Page 38 of Protection for Nichole

He smiled as he picked up the phone, trying to act like he was happy to see his father. The man had been a jerk when he’d been younger, and he hadn’t improved with age.

“Why are you here?”

It wasn’t the welcome he expected. “I needed to ask a few questions.”

“They hear everything. You’re a dumbass for flying all the way out here, wasting money.”

Devon bit back the anger, pushing down the rage that mushroomed up to the top of his head. “It’s been a while. I wanted to see you.”

“Bullshit. You were a waste when you were a teen, and you’re still a waste now.”

He adjusted, leaning in closer, talking quieter. “I have some questions about the bitch who did the article.”

His dad leaned in quickly, almost banging his forehead against the plexiglass. “Shut up, you imbecile. They record every word on these things.”

Shock pulsed through Devon, and he jerked back. He’d thought the rumors of them recording conversations during visits were overblown, but his dad was acting like he was an idiot for talking. Maybe there was some truth about them recording.

“Go home and never come back. You’ve been a disappointment from the day you were born. Should have forced her to give you up. Would have been better for everyone.”

Devon watched as his father stood and shuffled back to the guard waiting for him. What had just happened? His dad had treated him like a stupid little kid. It wasn’t fair. If he could, he would force his dad to listen to him. The old man was being a jerk, treating him like he didn’t matter and was too stupid to run anything.

The old fucker didn’t know what he was talking about. Devon was doing his best working with what he had. The old shit had left a mess, and now he was clawing and fighting his way back to being significant, trying to make everything work.

But he was having difficulties. He needed information, but his dad was such a jerk he wouldn’t get anything out of him.

As Devon left the prison, he laughed. The old man was so inept he was locked up in federal prison while Devon was free. He wasn’t incapable of running a huge enterprise. And he would show his dad that he’d been wrong the whole time.

He would figure out everything he needed to know about the bitch and make her pay. While she’d been in New York, he’d kept tabs on her after he’d figured out where she was staying. They could have grabbed her then, but the plans hadn’t been well thought out. Now he knew what he would do, he was trying to figure out where she’d gone. Once he knew where she was living, he would finalize the plans and take her for a ride that she would never forget.

Chapter 34

Being backin Chicago felt weird. The weather was much cooler than San Diego. Not once since moving to Chicago had she longed for the snow and harsh winters when summer rolled around. This year, she was looking forward to having sun and sand at Christmas. It would be nice to hang out with Jesse and his friends and not be locked inside because of a storm.

Once in her apartment, she started unloading cabinets and packing away everything she wanted to keep. She’d made her life here, well, kind of. She’d slept here less than half the year. Over the last few years, she’d spent at least six months traveling, working on stories, getting to the bottom of reporting so there were no questions left. But Chicago had been home, or she’d said it was.

Now, this was nothing more than a place that she wouldn’t really miss. She’d had a few friends, but most of them she hadn’t seen in person for almost a year. It was hard to call someone her friend if they never really saw each other. They were more like acquaintances who kept up on major news. She’d watched them from afar as they married and had babies, slipping into different stages of life she’d never really understood. Now with Jesse inher life, she understood the desire to be totally and completely connected to someone.

Her buzzer rang, surprising her. She hadn’t expected anyone to stop by. She pulled out her phone and checked the application that showed the camera feed. It was her editor stopping by.

Nichole clicked on the button that would allow her to speak to the person at the door. “Hey, you stopped by.” She buzzed her in, happy to see her editor.

On her way to the door, she checked her image in the mirror, wiping away the dust on her face.How had that gotten there?

She could hear footsteps on the stairs when she opened the door. Happiness filled her as she stepped out into the hall. Months had passed, along with a whole lot of other crap, since she’d seen the woman she worked with.

“Hey, you look good.”

“Lana, it’s good to see you.” Nichole couldn’t help the rise of emotions as Lana held her close. They’d known each other for years and developed a great working relationship. They’d never been close friends, but almost dying when she’d been captured by terrorists had changed how she felt about life.

After a long minute, Nichole stepped back. Lana chuckled as she squeezed Nichole’s arm.

“I’m glad you came back alive. I was worried there for a moment.”

“Yeah. It sucked.”

“Well, your article certainly didn’t. Talk about amazing writing. You really got the heart of the matter, describing what you were feeling and how it affected you. It was so good.”

“Thank you. I’m proud of that work.”

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