Page 19 of Judge’s Redemption

“You and Evie come to the compound until we handle him.”

Her eyes narrow.

“I have rooms ready, armed men on the gates, and⁠—”

“No.”

“Shay, he knows your address, your job, and Evie's preschool.”

“I heard you.”

“Then you understand why I need to move you somewhere safe.”

She shoves some of her work things into her bag. “You’re doing it again.”

The words hit harder than the photograph.

“What?”

“Danger happens, and your answer is to decide where I go.”

“This isn't the same Shay.”

“It feels exactly the same from where I'm standing.”

“Mercer threatened our daughter. Let me keep you safe.”

“By deciding where I go and telling me it’s for my own good?” The silence after her question makes me hear myself properly.

Shay shoulders her bag. “You haven't learned a fucking thing.”

She moves toward the door. I catch her arm, release it the moment she stiffens, and step back.

“Wait.”

“I've waited long enough for you to realize I'm capable of making decisions about my own life.”

“You're right.” Her hand stills on the lock.

I move between her and the dark street beyond the glass. “I heard the threat, panicked, and started moving you around like a piece on a board.”

Her expression remains guarded. “But the compound really is the safest place,” I say. “Closed gates, armed men around the clock, rooms on-site. You’d stay with me, and nobody moves in or out without the club knowing. But it’s your decision.”

“You make that sound normal.”

“For us, it is.”

“And the salon?”

“You work if you decide to. We watch the street and both exits. Nobody gets close without us knowing.”

“Like nobody got close enough to take that photograph?”

The failure cuts. “We didn't know Mercer had identified you then. We do now.”

Shay looks through the glass at the rain-darkened street. “I need the whole truth. Not the version you think I can handle.”

So I give it to her.