“Fuck you! Who the hell do you think you are? You come into town under the guise of a small-town basketball coach. You force yourself into my life, and then you fuck me over with your lies.”
I watched him closely for a reaction, and he knew that I knew the truth.
“Devan, I can explain.”
“Yeah? I don’t care to hear anything you have to say. Just get the fuck out of my home and out of my life.”
I moved past him with such a force that he stumbled on his feet. He called out to me, but I ignored his call as I hurried down the stairs to the bottom floor of my house. I found my mom’s note telling me that she took Paxton to camp and would pick him up afterward to spend the night with her and my father. I snatched up the note and crumbled it and threw it at Jake.
“You did this, didn’t you? What did you say to my mother?”
“After I introduced myself to her at the Y today, I asked where you were. She didn’t know. I promised that I would find you. I told her that we had some important things to discuss and that it would be better if Paxton wasn’t around.”
“That’s fucking big of you to send my son away for the day when we both know you’re trying to steal him away from me behind my back! I want to hit you so fucking hard right now that you will spit teeth. My son is my entire world, and I will do everything humanly possible to protect him. I’ve done it for his entire life, and I will continue to do so until I take my last breath. Fuck you! Fuck the Harpers! Fuck your betrayal!”
And fuck me for still wanting him. I can’t take being in this close proximity to him. I still feel his savage kiss on my lips, and I want more. But I know he’s hurt me with his lies, which just makes this situation so much worse.
I tried to move past him, but this time he stopped me. I was shoved up against the wall, with Jake caging me in.
“Go home, Jake,” I barely uttered when he held me in place and would not let me go.
He then let out a breath of his own and leaned as close as he could to my mouth without kissing me. He said, “I am home, babe. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”
I tried to shove away from him, but it was no use. He was too strong, and my struggle and want to be away from him slowly dissipated.
“I can’t do this, Jake. I want you gone.”
“Now who’s the liar here? Will you shut up for one damn minute? I would never let anyone, including the Harpers, to ever hurt you or your son.”
“That’s a lie,” I said.
“No, baby, it’s not. I love you, Devan. I have from the first moment I laid eyes on your picture. I knew I had to protect you, but I just couldn’t swoop in and reveal the truth to you. I had to play both sides until I gathered up enough information to help you fight them. Yes, they know Paxton exists, and they are desperate to know him.”
“How do I know that you are not playing both sides right now? You can just be saying what I want to hear and then kidnap Paxton for the Harpers. I’ll take him and run as far as I can before I allow them to ever touch one hair on his head. I have the resources to disappear, and I can make that happen in an hour.”
“Yes, that may be true, but I am also a man of means, and as far as you run, I will find you. Devan, please believe me that I will not let them hurt you or Paxton. You don’t have to run anymore, nor do you have to live your life under the protective radar you seem to feel the safest in. You can come out into the open and be free. And with me. If you give me another chance to prove it to you.”
“Why should I do that?”
“I love you. I promise, baby, your heart is safe with me.”
“You love me? How can you say those words to me? When everything from your mouth has been one lie after another?”
“You’re wrong. I didn’t want you to find out this way. I thought I would have had more time to talk with you. When I saw you on the security feed, you looked completely devastated. I’m so fucking sorry to have put you through that. But it’s out there now. Please, just allow me to explain it all to you. I promise I will tell you everything.”
I had no strength left and felt the fight leave my body as I slowly stopped struggling against Jake’s hold on me. I felt as if I was falling, but he caught me and held me in his arms. Not a second later, I was lifted up and over his shoulders in a fireman’s hold, and he was carrying me back upstairs to my bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.
“I need you, Devan. Please, let me have you,” he whispered seductively as he ran his tongue down alongside my neck.
I was losing the battle against Jake and the sensual assault he was doing on my body. I wanted to tell him, no, but I could no longer deny my heart for this man, and I simply gave in to my desires.
“Yes. Make love to me, Jake, and don’t be gentle.”
“Get on the bed, Devan. Now.” He was back in full authoritative Dom mode, and I didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes when he commanded me to do what he wanted.
I dropped my robe and positioned myself in the middle of the bed. Within seconds, Jake was covering my body with his. He held my face in his hands and leaned down to take my mouth in, one punishing kiss after another.
“I know you don’t believe me, but I swear it with every breath inside of me that I love you, Devan, so much. I promise with everything I am, you are safe.”
I said nothing more and allowed Jake inside of me. It was this urgent need to be with him that had the power to outweigh any logical thinking on my part. I’d been alone for so long that in this moment, I didn’t care about anything, even his duplicity.
By the time my team left, I was exhausted but still decided to stay up and go through everything I had on the Harpers. My heart felt heavy with thoughts of Devan and what I would say when I finally had the chance to speak with him. I was worried about his reaction, and I feared that he would reject me after he knew the truth.
I was ready to call it a night when Mike returned to my house. I opened the door, and he was holding his iPad in his hands.
“Hey, forget something?” I asked.
“More like discovered something after I left.”
