Keyes continued to stare into Alec’s eyes. Seconds later, Alec’s shoulders went slack as Keyes released his hand and stood to his full height.
Dev suspected they were on borrowed time and started toward the only bedroom in the guest house. They weren’t ten feet away when Alec voiced his concern, “This is unsafe for Key. The ink’s barely dry on the judge’s order.”
“I give you my word Keyes is safe here. This is important to Dev, and he’s important to us. We’ve got his back,” Cash replied reasonably.
Keyes had to have heard too. His large frame shadowed the surroundings as Keyes went to stand at the edge of the mattress that took up most of the space inside the room. “What the fuck, Fox?”
That probably wasn’t the question it seemed.
“Back at ya,” Dev shot out. They didn’t have time for this. Neither man in the living room was going to allow them to be alone for any real length of time. Dev scrubbed his hands down his face, trying to find a quick explanation that would make all of this seem more reasonable. “Look...”
“How long?” Keyes asked with attitude, crossing his brawny arms over his chest.
“Honestly? Not long. Not near as long as you been secretly datin’ an assistant Dallas district attorney.” Fuck Keyes for being so pissed off. Dev’s anger built fast, licking across his spine as he fought not to spout off. “And besides it wasn’t my idea, so settle your ass down and quit bowin’ up at me. I’m the fuckin’ reason you and your boyfriend aren’t dead right now so give me some fuckin’ room to speak.”
Dev’s irritation fell hard between them as Keyes remained tense. His gaze slid in the direction of the living room. “So what’re you sayin’?”
“I knew about you and him when you were arrested. I was the brother assigned to watch you at the jailhouse. My old man got a call about Alec bein’ there for you. He was suspicious as fuck. I leaked Ray-Ray’s bullshit with the cunt DA to the news station. As for Cummings well…” Dev lowered his voice. “Everything I did was to take the focus off you, Alec, and my pretty-boy boyfriend out there.” Dev made sure to use air quotes when he said the word boyfriend. “The Dallas DEA has known about Alec and you for a long time, probably since you first started hookin’ up. That’s how they got to me. I did what I had to do because I was protectin’ you, and Abi, and Mae. It’s real fucked up.”
Dev knew his explanation was more of an information dump than clarification, and that he was all over the place with his words. Keyes looked like he normally did when trying to process Dev’s crazy way of communicating—confused but trying to understand. He’d get there. He always did.
“Who do you need to protect the girls from? The club?” Keyes asked menacingly, bowing up again in protection.
“The club’s not the threat, but my old man is. I forget that you don’t already know shit. I usually tell you everything.” Dev said, raking the blunt tips of his fingernails through his hair, the sting of the scrape settled him.
“Apparently not,” Keyes barked, his hairy brows arching.
“I’m gonna say this out loud to you then I’m never sayin’ it again to anyone, so listen close. Abi and Mae aren’t biologically mine. I’m sterile. Tena went behind my back and made a pact with my old man. He fucked her, and she got pregnant. The girls are his.”
“What the…” Keyes started, shaking his head in disbelief.
Dev cut him off. “I saw the proof myself. Something my old man did to me when I was a toddler. It left me sterile. The motherfucker knew all along. Hid it. Child Protection Services was involved. Don’t know what my mom knows. Probably nothing…”
He took a deep breath to help stay on track. “My old man devised this plan to knock Tena up to try to settle me down. Basically control me. He knew I wanted a pack of kids.” Dev’s heart skipped a beat as he absorbed the full impact of his own words. He sucked air into his lungs, fighting against the anger that slashed across his heart. “Nobody knows. Well except a few people in the DEA and you.”
“That sounds like bullshit. A way to trick you to their side,” Keyes scoffed, his beefy arms dropped to his side, his voice sounding more normal, much more sedate. Worried actually.
“I agreed to work with Cash if they buried the girls’ DNA records. And I asked ’em to take care of you.” Dev hooked a thumb toward the living room. “I found out about you and him the same night I found out about the girls. At first I made a deal to keep their intel about you and Alec away from the club. Then I asked ’em to fix your shit, too, right after you got arrested.”
“What?” Keyes asked. It was probably the shock that had him lowering his ass to the end of the mattress, taking a seat.
“Yeah. Cash wiped your criminal record too.” Dev took the step or two forward to stand in front of Keyes. He was throwing a lot at the man and waited for whatever question Keyes had next.
“Are you responsible for me havin’ to leave the club?” Keyes asked. His serious gaze landed directly on Dev. He had to pause on that one. How would Keyes take the truth?
Dev swallowed a lump forming in his throat. His heart hurt as he nodded. “I am. But only to protect you from what’s comin’.”
The full weight of Keyes’s stare had him questioning his decision to come clean.
“And what’s comin’?” Keyes asked.
“I don’t know exactly. Whatever Cash is doin’ here means it’s bad. Shit’s goin’ down with the club. There’s theft, and I’m not sure what that means. Cash’s department knows all about the runs we’ve been doin’ on the side. I don’t know how they know. The leak’s gotta be comin’ from somewhere. My guess is an agent’s in the Disciples ranks but I’m not sure.”
Keyes stared at him for a second or two longer before he looked away and scrubbed that calloused hand down his own face. “What the fuck, man? This is…”
“You looked happy,” Dev said, cutting Keyes off, trying to find something positive to say. “I’ve never seen you so happy.” When Keyes only stared at him, he decided that look meant he needed more information. “They have pictures of you and your dude at his house. That’s where you’ve carried on this relationship, right? His house.”
“Yes,” Alec said, drawing their attention to the open door. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Agent Ryan just hit the high points.”
