Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

6. Trent

SIX

TRENT

Out back, I lit a cigarette and leaned against the grimy building. I inhaled, filling my lungs full, one boot planted to the ground and the other to the wall.

I looked to the blackened sky smattered with stars.

Trying to get my shit together. To figure out just what the hell I thought I was doing. How I was supposed to maneuver this.

Was basically hiding out back of my own bar, for fuck’s sake.

But it was getting harder and harder figuring out how to be in Eden Murphy’s space and act like she hadn’t gotten under my skin. Like I wasn’t constantly watching her. Wanting something I most definitely shouldn’t want.

Last week, back on the first day of school when I’d discovered she was Gage’s teacher, I’d made the firm and fast decision that I had to draw a line. A clear-cut boundary, one in which eradicated that mesmerizing presence from my bar.

Knew it had to be done with the reaction that’d shaken down my insides when I’d pulled into the lot and saw her holding Gage’s hand.

A motherfuckin’ arrow straight to the heart.

Piercing.

From out of nowhere had come this longing that was pure insanity to acknowledge.

Might have known that I could never have it, that I’d ruin it, but I still hadn’t been able to shake the sense that I was looking on something right. Something good. What was missing.

Belief and beauty and hope.

Yup.

Straight fuckin’ stupidity.

That shit wasn’t in the cards for me.

I’d already fucked it all. Had committed too many wrongs. Most importantly, I couldn’t lose sight. Couldn’t jeopardize what I was living for by going after something I couldn’t have.

Only thing it’d be was another sin mounted on the others.

It didn’t help that after the first day of school Gage had climbed into the back of my car and chattered the whole ride home about the greatness that was Miss Murphy . How pretty she was. How she had to be the smartest teacher in the world. How he was certain he was her favorite but that he wouldn’t tell the other kids because he didn’t want them to be sad .

My damned chest had felt like it was going to implode as I’d glanced through the rearview and witnessed all that joy lit on his precious face.

It was the only thing that mattered.

Wasn’t a stretch to come to the resolution that I had to end things here at the club before it got messy. Boundaries set.

She was my kid’s teacher, and that was going to be the end of it.

So, I’d confronted her in the hall. I’d had every intention of cutting her loose, but then I’d been consumed all over again.

Hit with the urge to get closer.

Fingers itching to sink into something pure.

Drawn to that unique, unfound beauty.

Like a prick, I’d gone to tossing who she was in her face, not that I knew how to be much else. Thinking I was going to chase her away when the only thing I’d done was draw her closer.

Her body backed to the wall, her breaths shallow and her heart flying.

My dick steel and raging at my jeans.

Somehow, in the middle of it, we’d exposed ourselves, different boundaries set than the ones I’d imagined, and it’d ended with her thanking me for the job after I’d promoted her to server.

Yeah. Girl’d flipped that shit on me, hadn’t she?

Now I was left floundering.

Tiptoeing.

Pretending like night after night I wasn’t dying to trace my fingertips over every line of her body. Get lost in those autumn eyes and that honeyed flesh. Felt like I was losing my goddamned mind with how bad I wanted her.

No-name basis.

No connections.

No chance of a knife driven into my back.

Apparently, I needed that shit drilled into my brain.

Chuckling at my stupidity, I rocked my head back on the coarse brick and exhaled, blowing the smoke from my lungs and watching it disappear into the nothingness.

Right along with my common sense.

“Yo, brother.”

A grin slid to my mouth as the gruff voice hit from the side, and I shifted around to peer into the night. Jud’s giant frame emerged through the hazy shadows where he trudged up the walk between our establishments.

Both buildings had been abandoned on a single lot, neglected and crumbling. The roof over at his bike shop had been caving in, and the inside of the bar had been nothing but rotted wood and a mountain of trash.

A bonafide dumpster dive.

My brother and I had pooled our dirty money and vowed to do something clean. Make a change before we ended up behind bars or dead like everyone else we’d run with. Way we’d planned to do before everything had come to a gruesome, horrible end.

As hard as we might try, think we both knew we’d committed sins we could never fully leave behind. Those ghosts slipping through the cracks, haunting our hearts and threatening our lives.

Taking another long drag as he approached, I lifted my chin in welcome. “Where you been?”

Hadn’t seen the asshole in days. Dude always got wrapped up in his work. Fully tranced out as he gave old, rusted metal new life.

