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That mental reaction tells me everything I need to know about what’s going to happen here today. There’s no way I’ll send her out into the world alone. If she’s being honest, there’s no sense in taking her back home only for her to leave again because her parents won’t let her stay.
“Stay right here,” I snap, annoyed that my day now looks nothing like it did when I woke up this morning.
I turn and leave the room, pulling the conference room door closed behind me.
I’m not a man who really believes in manifesting things into reality, but there has to be some connection between Vaughn being on my mind a lot lately and his sister showing up at the clubhouse.
Kincaid and Emmalyn walk toward me the second I lock eyes with my boss.
Everyone’s conversation halts as they look in my direction. I feel like I’m putting on a performance.
Luckily, Kincaid and his wife follow me a few feet further down the hallway so I don’t have to have this conversation with a large audience. It won’t stop people from whispering or from speaking about it in small groups.
The one bad thing about Cerberus is there are never really any secrets. We don’t speak about our work to anyone other than those in Cerberus, but the folks in the club are like little old women gossiping every chance they get. This situation will be no different. I’m already pre-annoyed at the conversations I know I’m going to have.
“She can stay at our house,” Emmalyn says before I can even open my mouth to explain what the full situation is.
I want to argue, but it’s not like she wouldn’t be safe there.
The only other alternatives would be her staying in my room or in one of the empty rooms in the clubhouse. The latter doesn’t appeal to me at all considering Stormy’s eagerness to step forward and joke about marrying her. The former, staying in my room, makes me feel shit I have no business allowing to creep into my head.
“I would really appreciate that,” I say.
“That guy?” Em asks, her hand coming up to her throat.
“She says he didn’t hurt her,” I assure them, praying Devyn was being honest with me. “I’ll let her know about staying with you guys.”
I walk away from them, wondering if I’ll ever not get pissed when thinking about the man who accompanied her here. My wager on that is it’ll never happen.
I walk back into the conference room, leaving the door open this time. If she’s going to be around here for any period of time, she might as well get used to people being in her business.
“Kincaid, my boss, and his wife, Emmalyn, said you can stay with them.”
Her face falls as if she’s disappointed that I’ve helped find her a place to stay. I swear this generation of ungrateful—
“I thought I’d be staying with you.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” I snap.
“I figured we need to get to know each other better before the wedding.”
I step in closer to her.
“There will be no fucking wedding, Devyn. You need to—”
When laughter bubbles out of her throat, I realize she was joking. The playful glint in her eyes is worlds better than the tears that were there earlier. It also tells me that she never expected me to fall for that promise I made all those years ago.
I’m questioning my sanity when a small wave of disappointment hits me as I follow her out of the room.
Chapter 9
Devyn
“You met Kincaid,” Emmett says as he walks up to the guy he claims is his boss. “This is his wife, Emmalyn.”
I shake her hand when she holds it out to me. She has a kind smile, the type that you can tell she uses often, the evidence in the shallow wrinkles around her eyes and mouth.
“Please call me Em. It’s lovely to meet you, Devyn. We have a room at our house we’d love for you to stay in if you’d like.”
I almost turn her down. The kindness doesn’t seem like it’s forced, but it’s not something I’m used to.
Quincy’s moms are lovely women. They treat me well, but it took me a long time to get used to them showing any concern over me. This woman knows nothing about me and is already looking at me like she cares. Although it doesn’t seem fake, how could it possibly be real? I understand compassion. I see it in online videos all the time of people taking in stray animals and nurturing them back to health, but I’m not a damned dog.
I give her the best smile I can manage.
“I’d really appreciate that,” I say, because even though I’m not exactly comfortable with it, I wasn’t lying when I told Emmett I have no other options. Besides, it’s not like I plan on staying here forever. Maybe the jobs in New Mexico pay better than the one I had in Nebraska. It might be possible for me to make enough money to get out on my own faster than I did back home.
