Read Online Redemption (Cavan Gang #2) by Laylah Roberts - Free Book Online Page A

leader of the Russian mob. Aleksandr Anisimov runs his business from the back of the restaurant.”
    “Oh.” Shit. Was there anyone in this city not involved in criminal activity? “Are they your rivals? Colm took me there. Why would he do that if you don’t get along with the Russians? Colm said you go there as well. And Sofia seemed so nice.”
    “Sofia is nice. She runs her business legitimately. And I have an agreement with Anisimov.”
    “So what’s the problem?”
    “The problem is I don’t want you there. It’s not safe.”
    “There’s a lot of trouble there?”
    He drummed his fingers against his thigh. “No.”
    “Crime? Drugs?”
    “No.”
    “Then it sounds pretty safe to me.”
    “I don’t like it.”
    “So you don’t want to give me a job but you don’t want anyone else to either. I’m my own person and I’m going to work at Solnyshko.”
    He sighed. She could be so stubborn.
    “What happened at your therapy session today?” Crap, he’d meant to ease his way into this conversation.
    But she’d thrown him with her news about her new job.
    “Nothing,” she muttered, shutting down.
    Rogan sighed, wishing he was better at this. Better at talking. Wished he had the right words to say. But he had no idea how to give her what she needed.
    “Colm said you appeared haunted afterward.”
    “Haunted? Colm is overdramatic.”
    The big Scot was one of the calmest, most sensible men he knew.
    “Fine, want to know what happened? I found out I’m broken, that’s what happened.”
    Anger surged inside him. “Your therapist called you broken?”
    “Not in so many words, but I am. I have trust issues. I have abandonment issues. Hell, my issues have issues. Apparently, I push people away before they can get too close. I leave them before they leave me. Don’t I sound wonderful?”
    He thought she was wonderful. A dream come true.
    “How do you push them away?” he asked.
    “By putting up barriers. By not allowing people to get close. And any relationship I have entered, I’ve sabotaged. I’ve gone into it with the idea I’m going to be let down, that they’re going to leave me. So I throw up all these obstacles. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think it’s going to fail, so I make sure it does. I’m one of those kids with a toy who doesn’t want anyone else to play with it, so I break it.”
    “What’s the toy?” he asked, confused.
    “Relationships, friendships, anything that could make me happy.”
    “But you’ve been friends with Tilly for years.”
    “We were friends before I became fucked up.”
    He scowled. He really didn’t like her talking about herself in such a negative way. What was that therapist thinking?
    “You’re friends with Natalya.”
    She scowled. “Natalya wouldn’t leave me be. I had no choice.”
    “And maybe you’re starting to figure out not everyone leaves. Not everyone will let you down.”
    She stayed silent.
    “Do you think I’m going to let you down, Miller? Do you think I’ll leave you?”
    “How can you leave me when we’re not together? I live in your house, bit hard for you to leave me.” Her laugh sounded forced, fake.
    “That’s not what I meant. Do you trust me?”
    Large, brown eyes watched him carefully. “More than I have trusted anyone for a long time. That scares me. Because, if you let me down, it’s going to hurt so much more.”
    He leaned forward. “I’ll try my hardest to never hurt you, Miller.”
    “I know. I know there are good men out there. Tilly has one. Natalya has another. You’re a good man.”
    “I don’t know about that.” He wasn’t good. Not at all.
    “I do. You couldn’t have done what you have for me if you weren’t a good man.”
    While he’d claimed to help her out of a sense of guilt and his friendship with Dylan, he knew the truth.
    He’d offered her a place to stay because he hadn’t wanted to let her go.
    His reasons were selfish.
    “But I still need to move on. I’m taking