Daring Devlin

by Jessica Lemmon

“Rena?”

  My head shot up and my body followed. As I stared down the cop with the reddish hair, I realized how this guy came to know her name. The nephew of her mom’s boyfriend. The twenty-six-year-old police officer.

  He’s responsible. And nice. He ate my mom’s terrible pie and she loved him.

  “Baron,” I grumbled.

  He frowned up at me, confused at how I knew his name.

  “What are you doing here?” Rena asked him.

  “Investigation took a turn. I’m meeting someone.”

  I slid my arm around her back, my hold proprietary. Baron watched this, his eye ticking as if he didn’t like it.

  I liked that he didn’t like it.

  “Um, this is, uh… Devlin,” she introduced. He slid me a narrow-eyed glance and then spoke to Rena.

  “What are you doing here? Is your mom okay? I know Roy’s okay, since I just left him at the station.”

  “Yes, she’s fine.”

  I really didn’t like that they had people in common.

  “We’re visiting a friend. This is Tasha, my best friend.”

  “Pleasure,” Tasha said.

  His eyes flitted to the side. “Excuse me.”

  I looked up to see Sonny strolling to the nurse’s desk from the direction of the hallway. Baron went straight for him.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “Laurence,” Baron called out.

  “Sonny,” I called, moving his direction. Rena wrapped her hands around my arm.

  “Devlin, no,” she whispered.

  Sonny waved to me. “Hey, Dev. Rena. It’s okay.”

  Like hell it was. “What the hell’s going on?”

  Baron turned his impatient glare on me. But he had to look up to do it.

  “We can’t discuss an ongoing invest—” Baron started, but Sonny interrupted him.

  “Ah-ah-ah.” Sonny, hand held up like a stop sign in front of Baron’s face, gave me the info I needed. “We’re taking down Tex.”

  “Who’s Tex?” Tasha asked.

  “Tex is a big bad bookie, sweetheart.” Sonny smiled.

  “You’re ratting,” I said.

  “I like to think of it as retiring,” Sonny told me.

  “Don’t discuss this further with Devlin,” Baron told Sonny, adding an, “Okay?”

  Sonny shrugged.

  “Rena, darlin’, this isn’t the place for you.” Baron tipped his head in my direction. “You might want to steer clear of anyone who could be involved in any of this.”

  “He’s not.” Her tone was sharp. One of her hands slid down my arm and she wove her fingers with mine. Part of me wanted to kiss her for her bravery and loyalty. That part warred with the part that wanted to protect her. I couldn’t have it both ways.

  I’d been “involved” in Sonny’s business. Cops were also involved. Tex would find out eventually. Which meant Sonny could be in danger. I could be in danger. If they came looking for me and found Rena in my bed…

  My stomach lurched.

  I had to keep her safe. She was safe if she stayed away from me.

  “Baron’s right,” I told Rena. My voice was monotone as I stared the cop down. His smile tipped up on one side. He knew he had me. “You should steer clear.”

  “You’re out,” she whispered up at me. “There’s nothing to steer clear of.”

  God. It hurt to have to do this.

  “Yeah, baby. I’m out.” I looked down into her sweet face and my heart broke. I heard the crack. “But he’s still right.”

  The crap tornado I’d attempted to outrun picked this hospital as ground zero. Cade couldn’t talk. Sonny was a rat. The cops knew who I was, and most likely, how involved I’d been. I’d spend time in jail. I didn’t know how long. A while, I guessed. The dream of a future with Rena, working at Oak & Sage, building a life together fragmented before my eyes.

  There was nowhere else to run.

  “What do you have on me?” I asked Baron.

  “We can talk about that at the station.” Baron’s smile was smug.

  “Devlin, no,” Rena started, then turned her fury on Baron. “Leave him alone.”

  “He’s got nothing on you, Dev,” Sonny said. “There’s nothing to have.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Baron’s smile slipped. Sonny just let me know that he’d never mentioned me. And Baron would have liked for me to confess instead. I dipped my chin at Sonny in a barely-there nod. He returned it with one of his own.

  I turned to Tasha. “Can you give Rena a ride home?”

