act of trying not to spiral.

“Dude, you have literal fucking hearts in your eyes, all while looking like you’re about five seconds from packing up and running for the hills. Quite the accomplishment, if you’re asking me.”

“Wasn’t asking you,” I grunted, breathing out a heavy sigh when I moved to join him at the sink. He had the water turned to full blast as he rinsed the dishes, a buffer to hide the conversation we needed to have.

He gave a cynical shake of his head. “Even if I don’t say it out loud doesn’t mean it’s not true. Fact you’ve got a girl here says it all, anyway, doesn’t it?”

My past mistakes gripped me by the throat. Constricting. The lie I pushed around it tasted like dirt. “Just watching out for her until we figure out who was responsible for what went down last night.”

Logan scoffed. “Right, brother. Tell me you don’t believe the bullshit you’re trying to feed me. And while you’re at it, how about you fill me in on why we are watching her?”

He tilted his head in the direction where Eden was currently singing a song.

Her voice this soft, lush timbre that weaved itself way down deep.

“You know,” he continued, “the one who means absolutely nothing to you, even though she woke up in your bed and is currently chilling with Gage in the other room.”

I hadn’t had time to give him the low down. The only thing he’d gotten was a vague text late last night warning him to keep out an extra eye. That something went down at the club. By the time he got here with Gage this morning, I was already heading out the door. I’d asked him to stick around until I got back, and that I’d explain everything then.

Huffing through my fear and frustration, I started to load the dishes into the dishwasher like it might distract from the undeniable fact that our past had caught up to us.

“Think we’re in trouble, Logan.”

Logan stilled for a beat, then moved on to scraping another plate, putting on that casualness he wore like a brand. “And what kind of trouble might that be?”

My voice was a rough warning. “Someone slaughtered a pig and tossed it through Eden’s windshield.”

His body rocked with the severity before he shook his head and attempted to joke, “Wow, that sweet little thing pissed someone off that bad? Does she have some crazy-ass-stalker ex we’re going to have to take down? If she does, sign me up because that shit is messed up.”

My voice was grim. “Logan.” His name was a warning to prepare himself. “In the blood running down the side, there was a message. A message for me.”

Logan hesitated as he glanced my way, his brows lifted as he waited.

“Someone wrote in the blood, ‘Not even ghosts are immortal.’ Not a chance that shit was random.”

Logan froze, and I could physically see the dread race through his system. Way it slithered down his spine and twitched through his muscles. He just stood there, holding the plate under the spray of water as he fought to catch up to the implication. “You sure?”

“Clear as day. Someone knows we’re here.”

His throat bobbed as he let the plate slip into the sink. His hands pressed to the counter, and he dropped his head between his arms before he looked at me from the side. “Who is it?”

It was a hiss.

Old animosity.

New fears.

“I don’t know yet. Jud has some connections digging. We’ll find out. End this before it starts.”

Logan’s hands curled tighter onto the counter. “Before it starts? Sounds to me like it’s already started. If someone is here? Throwing threats? Sending messages like that? Someone wants to get messy.”

Question was who and why.

Apprehension bounced between us, a sticky awareness that slithered and crawled through the room.

Since last night, my mind had been back on the three assholes who’d been at the bar all those weeks ago. Way the one had left something itching in my consciousness, though I was sure I’d never seen the prick before.

Sultry laughter rang through the air, and my attention was drawn that way, to where Eden laughed while Gage jumped and flailed his arms in front of her, being a goof, girl waving her hands over her head, playing into whatever antics he was tossing her way.