“Busy,” he grumbled before he gestured at me. “Can see someone else is slackin’ as usual,” he cracked, roughing a massive palm down his black beard.

Low laughter rolled out as I exhaled. “Nah. I’m just getting started, unlike someone else who looks like he’s packin’ it in for the day,” I tossed back.

He grunted. “Considering I’ve been neck deep in primer and paint for the last ten days, I think it’s warranted.”

“Big job, yeah?” I asked, drawing one last pull before I exhaled the smoke toward the sky and stubbed out the cigarette with the toe of my boot.

He heaved out a strained sigh. “Yup.”

I clapped him on the back. “Then we better get you inside and get some drinks in you.”

“Now you’re speaking my language.”

“Ah, I see what I’m good for.”

Jud chuckled and squeezed my shoulder, and I opened the heavy metal side door and we slipped by Milo, the bouncer who guarded the side door and lot.

The two of us moved down the hall that ran along the side of the bar, passing by the employee lounge, storage room, my office, and kitchen.

The whole way, I swore I could sense her. That honeyed goodness wafting through the air. Sweet, sweet temptation. Her spirit flooding the space.

Yeah. Needed to get that shit under lock and key if I hoped not to lose my ever-loving mind.

Jud and I made it to the end of the hall and ducked into the loud thrum of the main bar. Place was already packed, tonight’s band set to hit the stage in a half an hour. Lights strung from the second-floor ceiling cast the entire place in a hazy glow. Vibe was seductive and close to slow, though buzzing with the anticipation of getting freed. Of getting lost in the mayhem that was preparing to hit.

We made a beeline for the booth at the back that was permanently reserved for me and my guests.

Did my best not to look around. Not to seek her out.

Jud tossed himself into the left side of the booth, groaning low, his hulking body sagging as he scrubbed his hands over his face like he could polish himself out of the exhaustion.

Dude worked his fingers raw.

I slid in opposite him, waited for him to look up.

“Still worth it?” I asked when he did.

Because of me, we’d be hiding out in Redemption Hills for the rest of our lives.

Jud grunted. “You really still askin’ that question?”

“Yup.”

“Well, you should stop. Would do anything for that kid.” He stretched farther out in the booth, filling the whole thing. He jerked his chin toward me. “For you.”

My head shook as I fiddled with the edge of the beer list, peering across at my brother. “Just don’t want to hold you back.”

He scoffed. “Hold me back? You’re the one who made the sacrifice, Trent. One who did what you had to do. One who set us free. I’d make a fuckin’ million of them to pay you back.”

My insides coiled. A clash of anguish and hatred.

This retching, writhing mess of sins that would forever mar my soul.

“Not a debt, man. Other way around.”

“Bullshit,” he spat.

I pushed out a heavy sigh.

Jud leaned forward, his enormous frame pushed up against the table, his words gruff. “You gotta quit blaming yourself, man. Wasn’t your fault.”

“Wasn’t it?” I challenged.

“Nope.” He actually grinned. “Besides, you landed us where we belong. Kinda like it here, if I’m bein’ honest. The quiet life.”

My nod was slow, sure the cost of it was always going to be too high.

Then I watched his grin widen when he looked to his right. Out into the bar. I didn’t have to follow his gaze to know she was there. Thought I could actually sense her moving around the tables as she shadowed Leann through the club. Still in training and learning the ropes.

Could sense that lithe body swishing through the crowd.

Sense her spirit pulsing in little sparks that rippled through the dense, dank air.

Pinpricks prodded at my flesh.

Might have already known she was going to be there, but I looked anyway.

Taking her in as she weaved through the brimming crowd.

Bold but shy.

Confident but delicate.

Eden wore a black Absolution tank that served as our uniform, the thin material stretched tight over her slender curves, these sexy as fuck super short leather shorts that showed off her dancer’s legs, and a pair of over the knee high-heeled boots.

She’d look so fuckin’ good on the back of my bike.

Jolted at that. Struck by my stupidity. By this want I couldn’t shake.

I couldn’t go there.

I’d touch her. She’d let me. I knew she would. But she’d hate me in the end, no question about that. I’d taint her. Soil her. But God knew I was itching to get dirty.

Swore, I was a twisted fuck. Salivating at the mouth to tear into something sweet.