  “No!” Rena’s hold tightened on my hand as tears pooled in her eyes. “Don’t you dare leave.”

  “Steer clear, baby.” I kissed her one last time.

  “No.” Her broken protest cut into me like a shard of glass.

  “It’s for the best, Rena,” Baron chimed in, reaching for my arm.

  “Don’t fucking touch me.” I swung away from him. “And stay away from her.”

  He propped a hand on his hip next to his gun. “That a threat?”

  I didn’t move a muscle, just stared him down. He blinked first.

  “All right, Devlin, let’s go.” Baron gestured for the elevator, and Rena walked after us. When he turned toward her, she pushed past him and crashed into my chest.

  “I love you,” she whispered against my chest. Watery eyes found mine, and she said it again. I felt the heat hit my eyes, the ache carve into my chest. And then Tasha was pulling her off me and into her arms.

  “I have her,” she promised me and right then, I became a big Tasha fan.

  I stepped on the elevator with Baron and the doors slid shut.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rena

  Oak & Sage was swamped with diners. Melinda hadn’t shown up for her shift tonight, leaving me to cover two additional tables that were on the opposite side of the restaurant from my section.

  Devlin, his bruises practically invisible, was dressed in a dark suit and blue tie. This was the first night I’d seen him since he left the hospital with Baron. He’d been avoiding me. I knew why. That “big bad bookie” Sonny had mentioned.

  Devlin’s eyes had been focused everywhere but on me since I’d clocked in. My texts went unanswered, and he refused to talk to me. After I dropped the “I love you” bomb on him, I expected him to at least acknowledge me. But I had a scrap of pride left. I wasn’t going to beg.

  Tasha and I had hung out almost exclusively for the last three days. Tony dumped her when he found out she was hanging around the hospital “for another dude,” and honestly, I’d never seen her so angry at him. They might never get together again—for real, this time.

  The hours at the restaurant passed in a blur, me rushing around and Devlin rushing around, and him avoiding me as much as I avoided him. Just as I was cashing out my tables—two at the same time—a server named Veronica burst into the kitchen. “You guys! The cops are here!”

  Every server filtered to the dining room and a few kitchen guys headed for the back door. I waited for my credit card receipt to print—which seemed to take an eternity—dropped it off at table 9, and then cut across the bar to find Roy and Baron talking to Devlin.

  Roy’s mustache-blanketed mouth was unsmiling. He held up a hand to silence Baron when he saw me. Then he smiled at Devlin. “Anyway, we appreciate any information you can give us.”

  “I’m running a restaurant here, gentlemen,” Devlin told them. “Eat or leave.”

  “Roy?” I interrupted.

  “Hey, Rena.” His smile was easier and gentler than before.

  I didn’t smile. I was too afraid he’d come to arrest Devlin. “What’s going on?”

  Devlin glared over at me, a minor step up from him ignoring me completely.

  “Rena,” Baron started but didn’t finish when Devlin wrapped one hand around the bow on my apron and moved me half behind him.

  He and Baron then had a staring contest.

  “Officer Monroe,” Roy told Baron. “Why don’t I meet
you in the car.”

  Baron flicked a glance to me and then his superior, chewing on the side of his lip. He gave Roy a curt nod and walked outside.

  “Get back to work.” Devlin released my apron. I folded my arms and didn’t move. “Please?”

  I shook my head and he sighed.

  “Nothin’ from you, huh?” Roy asked Devlin.

  Devlin shook his head.

  “And her?” Roy pointed to me.

  I frowned. I didn’t like being referred to as a “her” by the man who might someday be my stepfather.

  “I don’t want Officer Monroe anywhere near her.” Devlin curled his lip.

  “I can arrange that. You need to do something for me, though.” One of Roy’s thick eyebrows lifted.

  “I’m not a rat,” Devlin said.

  “Not that.” Roy’s voice was a low warning. “I want you to leave her be.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but Devlin spoke first. “Deal.”

  Roy held out a hand and Devlin clasped it. Then Devlin turned to me.

  “You’re fired, Lewis. Cash out with Chet, get your things, and leave.”

