Page 89 of Redemption

Fear fills her eyes, and he can’t decide if he wants to hurt or help the man. “I just really need Dad.” It’s been so long since she’s admitted to needing anyone that it sends his unease through the roof.

“Baby?” Diesel calls and barrels into the room. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s all falling apart,” she says. Standing, she falls into him and lets the tears fall.

He wraps his arms around and looks up at his son. Ky shrugs. “She wouldn’t tell me.”

“I’m going to lose him, Dad. He’s going to leave me.”

“The only way he’s leaving you is in a fucking body bag,” he growls.

Diesel shoots him a look, and he stares back with wide eyes. He knows for a fact they were thinking the same thing. “What are you talking about, Ashley?”

“They fired him.”

Colt coughs on the water he drinks and sets the bottle on the bar top. “What?”

“Because he’s with me. Getting shot makes him too big of a risk or something. And his loyalty doesn’t mean shit… because of me.”

“Oh, Lily’s gonna have a field day,” Ky says and laughs. “I almost feel bad for them.”

She shakes her head as she pulls back and wipes her eyes. “No, she can’t do anything. There’s some bullshit with his contract. Dad, he was forced out because he chose to be with me. Because he loves me. That was his dream, and now he’ll never be Captain. They ripped it out from under him.”

“Baby, it’s going to be okay.”

“He has to choose between his dream and me. It’s only a matter of time before he chooses his dream. How could he not resent me? The club is the reason he can’t have both, and I’m going to lose. I’m going to lose him, and I love him. You don’t get it, and I don’t care. But I can’t lose him. I can’t!”

He pulls her back into a tight hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know?”

“Because even if he leaves you, they won’t let him back on the force,” Colt says.

Ky elbows him and shoots him a look. “Don’t mind him. He’s just pissy because his wife dropped him like a bad habit.”

“Yeah, about your wife. Thanks for the text about him opening the damn door for her at the park. I nearly wrapped my car around a tree racing to get there because he told her and Lily before he told me what happened.”

He looks at his friend. “Text?”

“I might’ve seen them driving to the park. And then watched him run around to open the door for her at the park.”

“You were stalking her?” Diesel asks.

“I happened to be there, and it looked like something Ashley should know about.”

He reaches out and smacks him upside the head. “Don’t make shit sound like she’s going to hook up with Grayson. She’s not your mother. And no matter what you did to that girl, she’s never going to be someone else’s other woman.”

“What’d she tell him?” Ky asks, stepping between them to stop the fight brewing below the surface.

“She told him to tell me about what happened.”

Colt sighs and sinks onto the stool. “Because she knew you’d tell your dad.”

Her eyes lock with his. “You think she knew what… You know what? I don’t even care.”

Diesel rubs her back. “Go home and take care of your man. Losing something this important to him wounds the pride, and he needs you. Don’t worry about anything here. We might not get his job back, but we can make them regret their decision.”

Smiling, she wipes her eyes, kisses him on the cheek, and heads out the door. They watch her leave, and Diesel turns to glare at Colt.

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