That thirst only intensified as she followed Leann over to our table, autumn eyes catching mine for one heated beat before she straightened and put on a professional face.

Considering we were at a biker bar, that only made her seem even more out of place.

All prickly and cute and making my dick twitch all over again.

“Why, hello there…if it isn’t my two favorite Lawsons,” Leann drawled in her southern accent.

She was so full of shit. Girl nearly creamed herself on the rare occasion that Logan made his way into the bar.

“Aww…now don’t go making me blush, darlin’,” Jud goaded her because he knew it, too.

I held my laughter.

Dude loved to mess with her.

She’d moved to California from Mississippi with the hopes of finding fame in Los Angeles. Apparently, it hadn’t panned out, and she’d found herself in Redemption Hills with the rest of us outcasts instead.

“Are you doing good?” Jud asked, sincere this time.

“I am now that you’re here.”

Jud grinned. “Charmer.”

“Only for you.” She touched his shoulder.

The girl definitely knew how to work a crowd. But she was sweet as hell and a good server, too, and she’d become a huge asset to the bar.

She gestured to Eden at her side, like I hadn’t noticed her standing there.

Nerves rode out on Eden’s warmth.

Girl tiptoeing, too.

“This is Eden, and she’s brand new here and helpin’ me out tonight,” Leann said.

Wasn’t a man to miss an opportunity, so I swung my attention to Eden, which didn’t take a whole lot of effort considering I kept sight on her from the corner of my eye, unable to focus anywhere else but on the girl who’d stolen every sense.

All trembling fierceness. Stark, gutting beauty.

Her attention jumped between Jud and me. Surprise before some kind of affected amusement played through her features, clearly coming to the realization that Jud and I were brothers.

She lifted her hand in a dainty wave. “Hello.”

Jud sat back farther in the booth. His eyes raked her like he was contemplating all the things he might do to that body. “Sure good to meet you, Eden. I’m Jud. This one’s brother.”

Rage flared.

The irrational kind.

Because right then, I wanted to beat my brother’s ass for no other reason than he was eye-fucking the girl.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Jud.”

“Why don’t you take this one? I think you’re ready,” Leann suggested, stepping back so Eden could take the lead.

It was basically the last test for a new server before they were let loose—serving me so I could judge if they were ready or if they weren’t going to work out at all.

I was in tune with my bar to know well enough Eden was handling it just fine, but still, she inhaled like she was preparing to run a race when she took a confident step forward.

Energy surged.

Could feel her heart beating manic in the space.

I attempted to swallow around the rocks in my throat. To sit still around this feeling in my gut that churned every time she got close.

I fisted my hands under the table, trying to keep it cool when she cast a timid glance at me before she lifted her head and cleared her throat. The way that pink tongue darted out to wet her lips nearly drove me crazy. “Welcome to Absolution. What can I get started for you tonight?”

“You have any suggestions?” Jud, the asshole.

“What do you like?” She angled her head. “You look like a beer guy to me.”

Jud laughed. “I think you’re on to me.”

“I think I might be.” Eden was all smiles. A tempting, tantalizing tease.

I itched.

She glanced my way like she was looking to see if she was doing it right.

Only we got locked there, girl staring and me staring right back.

That strange energy she emitted zapping me like a shock.

Finally, she jerked, clearing the roughness from her throat again, and turned back to Jud. She started to list off the beers we had on tap like she’d just spent the last five days cramming for a test.

Apparently, she and my son really would get along.

Jud picked his brew, and then she was turning that attention on me, her nerves firing all over the place, but she still had that sweet softness in her eyes. That thing that clearly neither of us understood. “And what can I get for you, Sir?”

Had to grit the words around the need. “Sage knows what I like.”

“But I don’t.” Her voice was doing that wispy, seductive thing, and…fuck, I wanted to fuck her.

It was true.

I wanted to strip her down and lay her out.

I forced a smirk. “Well, then, Miss Murphy, there’s a bottle of Macallan back there with my name on it. Like it neat.”

Warm, like those eyes. Like that mouth. Almost as good as I knew she would taste.

“Okay.” It was a breath. Like she was committing it to memory. This girl doing her best to sink right in.

“Would either of you like to see a food menu?” she asked, glancing between me and my brother.

“Right here, gorgeous.” Jud’s deep voice bolted through the connection. “This boy’s starvin’.”