“What happened?”
I looked over at his iPad, and he showed me what he discovered. Before I moved to this house, I had my remote team wire the house and connect up to our servers. If anything or anyone breached the perimeter of the security measures I had in place, we would be alerted to it. I’d been so preoccupied with Devan and all that I discovered when I went to Arizona, I hadn’t had time to review anything else.
“Fuck, who the hell is that?” I said as I looked down at the grainy screen on the iPad that Mike was holding, but I couldn’t make out the figure. Once we were inside, I played back the video feed on the bigger monitor I had in the spare bedroom. Once the image came into focus, I balled up my fists to my side.
“Who is it?” asked Mike.
“It’s my worst fear come true. It’s our target in question, the man who has stolen my fucking heart. That’s Devan Knight!”
“Shit! How the hell did he know where you lived?”
“Come on, Mike. Are you that dense? He’s been here to my home, or did you forget about what I did last Saturday night?”
“Okay, stupid question. I’m sorry. What are you going to do now?”
“Fuck! This can’t be happening. He wasn’t supposed to find out this way, and the bigger question is how much does he know?”
“One way to find out. Rewind the feed.”
I brought back the feed to the time my team arrived earlier at my house. An hour probably went by, and then his car came into focus. The next screen showed Devan walking up the stairs to my front door with his hand mid-air, and then suddenly stopping. He stepped back, but from what I could gather on the screen, he definitely looked as if something caught his attention. Minutes later, he fled the porch. He didn’t show up again on the feed until I walked out with Mike, Jonah, and Marcy. As I walked back up the stairs, a dark figure emerged from the shadows, and it was Devan.
He looked shattered and destroyed, believing I had betrayed him.
“There it is. He knows and probably hates your ass,” Mike bluntly said.
“Gee, you think? Get back to Seattle and monitor the Harpers as we discussed. In light of this new development, tell Marcy to cancel tomorrow’s meeting with them and just say that I am following up on a new lead and will be in touch as soon as I can.”
“You think that will stall them enough?”
“Mike, it has to. I have no other choice but to find Devan and pray that he hears me out. It’s too late tonight to seek him out. I’ll see him tomorrow morning when he drops off his son at camp, and then I’ll ask to speak with him in private and hope he gives me a chance to explain.”
“This is a first. We’ve never had to deal with the boss falling for the target.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I feel as if he’s hit me straight in my heart, and it’s a wound I will never recover from, nor do I want to.”
“Well, good luck. You’re going to need it. Keep in touch.”
“Yeah, thanks, man.”
I closed the door and then almost punched the fucking wall in frustration. I can’t believe this is happening. I thought I was so careful with him. Even when we were together just a few nights ago, he only went as far as my bedroom, not that he could get into the spare, which I had locked. On the outside, my home looked comfortable and lived in, but really it was just a front for the reason why I was here. My entire view of the assignment changed the minute I met Devan, and now that I had him, there was no way I was letting him go.
I sent him text after text, with no response in return. This would be the longest night of my life, but I would have to wait it out until morning when I would see him again. He just has to hear me out.
I didn’t sleep at all, not one solid minute. My mind raced for the rest of the night thinking about Devan and the hurt look on his face when he left my home last night. He must have heard us; it was the only logical explanation.
At least I know he didn’t leave in the middle of the night. I called in another favor to Foxtrot, and he pulled up the satellite to monitor Devan’s house. I told Foxtrot to call me immediately if he suspected something wrong. My last report came in early this morning when I was told that Paxton left the house with a woman, and the description I was given matched his grandmother. I took the quickest shower of my life and grabbed my stuff to head over to the Y.
Once I got there, they hadn’t arrived yet. Maybe they made a stop before camp. It would be the only way that I could have beat them there. Miles strolled into my office with two coffees, which I declined mine. I was too wired for caffeine.
“How was your trip?” he asked. I knew he messed with Devan yesterday, and I wasn’t in the mood for any games this morning.
“It wasn’t really a trip, more like a long errand. Why do you care so much?” I questioned.
“No reason. I was just curious. Take a chill pill, Jake. Why are you so upset?”
I stood tall and rounded my desk to face him. “Just stay out of my way and out of my business, and we won’t have a problem. Okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” he shakily said and then turned to leave the room.
I slammed the door after him and let out a few deep breaths. Get your shit together, Mercer. Five minutes later, I walked out to greet the campers and begin my day. I kept looking for Paxton, and when he finally did show up, I felt relieved, but where was his father?
“Hey, Paxton, give me five.” I stretched out my hand, and he slapped it as hard as he could.
“Morning,” he said with a smile.
“Did your father drop you off?” I asked him as I pulled him to the side.
“Nope. He’s working today. My Nonna drove me. She’s outside talking to Sebastian’s mom.”
“You’re nanny?” I questioned.
“No, silly. Nonna is another word for grandma. She likes that name. She says it doesn’t make her feel old. I don’t think she is. My Nonna is the best. She can not only bake the best cookies but can also play basketball.”
