Page 103 of LOT 62

I grabbed Devon by the back of his t-shirt. “No.” I threw him behind me and turned to face him, blocking his path to the door.

“Maddox, move,” he snarled at me. “I’m not letting Jim get away after everything we’ve been through.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Devon.” I stood my ground. “What’re you going to do, huh? Kill him? You aren’t a cop with the ability to arrest him.”

“No, but I can hold him there until a cop shows up.” He tried to struggle out of my grip, but fuck him. “Maddox!”

“Think about it, dumbass! Jim will throw you under the bus and get your ass thrown in jail, claiming you helped him hit the trucks. You’re staying here, so sit the fuck down.”

“No!”

God, stupid was his main personality choice at the worst times. “Devon,” I warned when he tried to shove me out of his way again.

“I’m going.” He broke free and rushed for the door.

I had one more tool in my belt, and I used it. Keeping my tone level, I said, “Don’t make me lose you before I marry you, Devon.”

He stopped in the doorway, his back to me. He was tense all over, anger rolling off him, but he stopped to think about it. To give himself a reality check. Shaking his head, he took another step outside the door. Then stopped again. This could go two ways: he’d either get pissed enough at me for using that against him and go just to spite me, or he’d back down and apologize. I didn’t care what he did, I wouldn’t let him go. Protecting him from himself was my main job, and I didn’t mind doing it. Nate and Xavi stared between the two of us, Devon tense and me waiting.

Finally, Devon hung his head, and I figured he’d go with the apology option, but he turned around and glared at me. The keys flew across the living room, barely missing my head. “Fuck you, Maddox.”

All was right in our world. I tried really hard to suppress my grin, but he noticed, and it earned me a hard hit to the jaw.

“Don’t be a dick about it. I’m stressed!” He turned away from me, needing some space. “Someone get Hanes on the phone before I lose my shit and kill my fiancé!” His eyes landed on a bottle of whiskey, and I fought myself not to grab it. I trusted him.

I glared at that bottle as hard as he did, but in the end, he turned his back on it, too, probably telling it to fuck off as well. I stood in the kitchen to give him space while Nate and Xavi tried to get in contact with Hanes. Needing to do something to make Devon feel better, I picked up a pastry and took a bite. Or tried to. The things were harder than rocks, but they were his third attempt, and I needed him to know I appreciated the effort. When Devon noticed me chewing on it, he almost looked grateful that it was damn near busting my teeth.

“The trucks are being hit!” Hanes’ voice shouted through the speakerphone. “Right now. I have to go.” He hung up.

“Where’s Jim?” Nate tried shouting into the phone, but Hanes was already gone.

If this night didn’t end with Jim being caught, Devon would completely lose his mind to the darkness he usually saved me from. It’d be my turn to save him.

Itwasthreeinthe morning, and we were all dead tired but way too wired to actually sleep. Hanes had called and told us they arrested two guys for hitting the evidence trucks, but neither of them had been Jim. One truck was still missing, but it hadn’t been taken by Jim. We knew this because Jim was back on that boat, filling our screen with the security footage. And he looked absolutely irate. Something fucked up his plan tonight, and none of us knew what.

“I’m too tired to be angry at you anymore, Madd,” Devon said, sinking down next to me on the couch and resting his temple against my shoulder. “And I won’t thank you for stopping me from making a big mistake. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“I’m sorry this shit won’t end, but I can’t lose you, Devon.” I brought his legs over my lap, rubbing them.

“I know,” he sighed.

We all sat around like zombies, waiting, waiting, waiting to hear something. Anything. The air was gloomy as hell as the reality of the night settled in. We missed our one opportunity to catch Jim in a criminal act. Now the evidence was gone—one truck made it to the secure warehouse, and the other was missing—and we had no way of tying it to him in the first place. Plus, we had a back-stabbing Harris to watch out for.

Like I’d said, everything went to shit.

But I still had Devon. I wrapped my arm around him and held on tight. Priorities, right?

Silence stretched like a bad omen, but still, we all stayed awake and together. Sometime later, a quick knock sounded at the door, and then my dad walked in.

“It’s not over yet, boys,” he said, almost looking hopeful.

What did that mean? We all sat up, wondering what the hell was going on. Devon tensed and stood tall when Patrick Harris walked in after my dad.

“Gentleman,” Harris said.

All that anger that Devon housed finally came out of his mouth. “You fucked us!” Three words that came out like a death sentence. Goddamn.

“I did,” Harris agreed, hands up. “But I didn’t have time to discuss it with you first.”

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