She sent him a tender smile.

Stomach fisting, I drummed my fingertips on the table.

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we? I’ll be right back with your drinks and a menu so we can get you fed.”

“That’d be perfect, gorgeous,” Jud told her.

She smiled in relief, like she knew she was in the win before she glanced at Leann.

“That was good, sweetie. I think you’re ready to tackle the place.”

Eden gave a little nod of appreciation before she started to duck out, though she slowed when her gaze washed over me as she went.

Shy, sweet, curious.

Fuck me.

Something had shifted between us over the last week. This understanding. Like the girl got me. Saw me in a way she shouldn’t. Got the sense that maybe I was seeing her, too. That quiet ferocity that kept getting jammed with the sorrow that would swim through her eyes.

Or maybe it’d just been there all along and it was getting harder to ignore.

It was something I knew better than to entertain. Wanting to dig inside and discover who she was all while imprinting myself on that body.

Apparently knowing better didn’t matter a bit because I couldn’t stop from tracking her as she followed Leann back through the mess of tables and over to the spot at the bar where the servers handed their drink orders to the bartenders, Leann talking with her hands the whole way, giving her instructions.

My attention was glued on that body, on those golden waves that rolled down her back and caressed her slender shoulders, on her waist and the delicious curve of her ass.

A rough chuckle punched me from the side. I jerked back to face my brother. Jud sat there with a smug look riding his face, dark eyebrow arched.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?”

Gave him the most indifferent shrug I could find, asked it like it was obvious. “Training the new girl?”

Jud chuckled low. “Who you think you’re foolin’, brother? Know you better than you know yourself, and I haven’t seen you shit yourself over pussy since you were about fifteen.” His forehead pinched. “She doesn’t exactly give off the vibe that she fits in around here.”

“No shit,” I rumbled with a sigh. “But she needs the job, so I gave her a chance to prove herself.”

A shock of heavy laughter jolted from his chest, and he shook his head in straight disbelief. “She needs the job? Everyone who applies is in need of a job, brother. That is how that works, in case you missed the meanin’.” Every word was a jab.

“Let’s just clarify on what you really meant, yeah? Your dumb ass wanted her to have the job. You know… quick access. Think I can’t see the greed lighting in your eyes? Think I can’t tell you’re sitting there imagining exactly how you’re going to get her out of those clothes? Thought we agreed not to sleep with the help?”

He looked at me pointed even though he cracked a self-righteous grin.

The two of us had made the rule when we went into business—no dipping our dirty paws into the cookie jar.

These were our employees.

Totally fuckin’ off-limits.

I scowled. “Not even considering it.”

That time, Jud cackled. “Oh, Trent, you’re adorable when you lie.”

I frowned at him. “Girl’s not exactly my type.”

He pointed at me. “Which that, my friend, is exactly why you want her.”

Nah, it was more than that, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it.

“Doesn’t matter. Not gonna touch her. You can count on that.”

They were on their way back with our drinks, ripples of intensity coming off her, waves of it as she approached.

Jud and I sat back so Eden could set his beer and a menu in front of him. “There you go,” she murmured below her breath, then she turned to slide the glittering tumbler of scotch in my direction.

Slower, though. Like she was relishing in the second she got to be closer to me. Or maybe she was wary of getting too close.

Our gazes tangled.

Questions raged.

Confusion and greed.

“There you go, Mr. Lawson,” she whispered.

I reached out, our fingers brushing as I accepted it. “Thank you.”

Her nod was jerky, hand shaking as she drew it back, and she straightened herself out and pinned on a smile when she shifted her focus to Jud. “I’ll be right back to see what you’d like to eat.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be right here waitin’.” Jud was all burly charm. How the asshole pulled it off, I didn’t know.

She peeked at me and that was all it took for that crazy feeling to take hold of the air. A thrum, thrum, thrum in the midst of the music that played and the clamor that was taking to the stage as the band’s crew finished their set up.

Ripping herself away, Eden followed Leann to another table.

Couldn’t do anything but watch her go.

My smug-ass brother laughed.

“Hundred bucks you have her in your bed by the end of the month. Hell, I’d bet my fuckin’ share of Absolution.”

I scraped a frustrated hand over my face. “You might wanna retract that bet. She’s Gage’s kindergarten teacher.”

