Redeemed Read Online Free

Nathan, the man Josh shared his mate with.
    “Saturday night. Seven.”
    “Sounds good. Let me double check my schedule and I’ll get back to you.” Evan stared at the blank calendar on his desk, the one that had nothing scheduled for him besides work for the next fifty years.
    “Great. There’ll be about a dozen of us. I’m hoping to get Ashley here too.” Josh’s words were casual. Bits of information to make small talk.
    Evan’s reactions were not casual. The name Ashley alone made him stiffen. His cock jerked to attention and his pulse leaped to a new height. “Sounds good. I’ll call you back later today.” After I find my brain cells and pull them together to ponder this proposition .
    “All right. Talk to you soon.”
    “’Bye, man.” Evan set the phone on his desk soundlessly and stared into space, seeing nothing. His chest pounded. Should he go?
    Ashley. The woman who had stolen his heart and kept him in this perpetual state of unrest ever since.
    He’d only seen her one time and that had been six months ago. One hundred eighty-four days, but who was counting? The day he’d helped rescue her from Damon Parkfield’s clutches. Thank God he hadn’t been alone. Josh, Nathan, and their mate Samantha had been at the apartment where they’d finally nailed down Ashley’s location.
    The moment the woman opened the door, Evan had known she was his. It had taken all the strength he could muster to avoid grabbing her and running. Instead, he’d stepped back and let her brother and his mates convince her to leave with them.
    Fists in two tight balls, he’d managed to keep from punching a hole in the door to her apartment. Flimsy as it was, he probably would have found his arm stuck all the way through.
    He knew she hadn’t realized she was his. She’d been broken and abused, drugged and confused. Evan held his tongue and kept this secret to himself.
    Ashley needed time. She needed to heal and separate herself from the bastard who terrorized her for four long years. She couldn’t have faced the fact she belonged to Evan on top of everything else. So, Evan stepped aside. He’d turned down every invitation from Josh that might have included Ashley and kept this deep painful secret buried inside.
    Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Josh and his family, Evan had been searching for Damon. Eventually the man would pay and pay dearly. He deserved to rot in the fifth circle of Hell for all eternity, but that would be too easy. Evan wanted him alive to spend his days in jail pondering what he’d done to the sweet young girl he’d kidnapped and held hostage for all those years.
    Damon was sneaky though. He moved a lot. He’d slipped through Evan’s fingers several times. Evan wished like hell he’d known how bad it had been for Ashley the day they’d found her. If so, he never would have left the apartment. He’d have stayed and taken Damon down that very day.
    The hesitation had ruined his chances. By the time Evan returned, Damon was long gone, having left no trail.
    Evan pushed away from the desk and stood once more. He suffered from anxiety these days. He couldn’t sit long. Knowing his mate was out there, knowing who she was and where she lived, kept him in a state of unrest that wouldn’t abate.
    Perhaps it was time to face her. Even if she wasn’t ready to deal with the knowledge yet, at least Evan wouldn’t be alone. He felt confident that if he walked into a room she occupied, she’d know about her fate within moments.
    Was that playing fair? It had been half a year. Evan couldn’t begin to guess if that was enough time, but by all accounts from Josh, his sister was doing well. She was strong and determined. She was taking classes online and seeing old friends. She just didn’t leave the house often.
    He could understand that. Who would want to wander around in the world knowing some jackass might attack them at any moment?
    •●•
    Ashley’s hands shook as she entered her brother’s home on