Page 75 of Trust No One

“It was wrong of them to fight like that in front of you,” she said, her fingers curling into his waist. “You were a kid. What kind of message was that giving you? That you couldn’t rely on your partner? That home wasn’t your safe place, where you could talk about anything and your partner would listen?” She leaned back and studied his face. “You know that’s not normal, right?”

He shrugged. “It was normal for me.”

“Didn’t you have friends whose parents loved each other?” Mel asked. “Parents who were true partners? Who relied on one another?”

Dev shrugged. “Maybe I did. But I guess the lessons I learned were the ones from my own parents. The ones I saw all the time.”

Mel took his hand and tugged him toward the couch. She sat down and drew him down beside her. Held onto his hand as if she would never let him go.

“You know I heard you on the phone with your sister Zoe when she called you about… about personal stuff,” he began.

“Yeah, and when you asked about it, I told you it wasn’t your business.” It had hurt that he’d rejected her, but still thought he had the right to ask her those personal questions. “That it was between my sister and me. It’s still not your business.”

He swallowed. He deserved that, and he knew it wasn’t his business. “I know that, Mel. I haven’t earned it, but I don’t understand how relationships survive horrors like your family’s. How did your mother cope with what happened? How did she handle that awful, life-changing situation?”

Mel drew in a deep breath. Didn’t say anything, and at first he thought she would shut him down cold. He’d opened his mouth to apologize for nosing into her business when she said, “My mom was devastated. Completely destroyed by my father’s death. Ethan didn’t mean to kill my father, but that didn’t make Dad any less dead.

“Zoe and I were wrecked. Our whole world shattered.” She swallowed and stared at her hands, clasped between her knees.

“I’m still in awe of how my mom pulled herself together for me and Zoe. She took care of us. Sheltered us from the reporters. From her curious, morbid friends. Fromourcurious, morbid friends. The DA and the detectives on the case told her to move away from Illinois. For our sake, and for hers.

“So she moved us across the country to Seattle. Changed our last name. All to protect us.”

She sighed. “Zoe and I couldn’t see it at the time. We were too wrapped up in ourselves. Our adolescent lives. Our mom was completely wrecked when my father was killed, but she pulled herself together for us. Because she loved us and wanted to protect us.”

She swiveled on the couch so she faced Dev. “That’s what parents are supposed to do, Dev. And since your parents didn’t do anything like that for you, the only conclusion is that they were miserable human beings and complete and total shits as parents.

“Maybe you should look at their marriage through an adult lens. You’ve seen Simon and Caroline. How they are together. How they care about one another. Protect one another. And all of our agents who’ve gotten married are the same. That’s how a relationship is supposed to work. Supporting one another. Caring about one another. Putting the other person’s needs before your own.”

Dev stared down at Mel, his expression awed. “You were really lucky,” he finally said.

“Yeah, I know I was. And Zoe knows it, too.” She swallowed. “Our mom passed away about five years ago, and I miss her every day. I know Zoe does, too.”

Dev squeezed her hand, then stood up. He moved away from her like she was on fire and he was kindling wood. As she watched Dev, he swallowed. Swallowed again. Was he fighting tears?

She’d never seen Dev cry. It was the last thing she’d expect from the hard-as-nails SpecOps guy.

When he was far enough away from her that she couldn’t touch him, he said, “Thanks for sharing that with me.” He tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace. “It’s… it’s hard to see other people’s experiences when you’re stuck in your own personal hell. I guess I was pretty immature back then.”

‘You were a kid, Dev. Kids are immature. It’s the definition of childhood.”

Mel was pretty sure there wasn’t any possibility of a future for her and Dev. Up until this trip, she’d have said ‘no way’, and she’d made her peace with that. But she also wouldn’t have expected Dev to share such intimate details of his life with her.

She still didn’t think it was likely she and Dev would end up together – there was too much hurt, too much pain in their past.

But for the first time, she saw a glimmer of hope where there’d been none before.

Chapter 26

Mel hated waiting. For anything.

Sheespeciallyhated it when she wasn’t sure what she was waiting for.

Pacing her room, she made an endless loop between the tiny ‘living’ area and the bed. Dev had finally thrown up his hands and retreated to his own room. “You’re making me dizzy,” he said as he closed the door to her room.

Mel drew a shuddering breath as she watched him go. Sighed as she listened to the door close softly behind him. She couldn’t blame Dev. She was makingherselfcrazy.

After Dev had been gone for twenty minutes or so, her burner phone rang. She dashed over to pick it up and saw a number she didn’t recognize. She tapped the button to accept the call and took a deep breath.

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