Bittersweet (Redemption #3) - Jessica Prince Page 0,74

a step—“took it from him! And you think I’ll actually advocate for you? I hope you lose everything. I hope you’re left with absolutely nothing. It won’t even come close to what you two deserve for what you did to your own child, but at least it’ll be a start.”

I was done. I’d said everything I wanted to say, so I started back for my car, intent to never think about Cordelia and Whitman Rose again.

But she wasn’t finished. “Do you know why he left?” she yelled, all decorum thrown right out the window in the face of her desperation. “Do you know the truth?”

“Move away from my car, or I swear to God, I’ll run over you.”

“He had to leave because he almost killed a man!” My hand stopped on the door handle before I had a chance to pull it open, and sensing my hesitance, she hurried on. “It was the Army or prison, all because he couldn’t control his anger and nearly beat someone to death in a bar. That’s the kind of man he is. That’s the kind of man you’re allowing around your child. He’s dangerous, Shane! He’s going to hurt you, and he’s going to hurt that boy!”

Looking back up at her, I finally saw what Jensen had been forced to live with his entire life. I knew the kind of hell he’d gone through, but until that very moment, I never really understood the depths of it.

“You’re sick,” I whispered, shaking my head in amazement. “You’re really fucking sick. You need help.”

“It’s true! It’s all true. Just ask him!”

“Get the hell away from me, Cordelia. I’m not joking. Leave now, or I’m calling the police.”

Finally realizing she wasn’t going to get any help from me, she spun on her fancy shoes and stormed off.

I opened the back door with shaky hands and I buckled my boy into his booster seat, promising him that I was fine, even though I was far from it.

My entire body trembled on the drive home as I replayed her words over and over in my head a million times.

He almost killed a man.

He nearly beat someone to death.

He’s dangerous.

As soon as I was parked in my driveway, I yanked my phone from my purse and hit the button I needed. It rang three times in my ear before my aunt answered. “Hey there, honey pie. How’s it goin’?”

“Caro, I know it’s really last minute, but would you mind coming over and watching Brant for me right now? There’s something I need to do. It’s an emergency.”

Her answer was instant. “I’ll be there in ten.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Shane

This was the first time I’d set foot inside the offices of Elite Security since they opened up shop months ago. It was housed in an old brick building that had originally been opened as a steel work front by bootleggers to move moonshine during prohibition.

The exterior still had that cool-as-hell old-school industrial vibe, but the inside had been completely redone. The walls were exposed brick, and the pipes were visible along the ceiling, but the main floor had been cordoned off into separate offices and rooms with walls made of brick and glass. At any other time I would have thought it looked awesome, but at that very moment, I was too frantic to appreciate the badass design aesthetic.

My eyes scanned my surroundings as I started toward the open reception area right up front. The woman sitting behind the curved wooden desk looked up at me with a timid grin. “Hello. Can I help y—wait, ma’am. You can’t just go back there! You need an appointment!”

She scuttled after me as I rushed down a hallway with offices and conference rooms on both sides. I passed one, catching a glimpse of Gage out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t stop.

“Jensen.” I called out.

“Ma’am, please. You really can’t do this,” the receptionist insisted.

“Jensen!”

Laeth’s head popped out of a room on my right, and he mumbled, “Oh shit,” as soon as he spotted me. I sensed him and Gage behind me, following to see what was about to happen, but I didn’t pay either of them a bit of attention as I continued to shout Jensen’s name.

Finally, he stepped out of the last office on the left at the end of the hall. “What the fuck is going—Shane? What are you doing here?”

“Did you almost kill a man?”

“Fuck,” one of the guys hissed.

Jensen’s stormy gray eyes filled with panic as he took a