Daring Devlin (Lost Boys #1) - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,75

was good. Then I changed the subject to ask about his affairs. He told me Nat had taken over managing the pizzeria and the apartment building. Sonny assured me both were in good hands and not to worry. I hated that he was locked up. Hated how he’d sacrificed himself. I asked him if we could hire a better lawyer, figure out a way to spring him, but he’d only shaken his head.

“I had a good run, kid.” He’d patted my hand with his rougher one. “A few years of relaxing in here ain’t so bad. Few years in here, I’ll be out. I got a nice place in the Caribbean.”

I hadn’t been able to tell if he was joking or not.

“What can I do?” I’d asked, but I knew the answer.

“Live,” he’d said, then with a craggy smile, added, “Gimme grandchildren.”

Grandchildren. My thoughts had returned to Rena, my heart as raw as tenderized steak. I hadn’t healed. Not even a little.

Sonny had asked about Cade next. I’d brought him up to date and let him know Cade had gained mobility and was able to eat and flip me off without any trouble whatsoever.

I stepped in between Cade and the TV screen now, forcing him to pay attention to me. He leaned to look past me and kept playing. I stepped in his way again.

Nostrils flaring, he glared up at me. He was pissed. I understood it. I did. But I was older and having been on my own put me in the unique position of being the mature one. Go figure.

The standoff would have lasted twenty minutes or more if the doorbell hadn’t rung.

“Dammit,” I muttered.

Cade smiled.

“This isn’t over,” I told him. Antagonizing him into speaking was my only tactic. The jerk had been mute for four days. He’d spoken some before that, but then mysteriously clammed up again. The last therapist Cade ran off warned if he didn’t speak, and soon, he could lose the ability permanently.

I could let the bastard fall apart, but guilt the size of Mothman had eaten holes in my soul. I didn’t recall having this much empathy before now.

Rena’s fault.

A chunk of me felt guilty for not following Sonny into the slammer, even though he’d insisted it served no one if I served time alongside him. I suppose he was right. I was free to run Oak & Sage. I employed a staff who needed their paychecks. And, I was able to take care of my pain-in-the-ass half brother whether he wanted me to or not.

The doorbell chimed twice more by the time I’d arrived at the entryway.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” I called as I yanked the door open.

Rena’s friend Tasha stood at the threshold, a messenger bag crossed over her chest, her blond hair in a ponytail. She raised an eyebrow and gave me a peeved look much like her patient had a minute ago.

I stepped aside and she breezed past me, not speaking. Tasha wasn’t a very big fan of mine. I understood why, sort of. I thought she’d cut me some slack since I’d had the balls to walk away from Rena for her own good. But her loyalty was to Rena, no matter what. Honestly, I was glad Rena had a good friend.

I sure as hell didn’t.

I finished cleaning the kitchen from the lunch I’d made for Cade and me. Paul was at work—he’d been rehired by his former employer. He’d also been going to Gambler’s Anonymous meetings. Far as I knew, with Tex out of town and his goon squad dismantled, Paul was back to living a boring, mundane life.

Finished loading the dishwasher, I flipped off the lights in the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time to my old room. It’d been an adjustment living here again. Sleeping in the same twin bed, stuffing my clothes into the same dinged-up five-drawer dresser with the Mason jar of pennies on top. I changed into my suit for Oak & Sage and was pulling a tie around my neck when Tasha knocked, and then let herself in.

I started to tell her the knock was moot if she was going to let herself in anyway, but the angry slant of her fair brows kept me from it.

“I agree with Cade.” She crossed her arms over her breasts.

My fingers paused on the knot of my tie. “About?”

“You’re a chickenshit.”

I blinked, unaccustomed to being accused of being a chickenshit, and unsure how to react, since I couldn’t pummel the person who’d