Surprise knocked through his features before he was laughing harder. “This just gets better and better.”

“Fuck off, man.”

“Look at you over there, squirmin’ in your seat.”

I started to spout off a response when I stilled, craning my ear and my eye over my shoulder when the atmosphere shifted.

When a disorder descended on my bar.

Could sense it.

Way the hairs at my nape shivered as a roll of corruption and lawlessness filled the room. Tendrils of it rushed through, winding and curling, spreading like a disease.

Supposed it was my past that left me so in tune. Fact I could sniff out trouble in an instant. Scent evil just as easily as I could scent the good.

Same as Jud could do.

We both took note as three guys wound their way through the masses and sat down at one of the only empty tables close to the sectioned off area in front of the stage.

Shady as fuck. Something malicious rolling from their skin.

My eyes roamed the faces in the bar, taking stock, landing on Kult who stood right inside the main doorway. He lifted his chin with a heads-up.

He’d picked it up, too.

I returned the gesture, letting him know I had it covered.

“You seen these pricks around?” Jud asked.

“Nope.”

He grunted a hard sound over the clamor of the band taking to the stage. They were local and played rock covers from the 70s to the 2000s. Performed most Monday nights, the crowd eating them up every single time.

My attention swung back to Eden. Fuckin’ sweet as sin Eden.

Little Temptress.

Moving through the crowd as she and Leann approached the new table.

Lead singer moved to the mic. Sound crackled through the speakers as the DJ killed his set and gave it over to the band. “Yo, Absolution. We’re Deep Under Cover, and we’re about to go deeper! Let’s go!”

They drove into one of those 80s songs that set off the entire bar.

An injection of chaos.

A dose of unruliness.

Almost everyone got to their feet, and a slew of people rushed to get out on the dance floor in front of the stage where they could completely let go.

This was when we started raking in the dough. When inhibitions were freed. When the chains of everyday life were loosed.

It got crazy busy for the servers and bartenders, too, which had me cringing all over again when Leann motioned for Eden to take the table herself so she could help some other customers.

The girl was clearly ready to stand on her own, but shit, not like this.

Eden nodded and moved for the table.

Nerves rushed. Neck tingling and hands twitching.

Wanted to go charging that way. Send another server over in lieu of her. Maybe get their order myself.

Stupid.

If the girl worked here, she needed to hold her own. I was the one who’d given her the chance and she was the one who wanted to take it.

But I didn’t think she had the first clue about the vileness that often came crawling through these doors. And I felt it strong.

A wave of that vulnerability came rushing out ahead of her as she strode for the table, all mixed up with that steely determination as she pasted on one of those smiles.

That was the problem…I wasn’t the only beast who took note. Wasn’t the only one who sensed her goodness.

Could feel the greed light up at the table.

A flashfire.

I had to swallow down the shock of protectiveness that nearly busted straight out of my body when the slimy, blond motherfucker sat back in his chair and smirked up in her direction. One with the greasy curls and tweaker grin.

Already could see it playing out in his demeanor—the dickbag loved taking what wasn’t his.

That overwhelming urge to gather her up and run her to safety took on a new form and shape.

My heart a thunder. A screaming boom.

She leaned in so she could hear whatever he said.

His tongue licked out an inch from her ear.

Fucker salivating at the mouth.

Girl had no clue he’d scented her like fresh, raw meat.

I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until she stepped away from them and moved back to the bar. The air that had been locked in my aching lungs wheezed out.

But it didn’t do much to take off the edge, though, considering the cunt chased her with his eyes as she went.

Jud laughed, but it wasn’t amused. He took a gulp from his beer. “Watch yourself, brother.”

But no—I wasn’t close to watching myself. I was watching her. The way she talked with the bartender and then organized their drinks on her tray once he’d made them. Then she was back to floating through the raving mass.

Beauty and light in the midst of bleakness.

An angel in the darkness.

She started to pass out their order, beers for the two dark-haired guys on either side, before she leaned farther over the tabletop so she could slide the blond prick his drink. Sick bastard took it as an invitation to hook his finger in the neck of her tank and pull it down to get a better look at those tits, like he had the right to touch what wasn’t his.

A growl rumbled in my chest, my knee bouncing a million miles a minute as rage jumped into my bloodstream.

