“We do.”
What? “What happened to the penthouse?”
“I told you, you weren’t going back there.” Blue chips of ice met my curious stare. “Did you forget so much on your journey through Kansas?”
“God, you’re a prick.”
He led me into the house, and I hated him more because I loved it so much. It had two small front rooms, one had a table and chairs in it, but it looked cosy. The kitchen was good, with plenty of storage space, and yes, it was so much smaller than the penthouse, but it was homey. He led me upstairs to the bedrooms, and I noticed fresh wood carvings on the floor at one of the doors.
“What’s in there that you felt the need to lock it?”
“Your room.”
My eyes flew to his in alarm before I saw that half smirk he seemed to wear when he was with me. “Maybe I do need a lock on my door,” my voice laden with sarcasm.
“The way you eye fuck me every minute of the day?” Raphe brushed past me. “I need the lock.” He pushed a door open. “Your room.” He reached over and pushed open the other door. “My room.”
“You’re right next door,” I said as I looked between the two rooms. The beds were set up against the same wall. I may as well sleep in the same bed as him. Steady there.
“Bathroom.” Raphe watched me as I slowly realised it was one bathroom.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sharing a bathroom with you.” I shook my head adamantly.
“You’ve done it twice now. Consider our trip as practice.” He patted my shoulder as he headed back downstairs. “You performed so well,” his voice carried back up the stairs.
“It’s tiny!” I yelled as I hurried after him. “Seriously, you won’t even fit in that shower.” I ignored the eyebrow. “And how am I supposed to get to work? You took me too far to walk it every day and night.”
“A few weeks off the street and suddenly you’re royalty.”
“I’m being practical, you complete shit.”
“Levi fired you.”
“He did?” Could I be surprised, really? No. “Oh.”
“Let’s talk.” Raphe walked into the kitchen and started inspecting the contents of the cupboards. “We need groceries.” He turned to me and ran his eyes over me speculatively. “Let’s try practical.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I moved into the kitchen, noticing the small back yard and the porch swing. It reminded me of Merle’s house in Gladedale, and I turned away, burying the old pang of sadness. He was watching me closely, and I knew he had seen my dejection. He missed nothing.
“I don’t plan on letting you loose yet.” His hand snapped up to stop me from interrupting. “You’re not telling me your whole story, and I need to know it all. Unless you want to spill every secret you keep from me right here, right now, you stay.” Raphe waited, and I said nothing. “I didn’t think so. Know that it doesn’t make it easier for you if I have to find out myself.”
“I have nothing else to tell you!” I bit out.
His head tilted to the side as he considered me. “You do, I know you do. What I don’t understand is who you think is coming for you that’s worse than me?”
“Are you a bad man?” I looked him up and down. “Undoubtedly. Are you the worst thing that’s out there?” I shook my head as I turned away from him. “Not even close.”
“Try me.” His soft voice crossed the room, and I fought the urge to run to him, find safety in his arms. Jesus, I was delusional. Raphe was not my protector nor was he my shelter.
Turning back to him, I gave him a tight smile. “As I said, I’ve nothing to tell you.”
He watched quietly until I couldn’t hold his penetrating stare. “When you stop lying to me, you’ll find it works easier for you.”
“Why does it make a difference?”
“Because at the moment, I don’t know who’s coming for you. I don’t like unknowns.” Raphe folded his arms across his chest, and my eyes trailed over his biceps, bunched under his shirt, straining at the material. “If I thought it was just you, Devon, I probably would have left your ass in Missouri and good luck to you. But it isn’t just you, is it?” He crossed the room on silent feet, and I remained frozen as he advanced on me. “You’re inventive. You could easily have fooled someone into giving you a job these last two years. You work hard, you say little in the workplace, fuck knows you say enough out of it.” Raphe bent his knees slightly to meet me at eye level. “You chose to stay on the street, hide on the street. Something scared you so badly that you changed your name, and even with your new name, you don’t want to be in someone’s system.”
“You know why I changed my name,” I whispered to him in the deathly quiet of the kitchen.
“Do I?” He straightened, his finger trailing my jaw as he tipped my head back. “I don’t think I do.”
“It doesn’t change what I saw in the alley.” My voice was husky as I looked up to him.
Raphe smiled as he leaned closer, his eyes cold and shuttered. “It changes everything,” he whispered into my ear as his arm slipped around me, pulling me into his embrace. He was so close to me, I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me or bite me. “I’ll get the truth,” he spoke against the corner of my mouth, his lips so close to caressing mine that my eyes closed on their own. “If I have to force it out of you, I will.” I felt his gentle caress over my lips as he continued, “If I have to fuck it out of you, I will. Don’t test me, Devon, I don’t like to be pushed.”
When I opened my eyes, he was gone, and as I stood there with a rapidly beating heart, I was seriously considering telling him everything he ever wanted to know.
One way or the other with Raphe, it was just a matter of time before I was fucked. As I got my breathing under control in the kitchen, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be literally or metaphorically, but I knew my time was running out, and he had left me with nowhere to run.
