Night Break

by Carey Decevito

  “You can stay, Dalton,” she said. “Devolin shouldn’t be alone when I leave.”

  That’s a little cryptic.

  “Mom?” Devolin prompted, while I found a seat on the sofa.

  The older woman’s sweet demeanor turned to one of anger as her face suffused with red. “Where the fuck have you been, and when were you going to tell me that you were working for your uncle?”

  “Mom—”

  “Don’t Mom me, young lady!” she shrieked, getting up to her feet, setting a pacing rhythm. “We talked about this. You promised! Promised, Devolin!” She skewered her daughter with a venomous look.

  “Mom—” Devolin tried again, coming to sit next to me.

  “No! Max called you up and asked you to help him” she growled, pointing her finger in our direction. “You and I talked things over and I told you that this was dangerous business that you were getting into. You told me that you wouldn’t.”

  “I know.” Devolin’s shame was evident in her words.

  “Then why? Why would you do this?”

  “Because he’s family,” she answered. “You taught me that no matter what, family is always there for one another.” Joleen’s mouth opened, then snapped shut. “I told him to contact Dalton and his team.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

  Devolin’s mother didn’t miss the act.

  “That’s why you were here that day, wasn’t it?” Her look of accusation was directed at me. “You dragged my daughter into this after she’d given me her word.”

  “No, Mom!” Devolin cried. “Dalton and I worked a case on a missing woman a year ago. That’s how I knew he would be able to help Uncle Max. I just didn’t expect to find what I did, which is why—”

  “Which is why she got in touch with me,” I supplied. “I brought her onto my team because she’s amazing at what she does. Her talents were wasted with Hewitt.”

  “You put my baby in danger!” she raged on.

  “I kept her safe.” My tone was firm. Unwavering.

  The older woman met my gaze and locked there. Her posture relaxed some within seconds. “You’re not just her boss, are you?” Running out of steam, her ass met the chair she earlier vacated.

  “No, ma’am,” I admitted.

  Joleen’s eyes shifted from me back to her daughter, then filled with tears. “I got a call from your uncle’s lawyer this morning.” Taking a calming breath, she pushed forward. “Scott was found dead in his cell last night. He was shanked.” Devolin gasped beside me, her nails digging into our joined hands. “They found out that Nadia had played them, but I expect you already knew that.” Devolin and I both nodded. Shaking her head, Joleen leaned forward, massaging her temples. “I suspect you haven’t gotten word of this latest news just yet, though.”

  “What is it?” Devolin prompted her mother.

  “This morning, the RCMP was sent to arrest your uncle. They got there too late. Nadia’s body was found badly beaten. Max was hospitalized with similar injuries. They don’t think he’ll make it either.”

  My breath caught in my throat.

  “What?” Devolin whispered her disbelief, then looked at me. “Y-you told me that she would be safe. You told me that they all were going to be safe. Kip—”

  “Baby.” I released her hand, grabbing onto her shoulders while I shifted to face my woman. “I told you that they’d do everything they could, but you know that there aren’t any guarantees.”

  Devolin gave me a feeble nod as her mother continued her explanation.

  Turning to Devolin’s mother, I sighed. “I need details, Jo.”

  “They said it was a break and enter gone bad. The house was ransacked, but nothing seemed to be missing except for Max’s computers, and the safe was found empty.”

  On Devolin’s soft sob, I pulled her into me. She followed my guidance easily before mumbling, “Ortiz is going to get away, isn’t he?” in my chest.

  “He might,” I gave her the truth. “But Miguel will do everything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. Nadia made sure he had all the information he would need to put him away. It’s out of our hands now, sweetheart. I know it’s not fair, but we did what we had to do to make things right.”

  “And we failed.” She balled up a fist and slammed it against my chest, beside her face.

  “We succeeded, Devolin,” I told her. “Eighteen women got their lives back. All because of you, me, Nadia, and our team.”