She jerked back. Horrified shock curled her gorgeous face in revulsion. She moved to put space between them, but the piece of shit just grabbed her by the wrist, twisting it to the side like he thought she was the one who was out of bounds.

And that was it.

All I could take.

I was on my feet in a flash.

I flew across the room in a blaze of fury.

Not that I wouldn’t have kicked this fucker to the curb if he touched any of my girls this way. But it being Eden? Had every intention of ripping out his throat.

Before he knew I was coming, I had him by the back of the neck and was hauling him up.

Eden screamed as the scumbag’s chair toppled over and smashed against the floor. Fucker writhed and kicked and struggled to get free.

Jud was right behind me. He grabbed the brown-haired prick who squealed like a bitch, Kult right there in a breath taking down the other.

Asshole thrashed and flailed in the chokehold I had him in as I dragged him back and started wrangling him through the crowd. The band kept playing as I hauled him through the crush and toward the door.

Hands fisted in the back of his shirt, I threw him out.

Literally.

Tossed the skeeze to the pavement in front of everyone waiting in line just to prove a point.

He rolled a couple of feet before he came to a stop facedown. Fury on his face when he looked up, he licked the tiny droplet of blood from the cut at the side of his lip that he’d gotten somewhere along the way.

My hands curled into fists. Animosity glowered like red destruction, a haze in the murky night. Wanted to bust it wide open.

I leaned over him, up real close, my voice the poison that I wanted to dump down his throat. “You think you can come into my bar and touch one of my girls?”

“Fuck you, man,” he spat as he hopped onto his feet just as his crew was getting tossed out beside him. He swiped a violent hand over the cut on his face.

That’s right, bitch, let’s get violent.

Hands squeezed into fists, I silently begged it. The depravity taking over. The demons clawing through my spirit, screaming to take possession.

The stain of who I was.

Ghost.

It sloshed through my veins in a bout of aggression.

Wanted to beat this fucker bloody for the fact he was the one who’d proven my point.

Eden didn’t belong here.

Not in the mix of the corruption that crawled its way to our door.

Not in the mix of the iniquity that was me.

Absolution was nothing but an invitation for sin.

The girl was blameless. I felt it to my bones. Felt it at odds with my spirit.

Goodness.

Grace.

“Don’t want to see any of your faces on my property. Not ever again.” I pointed between them while I forced myself to remain rooted and not go after what I was thirsting for.

Jud and Kult came to take up my sides, three of us a seething wall of menace.

Blond prick smirked like it didn’t affect him a bit, beady blue eyes pinned on me as he cracked a grin. “Not a very nice way to treat paying customers, now is it?”

The tone of his words were mocking, but it was the way he was looking at me that left me unsettled. Something awry. Something more than a junkie prick who’d wandered in from off the streets.

“You’re no longer a paying customer , now, are you?” This from Jud. His muscles ticked and jumped, dude wanting to tear into the asshole every bit as much as I did.

Rage barely bridled.

Blond fucker laughed. Another mocking sound.

A disturbance rustled through my consciousness.

He cocked his head to the side. “You sure you wanna take that stance?”

I stepped forward, getting in his face, words lowered with the threat. “Get cocky, motherfucker. I’ve slit throats for much less.”

He leaned back, still wearing that smirk, like it was me who was the brunt of a joke. He angled his head to his friends. “Let’s go.”

They started to walk but not before the guy lifted his chin with a sneer when he said, “See you around.”

They spun and strode out into the lot, and we watched until they piled into a pickup truck, engine grumbling to life and the headlights cutting through the haze. They whipped out of their spot and gunned it when they hit the street.

“Fuck,” I hissed, whirling around and storming back inside, ignoring the eyes that were watching us from out front. Didn’t draw much of a crowd from inside since it wasn’t exactly rare for someone to get kicked from the bar.

There were plenty of assholes who got too handsy or unruly, and it was a rare night when some beefed up douches didn’t end up in a fistfight.

But this…

“Somethin’ doesn’t sit right.” Jud was at my side, angling in so I could hear him over the roar of music.

“Nope.”

“You’re sure you’ve never seen them before?”

“Positive.”

“Prick was glaring at you like he knew you.”

“I know.”

Dread curled in my chest as I shouldered through the mob, heart slamming at my ribs as I scanned the throng.

No sight of the girl.

Jud kept pace, words shards. “You think someone is looking for us? Old debt?”

