Page 35 of LOT 62

And it was all my fault.

The door banged open and an angry, disgusted, pissed off Maddox stepped in with his fists already balled.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Devon?”

“Madd, wait.” I raised my hands in defence. I’d fight him if it came to that, but maybe I could diffuse him first. “It was the only time I could do it without Gary being there. I had no other choice!”

He scoffed at me, sick of my shit. “You could have told me, Devon. You could have asked for help. I’m sick of you lying to me about this.”

“Because I’m trying to keep you out of it, Madd. I’m trying to protect you in case anything goes wrong.” I needed him to understand that.

Maddox lowered his fists, but his anger level only increased. “What’d you just steal? Something completely illegal, I’m assuming?” He took a step inside and slammed the door shut. “So, tell me how you’re protecting me by putting yourself at risk? Explain that to me, asshole.”

“Because I’d be the only one who went down if shit went south. You’d have nothing to do with it!” I yelled at him.

He shook his head in disbelief, running his fingers through his dark hair. “In what fucking world does losing you protect me?” he asked, an eerie calm to his voice. “If you go down, I’ll go insane trying to get you out of it. What don’t you get about that?”

“I get it, Madd. I do, but this is the only way to get him out of our lives for good. With him gone, we won’t have to worry about him coming after us anymore.”

“Because that’s whathe said? And his word holds so much promise, yeah?”

“His word means nothing!”

“Then why do you believe this shit is worth it? Why are you being his bitch boy if you don’t even believe him?” He threw his arms out.

“To protect you!” I screamed, tears burning the corners of my eyes and bile burning my throat. “Do you know how many times you’ve saved me? It’s my turn now, and this is the only way I know how. Let me do it for you!”

“You aren’t protecting me. Stop being stupid about this. I just need you. Not you in jail. Not you under your dad’s thumb. Just you.” Now he looked close to tears, which made mine burn hotter. “Don’t make me lose you again, Devon.”

That stabbed my heart. I walked up to him, putting my hand on his chest. He bristled, but he didn’t back away. “I’m earning his favour and his trust because I’m trying to set him up. I’m not being stupid. I’m planning. You won’t lose me. I won’t let that happen.”

We were fairly even in height, so his eyes looked straight into mine. He said, “I love you, Devon, but you’re making a big mistake.” He shook his head and pushed past me, closing the bathroom door. When the shower turned on, a tear fell down my cheek.

Well, he hadn’t left me or broken up with me, so that was a win, but I knew I stood on thin ice. Just when I got my priorities straight with time management, I fucked up with something else. But this time I did it for him. For the right reasons. I’d stay three steps ahead of my dad. Now that I had what he wanted, everything was in motion. When he hopped on that boat towards his great escape, he’d actually be heading straight to the authorities. I simply had to tell them the time and place.

I pulled the stolen folder off the kitchen counter. Millions of dollars worth of illegal contraband was coming in on a shipping vessel. I had no idea how my dad knew about it, but I had to assume he’d worked out a deal with the ship’s captain, who knew this contraband would be on his ship. Either that, or he fucked over Patrick Harris to steal this con. If I could get him caught with this, he’d get locked up forever. And forever was a long time.

Maddoxhadbarelytalkedto me in a week. He was still at home—a miracle in itself—but he wasn’t mine anymore. Not right now. He made me sleep on the couch, didn’t spend much time with me, and made me fend for myself with meals and necessities. He was pissed, and I couldn’t blame him.

While he hated on me from nearby, I hated on myself from within. I couldn’t get a cop on my side because of who I was. A scorned son and a lowlife. It didn’t buy me much power with the authorities, and the fact that I had a record made me unreliable. I had all the proof, the shipping slips, my dad’s involvement, and the ship’s identity, but Garron Police didn’t have any faith in someone with the last name Sawyer.

“What’s wrong now?” Nate sat down beside me on the dock where Maddox and I had sex after the last time he bailed me out. I hoped he wouldn’t have to do that again. “You’re miserable, Dev.”

I rubbed my tired eyes. The couch wasn’t comfortable, but sleeping without Maddox was even more uncomfortable. “Oh, I’m just fucking everything up again.”

“Well, stop.” Nate nudged me. “Whatever it is clearly isn’t worth it, so just stop.”

“It is worth it this time.”

Nate scowled. “You better not be cheating on him or I’ll kick your ass.”

“I’m not cheating on him. Jesus.” I looked at Nate. “I’m trying to protect him, protect us, but he doesn’t agree with it. So it’s pretty much the cold war at our place right now. I’m sleeping on the couch and he’s being dark and moody.”

“Why do you think he needs protecting?”

Because our dad threatened him. The way Dad let that threat trail off scared me. That man hated me enough to do something to Maddox just to hurt me. He knew where to hit to cause the biggest impact, and that was Nate or Maddox. “If anything ever happens to me, just make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid for me.”

“What’re you talking about? You’re scaring me.” Nate grabbed my arm. “If this has anything to do with Dad, you better tell me.”

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