Page 34 of The Devil's Redemption

Now she’s the one flashing me a look of annoyance.

“Mentally and emotionally? I feel…” she pauses, back to fiddling with her fingernails.

I close the distance between us and sit next to her on the bed. Hooking my finger under her chin, I lift her face to meet mine. I silently plead with her to continue.

“I feel like I’ll never be okay again.”

Wrapping her in my arms, I hold her as tightly as I can without hurting her. She exhales into the hug as though she’s been craving my touch and can finally breathe now that she has it. Pushing herself away slightly, she latches onto my stare.

“Will you do something for me?” she begins.

“I’ll do anything for you, little girl.”

“Can you please ask Hawk if you can take me home?”

She notices the worry in my stare immediately.

“I want you to come with me. I’m not trying to get away from you. I promise. I just think that a couple of nights in my own bed will do me some good.”

I search her face to make sure she’s being truthful with me. That she’s not going to try and turn this around again and give me thewe’re no good for each otherbullshit. We’re way fucking past that point. At the same time, I’m surprised she actually wants to go home.

“Are you sure, Sasha? Do you think you’ll be able to go back there? To face the reminder of what happened as well as the reminder of Michael?”

The look on her face tells me that she didn’t fully consider all of this in her insistence to get home. I think she’s just hell-bent on getting far away from the clubhouse because that’s all she’s ever wanted to do.

“As long as you’re there, I’ll be able to get through anything.”

The way her eyes pierce through mine, I know she didn’t say that just because she thinks it’s what I wanted to hear. My chest swells with pride at my girl. As always, her strength shocks me.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him.”

Her eyes close with relief when I give her the answer she’s looking for. Placing my hand on her cheek, she practically melts into it.

“Thank you,” she breathes.

“Can you do something for me now?”

Her eyes reopen, and her previous stare darkens with worry.

“Stone expressed interest in coming to speak with you. Can you allow him five minutes of your time?”

It kills me how quickly her expression falls.

“You have every right to feel the way the you do. I’ll never push you to feel any differently about Stone. But I see the regret in his eyes every time he looks at me. I’m not asking you to get over what happened. I’m not even asking you to forgive him. All I’m asking is that you give him five minutes to hear what he has to say.”

She closes her eyes for a while, and I can tell she’s trying to control her breathing. Finally, she opens them and finds me again.

“I’ll give him two minutes,” she decides.

“Fair enough. I’ll let him know. After he says what he needs to say, I’ll ask Hawk about getting you home.”

“Thank you.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and shoot off a text to Stone letting him know he can come in. While we’re waiting, Sasha fills me in on what she’s been up to the past two days. I’m happy to hear she felt comfortable enough to relax—as much as possible for someone who just went through what she did—in the presence of some of my brothers.

Baby steps.

A few minutes later, we hear a knock at the door. I hop off of the bed and answer it. As soon as it opens, I lock eyes on Stone, flashing him a warning look. I need him to know that he must tread lightly. The last thing she needs—or that I will allow—is for someone to intimidate her.

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