  Another feeble nod.

  I sifted my hand through her hair until Devolin regained her bearings enough to pull back. Pecking me on the mouth, she said, “You’re right. But it doesn’t make it easier.”

  “It doesn’t,” I agreed, then grabbed at both sides of her face, dipping mine into hers, “but it doesn’t make what we do any less important.” Her eyes cleared a little as she contemplated my words. “Come here.” Kissing her forehead first, I pulled her in for a hug.

  Despite the tears streaking down her face, Joleen’s smile was hard to miss.

  I think I just won the woman’s stamp of approval.

  Chapter 41

  Dalton

  Devolin was a mess.

  Even with my years of training and experience in the army, losing a charge or a client was always a tough pill to swallow. It was hard for me to remain detatched from the entire situation this time, however. Where every case was a job to me, the Wentworth case hadn’t ended that way. Normally, I would close a file and move on, usually never hearing from my clients again until they needed something else. This time, I was privy to the aftermath, and I didn’t like it.

  Not for me.

  Not for Devolin.

  Losing a family member wasn’t an easy thing to get past. When you lost a relative because of something you were involved in however, it left a mark. A dark one. A stain that may fade, but never truly disappears, even after a lifetime.

  Believe me, I know.

  Call me crazy, but that commonality with her made me want to share.

  “I was seven when my mother died,” I whispered against Devolin’s hair.

  We were cocooned under the fleece throw on her couch. She’d been quiet. Dejected even, and I wanted to bring her back to the here and now. Get her out of her head.

  My words apparently worked.

  Shifting so she could push herself up, I was met with a sympathetic gaze studying my face.

  “She was sick,” I proceeded. “She suffered from seizures.”

  “She was epileptic?”

  I nodded. “They started after I was born. Dad stayed with us, working from home most of the time, back then,” I explained. “She was diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia a day after giving birth. The seizures started a few weeks after we got home. By the time I was three, the doctor had diagnosed her with epilepsy. The preeclampsia caused too much damage to her nervous system.”

  Devolin’s hand cupped my cheek. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I need you to know that you’re not alone in your guilt,” I told her. “I know how you feel, believing that you could have done something to stop what happened, but not doing it. Even when the truth of the matter is, that there wasn’t anything to be done.”

  Devolin forced me to my back, crawling over my body, her hands grabbing each side of my head. She stared me down.

  “Kip, you were seven!”

  “Young enough to be selfish, but old enough to know better,” I muttered. When Devolin’s brows furrowed, I kept talking. “Mom’s seizures were almost nonexistent by then. She was on medication and it worked for her. She’d only had one seizure that year, and it was July.

  “I was outside, playing with a friend when we decided to climb the old willow in my yard. I’d done it dozens of times that summer.” Licking my lips, I geared up for what came next. “Dad warned me to stay out of the thing after a bad storm. I didn’t listen. I never listened. I guess boys will be boys, right?” She nodded, one corner
of her mouth tilting up. “I should have listened, sweetheart,” I whispered. “I climbed that thing like I always did, but something went wrong. The branch I was standing on snapped while I shuffled back to make room for the other kid. I fell about ten feet, but it was enough to snap my upper arm.”

  “Kip—”

  “Steve, that’s the kid’s name, ran to find my mom. I remember the panic in her eyes as she cleared the broken branches away from me. She wasn’t thinking clearly and ushered me to the car. She wasn’t supposed to drive, but I didn’t know this. Everywhere I went, my parents were always with me. But Dad was out of town on business that day.” I closed my eyes so I could tell her the rest. “I don’t know how much you know about how seizures are triggered with epilepsy, but an emotionally charged state…stress…can bring one on.” It had.

  Devolin’s grip on my face tightened as she braced. “We were a block away from the hospital when the seizure hit. She ran a light, the car coming from our left smashing into us.”