As I sat in the smaller bedroom in which I had set up the surveillance, I watched her as her hands grabbed her hair off of her neck and piled it up on her head as she let out a shaky breath. She was playing with fire by keeping her secrets to herself. I still couldn’t connect the dots to know what happened in Phoenix, but the more attention I paid to Devon, the more I realised that being homeless had been her choice. She had been careful, methodical, calculated even. She knew when to go to the shelters, and from what information I had gathered on her, she was a regular at the shelter, picking her nights that she chose to sleep on the street.
I had thought I’d figured her out when I realised the history with the ex-boyfriend. I thought she was going to fill in the gap when she sat in front of me and told me how the car accident happened. Instead, I had realised very quickly into her story that she was full of shit. Clever and convincing, but every third or fourth word had been a lie. I knew that, I knew that because she was sitting in front of me. The best way to lie fluently was to tell the truth with a tiny twist.
Devon was an expert liar. Her choice of blending in was questionable, and I assumed that she had been desperate and destitute to take that step onto the street and accept the temporary solution. But that is where she slipped up. I had no doubt that Devon didn’t need to be on the street for as long as she was, but the fact that she stayed there told me she knew someone was still looking for her. How would she know that if she was, as she claimed, nobody?
Not to mention the fact that Louis thought he recognised her. I knew he hadn’t seen her, and I knew she hadn’t seen him, so how was she recognisable to him? That was one of the reasons I hadn’t disposed of her. The nagging of my gut told me she was more than a street rat, and nothing that she had done since had convinced me differently.
I knew she wasn’t lying about the way her body reacted to me. I know it also pissed her off, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it. I had never bought into the theory that a woman can make a man crazy, but as I watched her leave the kitchen and climb the stairs, I was begin
ning to think that Devon was the sort of woman that a man would lose his sanity for.
I just needed to know who the man was.
A soft knock outside made me consider the door speculatively. “Raphe?”
With a sigh, I stood and opened the door slightly, entering the small hallway as she tried to see past me into the room. “What?” I asked her as I closed the door behind me.
“We need food.”
“I know.” I considered her as she shifted her feet.
“Can you get some?”
“Do I look like a manservant?”
“Do you really want me to answer?” she asked as her head cocked to the side. “More of a butler maybe? With your black uniform.”
“You good to go out?” I ignored her jab at my clothing.
“I can go?” Devon looked at me with barely contained excitement.
“With me,” I said as I walked past her to the bedroom I was using.
“Oh.” Devon trailed after me. “You can’t keep me in here this time, can you?” Her look to the windows and the doors was speculative.
“I can.”
“The doors have the finger thing?” Devon asked me in surprise.
“No.” I quickly unbuttoned my shirt to change. “I have rope.”
“You have…” I saw her understanding and then the glare. “You are not tying me up.”
“I think you’d like it.” I pulled a new shirt on.
“Why are you always taking your clothes off in front of me? And why don’t you have any tattoos?”
Running my eyes over her, I shook my head as I tucked my shirt into my pants and then pulled on my gun holster. “You pay too much attention to my clothing and what’s under it,” I said with a smirk.
“You don’t want any identifying marks,” Devon said with a thoughtful look. “What do you actually do that you don’t want people to recognise you?”
“Groceries?” I prompted.
“And you say I keep secrets,” Devon scoffed as she walked into her room.
She was right, we were both as secretive as each other, but at the end of the day, I had fuck all to hide from her, I just didn’t like answering questions. I waited for her downstairs and wondered what the hell was taking her so long. A short while later, she walked into the kitchen, twisting wet hair into a knot on her head.
“You took a shower?”
“I was dirty.”
“How the fuck you stayed on the street for two years is beyond me,” I muttered as I headed to the door. Back in the car, I looked at her as she fastened her seatbelt until she stopped fussing and turned to me.
“What did I do now?”
“Feeling guilty?” I asked as I watched her clench her teeth to stop from biting back a retort. “I need to make a few calls. Can I rely on you to go into the store, get the food and come back out again without your feet taking you in the opposite direction?”
“If you’re getting tired of chasing me, Raphe, you could stop?” Devon asked with a gleam in her eye.
“You enjoy being chased, Devon?” I asked her as I watched her reaction. “That turn you on?”
“You’re obsessed with my sex life.”
“I am?” I considered it. “You flatter yourself.”
“I do? Then why do you keep chasing me? You drove how many hours to get me and then take me back to somewhere new.” Devon looked around the street and up to the house. “You want to play house with me?” A soft smile played around her mouth. “I think you like chasing me too much.” I started the car and drove to the store. Devon looked at me in surprise as I got out of the car. “I thought I was going in,” she asked me as she got out.
“You told me ten minutes ago you were going to run,” I said as I locked the car. “As you pointed out, I have been awake for a very long time, I haven’t got enough fucks to give to follow you today.”
“I wasn’t going to run,” Devon whispered furiously as I caught her arm. “Jesus, you’re a controlling prick.”
