Page 134 of Redeemed

Xander

TheantihistamineIgiveHaven knocks her out pretty quickly. I’m not sure how long she’ll stay asleep, but seeing her crying like that was killing me. All I could think about was giving her some kind of break.

Once she’s fully asleep, Lucas releases a long, slow breath. “I want to strangle him.”

“I know.”

“If he does this again—”

“He won’t,” I say, finding Lucas’s arm under the blankets. “I’ll talk to him. He’ll come around.”

Haven’s body jolts, and she makes a fearful noise. She’s still out, but her panic has obviously bled into her dreams.

Lucas strokes her waist. “Shh, shh, you’re okay, Haven.”

She settles, even if it’s just for the moment. Lucas and I lapse into silence, only speaking occasionally so we don’t disturb her.

When Colton said Haven would be staying with us, this wasn’t the kind of torment I intended to inflict on her. She’s fucking terrified, and I don’t want her in a constant state of all-consuming fear like this.

I can understand Colton’s reasoning for what he did today, but he came in too hard and too fast. He lacks patience, and he has some monstrous tendencies, but he’s still human. There’s no way he’s okay with causing this level of psychological damage.

Someone needs to rein him in, and it has to be me. Lucas is too close to this. Colton’s torture may have been controlled, but I know all Luc can think about is his dad. If he tries to talk some sense into Colton, he’ll lose his cool too quickly.

So while Haven sleeps, I come up with all the different things Colton needs to hear. My hope is that it won’t take much to win him over, but I could be wrong. He can be a stubborn asshole sometimes.

Actually, he’susuallya stubborn asshole.

I’m not sure how much time passes before Haven wakes up. An hour? Maybe two? When she realizes she’s sandwiched in between us, her body goes rigid, but she doesn’t try to escape us. All she does is let out a terrified whimper.

She’s frozen,I realize.Too scared to move.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she begs. Her breathing turns short and choppy, just like it was before she fell asleep.

“We’re not going to,” Lucas assures her. “We promised we’d keep you safe, remember?”

“How am I supposed to believe you?” she asks right before she falls into another fit of sobs.

Anger rises in me, clawing at my insides until my resolve weakens. We have to fix this, and we have to fix itnow.

“Hold her,” I whisper to Lucas before slipping out of bed.

I don’t think Haven even realizes I’m leaving. She’s too out of it. I hate abandoning Lucas and making him support her alone, but I have to talk some sense into Colton. It’s the only way to properly fix things.

Colton is still in the living room. Star is sleeping next to him on the couch, and he’s petting her absentmindedly while reading a book.

“We need to find some type of compromise.”

Colton is silent, and for once, he doesn’t wipe his expression off his face to hide his feelings. He isn’t one to admit he’s wrong, but I know he’s aware he fucked up, even if he doesn’t regret it.

“Any suggestions?” he asks, voice tight.

“We need to work our way up to fucking her and not dive in like that.”

“I didn’t fuck her.”

“You still violated her on a level you didn’t need to.”

“It worked, though.”

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