Foreboding stirred the adrenaline into rage. How many enemies had we made over the years? “Don’t know. Fuckin’ hope not, but I think we both know better than to stop watching our backs.”

Jud exhaled a heavy sigh. “Ghosts don’t ever stay dead, do they?”

My chest tightened. “Not in our world, brother.”

Terror gripped me. Thought of my son getting in the middle of a crime I’d committed. A sin I’d perpetrated.

Ghost.

I could almost hear my piece-of-shit father hissing it in my ear. Branding me who he wanted me to be. Forming me into a monster.

And a monster I’d become.

Vicious.

Merciless.

Didn’t matter how far I ran, I could never outrun who I was or what I’d done. My debt was deep. Ugly and cruel. And I knew one day, I would have to pay.

Exact reason I knew better than giving into this feeling . The feeling that spurred me across the packed floor and sent me stalking down the hall. The feeling that this girl meant more than she should.

I tore into the employees’ lounge and locker room.

And there she was, sitting on the bench with Leann kneeling in front of her.

So goddamned beautiful.

So fuckin’ wrong in this place.

Knew it the second I’d seen her.

“You okay?” I demanded, moving her direction.

That severity surged.

Goodness and light.

Eden barely nodded, her throat trembling as she swallowed, though she was lifting that defiant chin again. “Yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Leann rubbed her knee. “I feel terrible. I should have taken that table. Had I been payin’ closer attention, I would have seen those guys were total jerks before I sent her over there.”

Eden forced a smile. “I told you it was fine. You don’t need to feel bad. I know it’s just a part of working at a bar.”

The growl that’d been building from the beginning ripped from my throat and cracked like thunder in the heated air.

“My exact fuckin’ point,” I spat.

Awkwardly, Leann stood, clearly getting the message that she needed to get gone. She wound around me, casting me a curious glance before she slipped out the door. I glanced behind me to see Jud hovering out in the hall, hands running through his long hair.

I turned back to Eden who’d stood on shaky legs. All sexy as fuck body and a halo of glowing light.

She backed away, seeing the rage coming off me in waves.

I moved forward.

Unable to stop before she was pressed against the wall of lockers. She hit the metal with a thud, her breath heaving from her lungs and caressing over me.

My dick jumped.

“Assholes are gone,” I grunted around the rage. “Tossed them and they won’t be coming back.”

She nodded, her words a forced, jagged tease. “How am I not surprised by that?”

“Fuck…I’m sorry.” Wasn’t good at apologizing, but this…

She shook her head. “For what?”

My insides curled. “I let that prick touch you.”

Or maybe I was just apologizing for the fact I wanted to curl my hands around her waist in possession.

Taint this girl with the darkness that writhed in my soul.

Let her light in for a minute.

Soothe the ache.

Knew she could.

Autumn eyes blinked slowly, taking in my face like it was she who was trying to make things right. “It honestly wasn’t a big deal.”

I lifted her hand, fury igniting all over again when I saw the red ring around her wrist. “Bullshit.”

She trembled.

My mouth watered and my blood drummed.

She straightened herself out like she hadn’t been affected, yanked her hand free, and put on that ferocious facade. Kind I knew well. Kind that promised you’d do anything to make it. “It’s fine, Mr. Lawson, I’m completely fine.” She angled herself so she could slip out from where I had her pinned. “I need to get back to work.”

She started for the door.

I choked out a sound of disbelief as I whirled around. “Are you kidding me? You’re done. No chance I’m letting you back on that floor.”

This time, Eden laughed an offended sound as she swiveled to march back in my direction.

Stealing my breath.

Rocking my sanity.

Shooting daggers as she got up close to my face.

“You hired me, Mr. Lawson, now let me do my job.”

With that, she spun and stormed out into the hall, leaving me standing there gaping at the empty doorway.

What the actual fuck?

I started to follow her into the hall, only to have Jud step out in front of me from where he was hidden in the shadows, smirk on his face as he gave her escape. When her footsteps receded, he cocked his head. “Not gonna touch her, huh?”

Had to keep myself from shoving him against the chest.

“Nope,” I spouted.

“Come now, Trent, tell me your tiny dick isn’t hard as steel right now. Now that’s some sweet temptation right there.”

Little Temptress.

And I was just the fool who might get lost in her siren’s song.