Rock Redemption (Rock Revenge Trilogy 3)

“Celeste, what the fuck are you doing?”

The ground seemed to tremble as if a tree had gone down beside him. Simon’s eyes snapped open to find Dolph’s sightless eyes staring right up at him. There was a small hole just shy of the center of his huge forehead.

Horror surged up out of Simon’s gut and he was afraid he’d hurl. He fell back on his ass, scrambling away from the body.

“Not Simon. That was never part of this deal. No part of this was to be Simon or his wife.” A dark-haired woman stood in the middle of the desolation and the dirt. She wore a dress in an oddly brilliant red. The land around them was so colorless and bland—even the grass didn’t hold green. And yet she was as fucking bright as a ruby and holding a small gun out in front of her. Her hair was stacked up in an intricate twist, her throat long and elegant. She was older, but there was an ageless beauty to her.

And she had the craziest fucking eyes he’d ever seen.

His eyes.

Jerry held his hands out to her, slowly walking toward her. “Celeste, darling—”

“Not Simon. Never Simon.” Her voice rose on the breeze and carried around the space in an echo. It was shrill and barely this side of sane.

Jesus.

The screech of tires dented the chaos in his brain.

The woman—his mother. It had to be his mother. Sweet Jesus, he looked so much like her it was jarring. Except for the crazy.

The gun didn’t even shake in her hand.

“Where’s Margo? Please.” He had no shame in the rawness of his words. “Please tell me she isn’t gone.”

“I’d never hurt you.” Celeste glanced over at him. The minute she looked away from Jerry, he started moving in on her. “You have to know that. I would never—will never.”

Simon gave Dolph’s body a wide berth and rose onto his knees. “Please.” He wanted to saw his tongue off, but he forced the word out of his mouth. “Mother, please.” Her face instantly softened.

“Did you call me Mother?” She blinked. Her eyes, so much like his, were unnaturally wide.

With madness? He couldn’t tell.

It didn’t matter if it meant there was some small hope.

There had to be.

“She’s dead. I had her killed myself. You stupid whore. This was supposed to be our ticket out of here.” Jerry made a grab for the gun and it went off again.

Simon jerked at the echoing bang. He collapsed onto his hands, the gravel digging deep into his skin. It didn’t matter. He watched the bloom of red on Jerry’s chest. Shock registered right before the anger. Jerry fell into his mother and the gun went off again and a third time.

This time, it was muffled, but it was no less horrifying.

His mother pushed Jerry off of her. A large hank of her inky hair dangled in front of her face. She pushed it back with a bloody hand and crawled toward Simon. “I would never hurt you. Ever.”

Simon’s throat was on fire. Bile rose and threatened to choke him. “Margo.”

Shouts and more cars screamed into the area. Aidan’s men. And the whirling blue and red lights.

God, no. Cops? There would be questions he couldn’t answer. They couldn’t answer.

Black-booted men swarmed around his mother.

Cops barely registered gunfire in this area. But today, they did? Why?

Simon sagged against the dirt. “Please.”

Celeste’s eyes darted around and she scrambled up. Still not saying a goddamn thing.