Salvation and Secrets by L A Cotton Read Free Book Online Page A

listened but didn’t join in. My busy thoughts were elsewhere—faux leather, a storage closet inside Fallen House, and exactly twelve months prior.
    The hard truth was that I could avoid Jackson and shut my feelings off, but he wasn’t a stain to be removed. He was a scar—just another one to add to the ones already marring my body and mind.

Chapter 6

    ~JACKSON~
     
    “Come on, Jackson. For me?” Briony batted her eyes at me and tried to pull on my arm, but I shrugged her off. “No.”
    She threw her hands up and scowled. “Lighten up, for fuck’s sake. It’s just a cheer thing. I need a date. It’s not a damn marriage proposal.”
    “I can’t stand those things, and it’s not like you don’t have your pick of guys.”
    “Isn’t that the truth, sis,” Braiden called from the sofa.
    “Shut it, brother .” Briony flipped him the bird behind his back, and then refocused her attention on me. “Please, I’m begging.”
    Fuck, she was not going down without a fight, and Braiden wasn’t doing shit to help me. In fact, he loved every second of it.
    “I’ll wear something very, very sexy.” Briony inched closer and I instinctively stepped back, hitting the wall.
    Braiden almost spat out his beer. “Too much info, Briony.”
    I called over to him, “A little help?”
    “Just take her, for fuck’s sake. Then I won’t have to listen to her bitch anymore.”
    Double fuck.
    “See, even Braiden thinks it’s a good idea.”
    I should have known he’d take her side. He had been trying to hook us up since junior year at high school.
    “Briony, you’re like my sister, for fuck’s sake.”
    Briony bristled, flicking her hair off her shoulder, clearly trying to draw my eyes to her tits. “I am not your sister. Do I look like your sister?” She was pushing me, trying to get a rise from me. She had been doing it all summer since shit died down after Ana.
    Ana.
    Just thinking her name sent an electrical pulse rushing through me. I missed her so fucking much. Missed just being near her. And now I had to deal with Briony and her fucked-up views of almost-sibling relationships.
    “Actually, don’t answer that. But you’re taking me. I won’t take no for an answer. Not this time.” Briony reached out for me, brushing her fingers across my chest, and the urge to gag hit me and I had to swallow it down.
    It was an impossible situation. Before Ana, I brushed her off, no questions asked. But now, I was under scrutiny. My loyalty to the family had been called into question, and any slip-up meant I would have to face the consequences and risk turning everything into shit. Not just for me, but the people I cared about. Ana…Otis…Velma. Braiden would not accept my disloyalty. He just wouldn’t. He had made that clear as fucking day.
    Knowing I had no choice, I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Fine. When and where?” Briony’s eyes lit up and she started to open her mouth, but I cut her off. “But Bri, it’s strictly business… got it?”
    “Whatever you say.”
    But the smirk in her voice told me that she had no intention of listening to me.
    ~
    The road was pitch black. Not even the headlights cut through it, and my whole body hummed with adrenaline. It was always the same when we ran errands for Uncle Marcus. For as much as I hated being involved with the family business, I couldn’t deny the buzz. The one flowing through me, making me feel alive.
    “So where’s the drop?” I asked Braiden, as he navigated the Jeep through the darkness.
    “Somewhere on the edge of Tillamook. The GPS will get us there.”
    “Who’s the handler?”
    Braiden shrugged. He rarely knew the details, just stormed into whatever his dad asked him, and then some. I, on the other hand, preferred to be prepared. Being prepared could be the difference between things going according to plan and things going to shit.
    My eyes stared into the black abyss, my mind empty, focused only on the task at hand. There wasn’t time for