  “No.” My heart tore in half.

  Devlin’s throat bobbed, but his expression remained blank. Then he turned to Roy. “Officer. A little help?”

  “Rena, hon. Let’s sort this out,” Roy said, taking my arm. I let him lead me to the back where the entire staff froze and stared at us. Veronica offered to take my tables. I handed Chet my apron. I heard Roy promise to come back for my tips after he’d settled up. I felt everything and nothing at the same time.

  Devlin had let me go and he hadn’t even thought about it. Roy asked, and Devlin agreed. I was out of a job, out of a boyfriend.

  Roy draped my coat over my shoulders and walked me out the back door. Baron was waiting in an idling cop car. Roy must have radioed him to pull around.

  “Keys, hon.” Roy’s hand appeared in front of my face.

  I fished my keys from my coat pocket and dropped them into his callused palm. His fingers closed around them. To Baron, he said, “I’m driving Rena home. Follow us.”

  “I can drive her,” Baron offered.

  But Roy kept his promise to Devlin. “No, you can’t.”

  Roy drove me home, Baron followed. Once I was ensconced in my apartment and they were gone, I started to cry.

  My mother’s tinkling laughter cut into the staring contest I’d been having with the saltshaker for… I don’t even know how long.

  “Strawberry rhubarb. This time from the store.” She set the pie on the table and then lowered into the chair next to Roy. “Honey? Why don’t you eat something? You look pale.”

  I was pale. And more heartsick than I’d known was possible.

  “I’m fine.” My voice was low and flat, not a single peak or valley. My peaks and valleys vanished when Devlin dumped me. I felt like he was a million miles away even though he was down the road, working at Oak & Sage. I hadn’t gone back. Roy had picked up my tips from that last night of work—a whopping forty-eight dollars—and my final paycheck.

  Once upon a time I’d feared that Devlin would become my power source, and that once he’d unplugged, I’d fade out. Well, he had unplugged and guess what? I was right. I’d gone as dim as a robot missing its battery pack.

  “Honey?” Mom tried again.

  “I came over tonight for one reason.” I glared at Roy. “An update.”

  He swiped his mustache with a napkin and sighed. My mother clasped her hands together, worry lining her brow. I could read her thoughts like closed captioning: My daughter dated a criminal. I can’t believe it.

  “Devlin’s safe,” Roy said. “Sonny fell on the grenade. Said he acted alone. We’re not pursuing anyone else.”

  Devlin was safe. I was so relieved I nearly smiled. “What about Tex?”

  “In the wind,” Roy answered. He ate another huge bite of pie. “We’ll get ’im. We got eyes everywhere.”

  “And Sonny?” I was curious about the man who had given Devlin so much.

  “Rena, dear, none of this matters.” My mom gave me a hopeful smile. “You can return to normal life now that this is all over with.”

  “I love him,” I choked, a sob catching in my throat.

  My mother’s face went winter white. “Sonny?”

  “She means Devlin,” Roy told her, placing a rugged, wide palm over her hand.

  I wondered if I’d ever not miss him. Maybe. I’d recovered from losing Joshua. Only Devlin wasn’t dead. He was just… gone.

  Sonny was detained, Tex was in the wind, and Devlin was safe. And yet Devlin hadn’t attempted to contact me. That hurt. I stood from the table.

  “Where are you going?” Mom asked.

  “Home,” I lied.

  “Baron’s got eyes on Oak & Sage,” Roy told me, guessing correctly that I’d lied.

  “Why?” I bit out.

  “Devlin’s request. To make sure you stay away. If he wants you, he’ll contact you.” His bushy eyebrows bent with sympathy. “Let it go, darlin’.”

  Devlin didn’t want me near him. Even though I felt as though my knees might buckle, I locked them and remained standing. I refused to cry any more than I had already. Even the memory of losing Joshua paled in the face of the grief I felt now. It was still too fresh—no scar covering the wound. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

  “Honey, sit down.” My mom was trying really hard to comfort me. I didn’t want to be comforted.