“Hmm,” I said as I yawned as we walked into the store. “Get a cart,” I told her as I checked my phone.
“You’re not blending in,” Devon remarked tightly as we walked around the store, the cart getting steadily higher with food.
I cast a casual glance around as I saw I was catching a few more looks than I needed. Mostly from middle-aged women who seemed to like a man in a suit. “I think I’m doing just fine,” I told her as I flashed a smile to a pretty blonde with a small baby.
“You’re such a pig,” Devon snapped. “That baby is weeks old.”
“Point?”
“She’s obviously married,” Devon hissed vehemently.
“Again, your point?”
“The way she’s looking at you and with your M.O., you’ll be following her into the bathrooms.”
I barked out a laugh. “You’re ridiculous when you’re jealous.” I picked up some fresh cut fruit. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Sure sure.” After putting some oranges in the cart, I watched Devon put them back on the pile. “You have something against oranges?”
“You need a nicotine patch,” Devon said as she walked onwards. “Or gum.”
Ignoring her, I picked up my oranges, then grabbed a second bag, just to piss her off. She said nothing as I put them in the cart, but her disgruntled huff made me bite my cheek to stop the smirk.
“I need to go to the personal health aisle.”
“You sick?” I asked her, trying to figure out the play.
“I need feminine…things.”
“Pads or tampons?” I asked as I picked up a large bar of chocolate that seemed to be on sale.
“I’m not answering that,” she said through gritted teeth as we headed to the aisle. “You have a sweet tooth?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“You have a period coming, I’m getting the chocolate ready.” I shrugged slightly. “Call it a defence mechanism for my ears. Rooms aren’t soundproofed anymore.”
Devon stopped pushing the cart and stared at me with her mouth open. “What the hell do you think I’m going to be doing?”
“How the fuck would I know?” I looked over my shoulder at her. “Will this outrage take long?”
“I need paper towels.”
“Why?” I asked as she stalked angrily past me.
“So I can clean up your blood when I kill you,” she hissed as she moved in front.
“Good thing we’re going to the feminine aisle then, plenty of pads there,” I quipped. The look she gave me made me chuckle as she stormed off, her grip tight on the cart like it was a lifeline. When I caught up with her, I watched as she tossed two boxes of tampons in the cart. She kept her eyes averted, but I knew it wasn’t because she was embarrassed, it was because she was absolutely furious with me. Again, Devon’s strong reactions to me amused me.
We finished the rest of the shop in silence. She chose processed meals that could be microwaved or put in the oven and cooked from frozen. I preferred fresh ingredients and said nothing as she eyed my food choices with scepticism.
“What? You think Levi’s the only one who can cook?” I murmured as we headed to the cashier.
“You constantly surprise me.”
“Good.” I met her questioning stare with a searching one of my own. As Devon packed the groceries, I checked my phone quickly before I paid and we were heading back to the car. As I drove us back to the house, Devon spent the entire time silent, staring at her hands in her lap. Pulling up to the house and turning the engine off, I turned to her slightly. “What is it?”
“We just did something normal.” Devon shrugged. “Like we were friends or something.”
“We got food, Devon. Without it, we go hungry.”
“Do you often go to the store with your captives?” she challenged me.
“So, we’re back to being dramatic?” I opened the car door. “There goes normal.”
I heard her muttering as I got
the groceries from the trunk. She came to stand beside me and took a bag off me, heading into the small front yard.
Devon unpacked the food, asking me once or twice where I wanted things kept. I didn’t really care, so she stocked the cupboards on her own initiative as I listened to the few voice messages I had. I needed to return these calls, and I needed to check in with Malcolm.
“I won’t run.” Her soft voice made me turn to her in question. “I’m not lying, I know you don’t trust me, but I won’t run.” She pulled her long hair over one shoulder. “Apart from being an asshole”—her lips twitched in humour—“and being one of the most scariest men I have ever met”—she shrugged slightly—“you haven’t really hurt me. You could have.” She swallowed as she looked past me to the small yard. “And for that, you make me feel safe.”
“One of the scariest?”
“You never give up.” Devon shook her head in resignation. “You’re like a dog with a bone.”
“You better hope I’m not.”
“Why?” Devon returned my gaze with amusement.
“Dogs bury their bones.”
She lost the smile, and her head dipped. “As I said, you’re a scary man.”
“I can ensure that you don’t run.”
“I will not let you tie me up.” Her head snapped up angrily. “My God, Raphe, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been in a house? Like a real house, a home?” She rubbed her hand across her eyes. “I’m so tired. You must be exhausted. I just want to make pizza, take a long shower, and go to bed.” Her head drooped. “I couldn’t run just now even if you paid me to.”
“You need to eat better,” I commented.
“I eat fine.”
“Give me something,” I bartered. “Give me something to show me I can believe your word not to run.”
“I have nothing else to tell you.”
“Liar.”
Her scream of frustration rang through the house. “Fine, tie me the fuck up then. Hurry up, you’re desperate to leave, let’s do it.”
Beautifully Broken (The Denver Series Book 2) Page 23