Page 62 of (Un)Rivaled

“Fuck,” Gray groaned, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “You can’t say that shit to me, Devyn. Gets me hard.”

“Good,” I chuckled. “I like having that control over you.”

“You always have,” he muttered, reluctantly releasing me. As I started to push the door open, Gray called out, “I do.” When I turned around, he continued, “I do have faith in you, more than anyone else in the world. You’ve been slaying dragons by yourself for a long time, Ace, and I know you can handle anything life throws at you alone.” He walked closer and took my hand in his. “But you don’t have to, not while I’m around.”

I could only nod, not sure how to articulate what that meant to me. For so long, I felt like a one-woman army, refusing to let anyone see how lonely I felt. It was worth it to know if any of this went south, the blowback would be on me—and me alone. But hearing Gray say those words mademy chest lurch, wanting to gift him words of my own. Three words, to be exact, ones that had been on the top of my tongue for days.

There was no doubt in my mind. I loved Grayson Anders more than anything else in this world. It was the kind of love that had the power to destroy me, but despite our past, I trusted my heart in his hands.

But now was not the time for confession, not with my sister waiting on us. So, instead, I lifted onto the tips of my toes and kissed him. “Thank you.”

Being around Laurel was strange.When I spent time with Calla, I instantly relaxed, knowing she was practically the other half of my heart. But standing around Laurel…it was almost unnerving.

I didn’t realize how far we’d drifted apart until this moment, when we stood on opposite sides of the room, staring at each other. Looking at the two of us, there was no question we were related. We had the same sharp lines on our faces, the same curve to our nose. We even had the same careful, blank expressions.

But that was where the similarities ended.

The air was tense inside the small room, little more than a bed and a couple of end tables filling it. The walls were covered in a beige, patterned wallpaper, the edges starting to curl with either age, neglect, or both. There was a large window that faced the parking lot, and that was where Gray stood while the rest of us stood more in the middle. Laurel hadn’t stopped pacing since we walked in, taking up the back of the room with her annoyed steps. Tomas laid on the bed, the only one of us who didn’tseemed phased by all the frenetic energy filling the air around us.

As Tomas turned his laptop toward me, I stepped forward and started to talk. “This is where we last left off. We’ve been trying to tie different off-shore payments from shell companies to David’s funds. This last one here…The Condor Account, that was the last one we tracked before I left the firm.”

“That’s great, Ace,” Gray said, his eyes sparkling with pride.

“Great,” Laurel huffed. “I cannot believe you are allowing her to get involved in all this. Have you thought about the risks? Have you thought about what could happen to her?”

“I’m right here,” I insisted, ready to say more, but Gray beat me to it.

“I’m not telling Devyn what to do. She’s a grown woman, and like it or not, we need her. Besides, you might feel comfortable manipulating people to get your way, but I’m not doing that to her. Ever.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m following her lead from now on, and either we all work together, or we walk out that door and take our findings with us.”

I think I fell a little more in love with him.

Laurel stared at my husband, her eyes narrowed to a lethal point. I reached out and took his hand, not willing to let her target all her rage at him. “You’ve done enough behind my back, Laurel. We’ve both been at this for years separately. It's time we try something new.”

Laurel’s eyes widened, as if she was seeing me for the first time and I was finally seeing her. Gone was the air of propriety, her perfectly crafted attire and smile. I hadn’t seen any emotion but quiet contentment from Laurel foryears. But now, the mask was eviscerated, and despite the hostility, Ilikedseeing this side of her. It was better than thinking she was an unfeeling clone of my mother, worshipping at my tormentor’s feet.

“Fine,” Laurel snapped. “We’ll try your approach.”

“Oh, good,” Tomas said as he sat up. “As far as team-up speeches, it wasn’t the best, but hopefully it got the point across. Now, can we finally end the pissing match and get to work?”

Laurel narrowed her eyes in his direction. “She can stay, but I still have my doubts about you. Who exactly are you?”

“Tomas Molina, best Private Investigator on the east coast,” His eyes traced her form, and he smirked when he looked up at her scowl. “Does that work for you, gorgeous?”

“Not in the least,” she said as she turned back to face me. “Any other surprises, or is the Scooby Gang all here?”

“Ouch,” Tomas said, bringing his hand to his chest. “I think you wounded me.” As he walked to the boxes lined up along the wall, he leaned down and smirked at the detailed work. Over the years, we’d made copies of everything as a fail-safe, nervous digital copies could go missing if someone caught on to what we were doing. As he reached the last one, he smirked over at Laurel. “Luckily for you, I like my women mean. Turns me on.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was used to Tomas’ antics, but it was a very different story when he was hitting on my sister. Mymarriedsister. “Tomas, leave my sister alone. I’m pretty sure Laurel would eat you alive.”

“Sister, huh?” He looked between the two of us. “Those are some good genes.”

“Watch it,” Gray growled.

I placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from approaching Tomas. My friend just laughed, unfazed by thesix-three giant glaring at him. “Glad I finally get to meet the husband.” He winked at me. “Devyn’s told me a lot about you over the last couple of months.”

Gray’s eyes flicked to mine, all the hostility fading to warmth. “You told him about me?”

“Maybe.”

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