  “Oh, Kip,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

  “It was my fault, Dev.” I finally opened my eyes. “She died because of something I did. Fuck, she died because of something I didn’t do.”

  “No! No, Kip.” She shook her head vehemently. “You were just a kid. You can’t—”

  “Old enough to know better, remember?” I held her gaze. “But you’re right, I was just a kid. I didn’t know everything like I do now, and even though I do, it doesn’t change the fact that I carry that guilt with me every day.”

  A silent tear escaped Devolin’s eye and I reached up, catching it with my thumb.

  “So what are you saying?” she asked. “That I’m entitled to feel guilt?”

  My eyes searched hers and I nodded. “That, and the fact no matter what we did or didn’t do, it most likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome. It took me years and the army to come to terms with that, Dev.” Another tear trickled down her cheek. “We can only do our best, and ask for help when we need it. Then we need to deal with the outcome.”

  Her lips quirked up. “We can only control our actions, not everyone’s reactions.”

  I nodded, my lips tugging upward. “Yeah. Basically, it doesn’t matter what we ended up doing for Nadia, Max, and Scott. You couldn’t control what they ended up doing. When someone wants something bad enough, especially a bad someone, they’ll take every measure to get what they want. Had Ortiz missed his opportunity to get to them, he’d have found it some other way, some other time. Criminals like Enrique Ortiz are resourceful and patient.”

  “Yeah.” She swallowed hard, one hand moving to my chest, above my heart, and the other, to skim her fingertips over my lips. “I’m so sorry about your mom, baby,” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry about Max, Scott, and Nadia.” Wrapping a hand around the back of her head, I leaned up to kiss her forehead before pulling her into my chest where she started sobbing.

  Chapter 42

  Devolin

  I was so fucking sick of crying.

  So when Dalton announced that his sister was on her way over, I welcomed the family drama I knew was about to ensue.

  Skylar greeted me with a tub of rocky road and one of her tight hugs. “I’m so sorry, Dev,” she whispered. I nodded against her shoulder. “Any news on your uncle?”

  “No. Mom’s on her way to him right now,” I explained. “She’ll call when she gets in.”

  Dalton’s arm wrapped itself around my middle and pulled me back into his front.

  This caused Skylar to smirk, but her demeanor quickly changed to one of annoyance. “By the way, I talked to Dad.”

  “And?”

  “And?” she snorted.

  “Yeah, and,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been out of country.”

  “I know,” she growled. “I got that little tidbit of information on Sunday, when I called Devolin to find out where the hell you were because you weren’t answering my calls or messages. He was waiting on you.”

  Dalton didn’t say anything to this.

  As for the tension between father and son, I knew that it had something to do with Skylar’s mother, Dalton’s stepmother. I’d never met the woman, but the things that my best friend had shared with me sent chills of revulsion down my spine. I couldn’t blame Skylar for keeping her distance from the woman. I also had a feeling that what she’d shared with me wasn’t the whole of it.

  “Was she there?” he asked.

  Skylar sucked her lips in between her teeth.

  Guilty.

  “That’s what I thought,” he growled, let me go, then started pacing my living room.

  “She just showed,” Skylar whispered. “Dad hasn’t invited her to these things in months, D. Not since—”

  “Say it,” he growled.

  Skylar’s gaze met mine, then flickered to her brother, then back again. “Not since…” She shook her head. “D, she doesn’t know.”

  Feeling uneasy about the direction this conversation was headed, I started to back away from them, moving toward the kitchen. “I should—”

  “No!” Dalton exploded, making both of us jump. “If you’re not going to say it, I will, Skylar. She nearly ended your career before it fucking started! Because of her shit, I nearly landed my ass in jail after she encouraged that bastard to keep trying for you. You almost got raped!” His hands feathered through his hair, yanking at it angrily. “It took her nearly killing Dad for him to see the light,” he bellowed.

