Page 261 of Redeemed

But she stayed quiet. She kept our secrets. Somehow, we earned her undying loyalty, and my god, we don’t deserve it.

“Haven,” I whisper, quiet enough that I doubt my phone picks it up.

Without a word, she takes my free hand and presses her lips to my palm. I caress her cheek, not registering whatever Lucas is asking me.

Something shifts inside me. When someone gives me their loyalty, I give them mine. Haven knows that, but I don’t think she really understands how much this means to me. It changes everything.Everything.

“Colton!”

At Lucas’s impatient tone, I snap back to reality. Back to the fact that Haven’s attack wasn’t the main reason I called him.

“Sorry. What?”

“How the hell did Mark even get to her?”

“He drew me out of the house. I don’t know why I fell for it.”

“You left heralone?”

“Trust me, I won’t do it again. But I need to tell you—”

“What the hell were you thinking?” he goes on. “You can’t—”

“Lucas,” I say, and I can’t hide the cocktail of dread and regret in my tone.

“What?” he grunts out.

“The car accident.”

“What about it?”

It kills me to say it, to put the thought into words, but he needs to know.Xanderneeds to know. “I… I don’t think it was an accident.”

Haven gasps. Lucas is silent, and I wish I could be there, or that he could be here. He’s already got so much on his shoulders, what with taking care of Xander and Rachel.

“The timing, Luc. Phil and Rachel got into a car accident right after Mark found out I married Haven.”

“You’re saying he staged this so Xander and I would leave town,” Lucas says flatly.

With a horrified sound, Haven claps a hand over her mouth. Her wide eyes are reflective of how I felt when I realized what Mark had done.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “Lucas… please tell Xander I’m sorry.”

“Where’s Mark now?”

“My kitchen floor.”

“Dead?”

“Unconscious. You know I can’t kill him yet. The optics matter too much.”

“Fuck the optics,” he spits out.

I want to. God, I want to. But when I end Mark, there needs to be no question of why I did it. Otherwise, I’d lose power—and we’d all probably lose our lives. The Rooks are loyal to our own until death, even if it’s only on principle, and for now, that still includes Mark.

“You know I can’t,” I say gently.

“Fuck.Fuck.”

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