“Thanks, Paxton. I owe you one.”
I laughed at his honesty and his obvious love for his family. This kid was freaking awesome. I gave him a fist bump, which he happily returned. I watched him join the other boys and then over my shoulder, I called out to Miles to cover for me and didn’t give him time to agree or disagree with me. By the time I reached the parking lot, I saw Mrs. Knight in her car getting ready to drive off. I called out to her to wait. Then she smiled and stepped out of her car.
“Thanks for stopping, Mrs. Knight. I’m Jake Mercer, a friend of your son.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Mercer. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Please, call me Jake. If I may be so forward to ask...” I hesitated for a brief moment and then inquired, “Where’s Devan?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. The last time I spoke to my son was last night when he went searching for you, and with my encouragement to do so. Now, I don’t know you, Jake,” she enunciated very slowly. “All I know is that when he left his home last night, he was happy. You just can’t know what it took on Devan’s part to take those steps, and for you, Mr. Mercer. You are someone I truly believe he cares about. I don’t know what happened last night, but I suspect he is back at home and locking the world out. He’s probably figured out by now that Paxton is with me, but that’s beside the point. What the hell did you do to my son? Because if you hurt him in any way, let me just say that a mother’s wrath is a powerful weapon. You hear me, Jake?”
Shit! This woman is fearless and totally challenging me. “Mrs. Knight, I swear to you that I haven’t seen or talked to your son since Sunday, but I promise that I will today. I just have to find him first.”
She softened her stance against me and told me that since his car was still in the garage when she left this morning, he probably was still home and slept in. I went out on a limb and asked her if she would stay with Paxton and to keep him until she heard from Devan. She only agreed because I promised that I would make matters right with him, and I confessed that I cared a great deal about her son. I wasn’t going to throw out the love word to her, but maybe she already knew.
I checked out for the rest of the day and left to find Devan. I only prayed that he would listen to me. His mother was generous enough to give me the code to enter his house. For someone who threatened me not an hour ago, she sure trusted me to help her son. Not that breaking into a house would have been a problem for me, but knowing the code made my life easier.
His car was still in the garage, and the house was quiet. I checked all the rooms and bedrooms, with no sign of Devan. When I went upstairs, I found two rooms that were locked. One I assumed was his office and the other his bedroom. I listened for any movement on the other side. I knocked a few times, and he didn’t respond. I almost kicked it in but pounded one more time, and the door flung open to a very distressed Devan on the other side of it, looking enraged with me. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of low hanging pajama pants that rested on his hips, showing just enough of the sexy hairline that my mouth found the first night we were together. My eyes scanned over his body until he felt my stare on him. He quickly closed his robe and lashed out at me.
After our fight and begging for him to listen to me, I was stunned that he actually agreed. Once we were back in his room, there would be no place for him to retreat to. When he asked me to make love to him, I thought my heart was about to stop beating. He sounded broken and defeated, but still, with all the hurt he displayed, he still wanted me to take him. The selfish part of me wanted just to strip him bare and fuck him into the mattress, but I wasn’t that cold to realize that’s not what he needed, no matter how much he asked me to.
“I’m so sorry, baby. Please just let me love you, and then I will tell you everything. I promise you, Devan, you are safe with me.”
“Stop talking, Jake, and just fuck me.”
He sounded the same w
ay the night at the club when I got too close and he got scared and walked out on me. This is what he does, he retreats to a dark place and resides there until he’s pulled back up to the surface. No! I wasn’t going to let him do this. I needed to show him that I wasn’t just using him for a quick release. I was here with him because I loved him and wouldn’t be leaving him, no matter what.
I held his naked form in my arms and just breathed him in. His eyes were closed, and I didn’t miss the tears that fell down his face. I wiped them away quickly and replaced his tears with my kisses.
I whispered, “Devan, please look at me.” I said it with the hope that he would. He looked in pain but slowly opened his eyes to me. I continued, “You are so much more than what you are asking of me. Please, let’s not demean what we have. I am not going to just fuck you and then walk out the door to never be heard from again. I’m here because I want to be, and as mad as you are at me, you didn’t kick me out. It’s not just about sex for me. My feelings for you run so much deeper than I ever believed I could feel for another person.”
“You can’t possibly believe that, do you? And if you say yes, then how the hell am I expected to believe you after all the lies you have told? Was taking me to bed a part of the plan?”
“Devan, I know you’re angry and have a right to be, but every minute that I have spent with you has been because I wanted to. I never lied to you, not about my feelings.”
“You need to leave, Jake. Get out of my house.”
“No, I won’t do that, not before I have a chance to explain.”
“Man, you are an arrogant fuck to barge into my life, my home, and make demands of me!”
“Yeah, I could say the same for you. Minutes ago, you were begging me to fuck you, and now you’re asking me to walk out of your life and not have a say in it? No, that’s not going to happen. Now, you can stop fighting me, and if you agree to listen to what I have to say, then I will let you up from this bed. Deal?”
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