  My head was spinning with all that I learned. Skylar had confided in me about her near rape, but I had no idea that her mother had a hand in that. Vile as a description of the woman no longer sufficed. I’m pretty sure they still haven’t invented the word to describe her yet.

  “D—” Skylar started.

  “I’m done with this conversation,” he said with finality and locked his gaze on his sister.

  “And what should I tell Dad?” Skylar asked, arms crossed over her chest.

  “Tell him he’s got dinner at Kip’s on Friday night,” I blurted out.

  Matching silvery-blue eyes stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “Kip?” Skylar inquired with an amused expression, while Dalton demanded, “What?” simultaneously.

  “And I’ll cook,” I added, taking the few steps I needed to come to my man’s side. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I looked up at him. “I didn’t know much of the story, but I have heard your sister complaining about how you never show up at family dinners. I think it’s time you changed that. Starting with a new location.”

  Dalton’s expression gentled as a humored glimmer entered his eyes. “Okay, sweetheart.”

  A snort made us turn to our visitor. “It’s been what…a day since you two have gotten together, and here she is laying down the law.” Skylar giggled. “I’m liking this role reversal, brother.”

  A grin made its way onto my face, while Dalton groaned at his half-sister’s words, his gaze flaring with lust.

  “I think we can both agree there’s one place I’ll always be the lawmaker,” he said.

  My heart kick-started, my blood warmed. Biting my lower lip, I gave him a subtle nod. This earned me those dimples of his and I found myself leaning up toward them.

  “My eyes are burning!” Skylar dramatically exclaimed.

  I couldn’t help the eye roll that made Dalton laugh as he leaned into me, whispering, “I’m going to want to know what just went through your mind right now. Later.” His all-knowing grin had me squirming against him, blushing ten shades of red.

  Chapter 43

  Dalton

  Friday rolled around.

  I hadn’t seen Devolin since late Tuesday morning, when I dropped her off at the airport for her flight.

  In the early hours of Tuesday morning, she’d received a call from her mother. Max hadn’t made it through the night, having suffered a massive heart attack.

  The funerals
and interment were yesterday. Joleen stayed behind to take care of her brother’s estate. Devolin, on the other hand, was all about rushing back, letting me know, that in no uncertain terms, was she going to miss our dinner with my father.

  With that said, I left work early to run some last-minute errands for my woman. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I walked through that door. All I knew is that I couldn’t wait to hold Devolin in my arms again. We hadn’t had time to breathe and just be us since we began. I wanted normalcy. I needed it. So did she.

  What I witnessed when I walked into my house had me smiling.

  First, I was hit with the smell of spices and garlic.

  Second was the sound of Melissa Etheridge’s, “Come to My Window” mixed with their giggles.

  Creeping up on them, I was greeted by a lip-syncing half-sister and a dancing Devolin, both too busy to notice they had an audience, even when the song ended and segued into Etheridge’s, “I Want to Come Over.”

  In the midst of belting out the chorus, Devolin turned and finally noticed me. Skylar was too busy giving it her all with her back to me, chopping away at vegetables. The girl could never carry a tune. Hell, she sounded like a screeching cat on the best of days.

  “I’ll be right back,” Devolin called out, not waiting for the other woman’s response.

  Slapping her hands onto my chest, she led me backward around the corner from the kitchen’s entryway, into my living room.

  That’s when I took over.

  Picking her up by her ass, I slammed my mouth onto hers. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her legs around my hips as I pressed her back into the wall, taking what I was denied for days.

  Her taste exploded on my tongue, and I couldn’t help grinding my hips into hers, eliciting a tortured moan from Devolin. One I swallowed, feeding off it before I slowed things down.

  Keeping her pinned to the wall, our lips parted enough for me to nuzzle her nose with mine.

  “Let’s make a deal,” I whispered, sneaking a quick kiss. “If either of us needs to leave town, the other follows.” The woman’s body began to shake against mine. “I mean it, Dev.”