  “I’m going home.” This time it was the truth. I wasn’t going to talk to Devlin Calvary. He’d made it clear he didn’t want me. I’d said everything I needed to say to him. Including the I love you he’d never returned.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rena

  I stepped into the craft store Sarafina’s for a job interview, feeling like a traitor to Lyle Mullins, who’d been the owner of the Craft Palace before it’d closed. Then I spotted Lyle behind one of the registers and I didn’t feel so bad. He recognized me and gave me a cheery wave.

  I passed racks of colorful paper, walls of stickers, rubber stamps, and shelves lined with dated planners. An employee discount of 25% off awaited me if I landed this job, but even that failed to cheer me up.

  “Rena,” came a voice to my right. Tasha waved from a display of storage boxes. “I’ve said your name like five times.” She gestured to the stacks of pink, black, and turquoise patterned boxes with matching flowers and knickknacks interspersed between. “What do you think?”

  “Looks great,” I said, my voice toneless.

  She lowered her jazz hands and sighed. I couldn’t hide my depression from my best friend, so I hadn’t tried. “It’s been a month, Rena.”

  Four grueling weeks since Devlin had fired me. Four weeks of doubt, loss, and sleeping alone. I’d only slept next to him twice. Twice wasn’t enough.

  “Do you think he meant it?” I asked Tasha.

  “Not this again.”

  She’d been at my side for four weeks. Every moment she wasn’t working at Sarafina’s or studying. She’d grown used to my glass-eyed stares and my sullenness.

  “Reen. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

  “Let me ask. One more time,” I begged. Pathetic.

  “Fine. Ask.” She pointed at me sternly. “But my answer will be the same as it has been the last ten times you asked me.”

  “Do you think Devlin will avoid me forever?”

  “I don’t think so,” Tasha answered.

  Hope flooded through my veins, and I was momentarily high. Tingling returned to my fingers and toes. My heart lifted in my chest.

  “He’s trying to protect you.”

  “And when I told him I loved him and he didn’t say it back…”

  “He was trying to protect you then, too.” She gave me a soft smile. “I’m jealous, actually,” she said as she rearranged a porcelain unicorn figurine on her display. I would love to feel that way for someone. Even if it all went to shit.”

  I ga
ve her a wounded look.

  “Temporarily. Temporarily went to shit,” she corrected.

  “I wonder how he’s doing.” I’d caved and gone to his apartment last week. The front door was open and an old white-haired guy was on a ladder painting the walls. No furniture, no vase on the floor, no lady-in-a-red-dress painting. When I asked where the former resident had gone, the old man had shrugged.

  “He’s okay.” Something in her tone told me she knew more than she’d let on.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” I cocked my head.

  “I don’t know if it’s healthy for you—”

  “Dammit, Tasha—”

  “Okay, okay.” She waved her hands in surrender. “Cade ran off his third physical therapist. Paul asked my dad if I could fill in. As a favor.”

  I knew Paul had saved Tasha’s father from a tax-evasion lawsuit a few years back.

  She shrugged. “I’ve only worked with Cade twice, and yeah, we don’t exactly get along but—”

  “Tash!”

  “Devlin’s living at Paul’s,” she said, giving up the ghost.

  “Devlin lives with Paul?” I repeated.

  “Yep.”

  “How’s Cade doing?”

  Tasha erased the gap between us and trained big blue eyes on me. “That’s not the question you want to ask.”

  True. I hadn’t expected to find out that Tasha actually knew how he was. Now that I knew someone who knew, not knowing seemed safer.

  “Has Cade spoken yet?” I asked, avoiding asking more about Devlin.

  “Not much. He writes everything down. Or points.”

  “Paul must have to keep them on opposite sides of the house.” There wasn’t a lot of love lost between those two.

  “They’re doing well, I think. All things considered.” Tasha touched my arm gently. “Devlin mentioned you.”

  And I was going to throw up.

  “What did he say?”

  “He just… mentioned your name.” Tasha shrugged.

  “What did he say, word for word?”

  She looked worried. “Word for word?”

  “Word for word,” I repeated.

  “He said, ‘Is that Rena’s car?’”

  She’d borrowed my car the other day and, apparently, drove it to Paul’s house. “So he didn’t ask about me.”