Jackson Stiles, Road to Redemption (Road to Redemption #1)(37)

Green must be warping out of scared shitless stage and into real life again.

Yay.

She doesn’t wait for me to give the go ahead.

“Why did you lie to me about knowing anything having to do with Donnie Leary, and how do I get my car back?” I’m not exactly disappointed with her ability to interrupt my thoughts. I am a little peeved she’s backing me into a corner.

“Lying is part of my job, Green. And you know you had no business getting your nose all up in Thomas Flint’s world, right? I mean, do you have any f*cking idea how lucky you are I showed up?”

She lets out a huge, sarcastic laugh. “Excuse me?”

Offended.

“What?”

“You are such a chauvinistic pig, you realize that, right?”

“Chauva… I saved your ass back there.”

“Um. I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure I was the extra gun you needed when that Dice guy pulled his on you.” Her head jerks to accentuate certain words, and her hands fly around so much I’m surprised they haven't hit me. Again.

“You’re a liability that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.” She starts to defend herself, but I’m not done yet. “Do you know how to stay out of trouble, though? No, you’re Emma motherf*cking Green. You’ve gotta be all up in trouble’s face like it’s nobody’s business, interviewing the gangbanger.”

I use air quotes for like two seconds, and she barks at me about putting my hands back on the steering wheel.

When I glance up into my rearview mirror, I see Jimmy snickering behind me.

“Even if I hadn’t been interviewing that guy. And trust me, I was interviewing him and happened to have gotten some very interesting information, thank you very much. You still had a two-against-one situation with that Thomas guy and his friend. There’s no way you would have─”

“They aren’t friends, Green, trust me, and I’ve taken more than two guys on at a time before.”

I say it and she skips a beat, then starts f*cking laughing. I don’t know if she’s officially lost her f*cking mind or just giving up on making any sense at all.

“What?”

And now Jimmy’s laughing too. “That’s what she said, man.”

Then I get it. One guy. Taking on two guys. Ha. Ha.

“What-the-f*ck-ever.” I go back to driving.

“I bet that was very hard,” Green jibes.

Jimmy snorts. “He probably had some stiff competition.”

“Fuck you both.”

They roar with laughter. Between the two of them, they might be acting f*cking twelve right now. So I pull over at the 7-Eleven we’re about to pass. “Get the hell out.”

“Oh, come on, Stiles, lighten up. We almost died back there.”

“Oh, so now you can admit it.”

Her mouth twists up on the side, and I notice the dimple it creates in her left cheek.

“I might not have thought that visit through all the way,” she says, then she adds, a little quieter, “I’m glad you were there.”

Her admission is unexpected, to say the least. And the way she says it, the way her voice falls, just slightly, the graininess it gives off… it’s nice.

Unwilling to let her get inside my head again, I look back at Jimmy. “You got anything else to say, genius?”

He shakes his head, trying not to smile. So I pull out onto the street.

Truth is, though, if it wasn’t me they were laughing at, I’d probably be chiming in myself. It’s difficult to hide the amusement. I think Green notices the grin that spreads across my lips, but when I look over at her, she’s quick to turn and focus on what’s outside the window.

I fight the urge to push the stray hair tangled around her ear out of the way. No sense in sending out the wrong signal.

Right?

Besides, I need to get her home.

“Gonna need an address if you don’t want the boy-toy sending the troops out after you, Green.”

She lets out a sigh as if she’s actually sad our little adventure is over. Then she nods and gives me the address.

I recognize the part of town but I figure I better not pass judgement just yet. Maybe she’s on the outskirts.

“I’m Stix, by the way.” The kids puts a hand out to her, and she takes it with a genuine smile.

“Emma.”





X X X


“Nice place. You must be living the dream over at The Chronicle,” I tease her when we pull up to one of the swankiest apartment complexes in all of Redemption. I’m really only half teasing, though. I kinda wanna know how she can afford this place.

Tabloids don’t pay that much.

“Not as much as you’d think,” she mumbles as she gathers her things. “It’s Connor’s place.”

“Connor?” She’s dating a guy named Connor?

Green eyeballs me in a way that practically begs me not to give her any more shit about him tonight. For some reason, I’m inclined to give her a break.

“We’ll get your car back,” I promise her.

“Before or after they vandalize it?” She’s only semi-serious.

“Before.” Hopefully.

Green nods and gives me one of her cards. “My cell is on there. Call me when I need to get my battle gear ready.”