Chapter 13
My quiet reprieve is short-lived when the twins and Rhyann walk through the door. Two of the three people are the last two people on earth I want to see right now, but fate seems to hate me at the moment.
“Bro, welcome back to the land of the living!” Liam exclaims with a jovial smile and… is that a stuffed dog in his arms? “Stopped in the gift shop to get you something warmer than your fiance to snuggle with.”
Liam laughs as he sets the large brown, stuffed puppy next to me on the bed. “Thanks,” I say in a monotone voice. “What are they doing here?”
It’s nearly impossible to miss Rhyann”s flinch at my acidic words. Good, it’s her fault I’m in this bed to begin with. If her and Devon weren’t out fucking around secretly, then the rest of us wouldn’t have been worried and going out to search for her. Then I wouldn’t have gone to the apartment when I did and get caught up in some bullshit robbery.
“I didn’t ask to be here, asshole.” Rhyann flips me off but is otherwise quiet and stays at the far end of the room.
“What’s your damage man?” Devon growls, standing protectively in front of Rhyann. I always knew he had a thing for her, even when he swore for years that he didn’t. Even when he stood in her kitchen less than a week ago, promising me and Liam there was never and would never be anything between them.
“My damage is the drama and the chaos the two of you caused last night just so you guys could go off and fuck somewhere.” I turn my head and stare out the window. “Aubree told me everything this morning, and I don’t fucking want to look at either of you.”
The door to my room squeaks softly as the door is opened and then closed. I don’t bother to make sure they left. They know what they did was fucked up and I’m the one who suffered for it. So, they can leave without any recognition for all I care. The thought of them leaving barely gets past my mind before thick hands are wrapped around my neck and I’m all but lifted from the bed.
My head snaps to the side to take in a face full of rage. Devon is hovering above me, one small flex of his fingers and he would be crushing my windpipe. “What the fuck?” I choke out.
“I should ask you the same fucking thing, you narrow minded piece of shit.” his breath is hot against my cheek.
“Devon, let him go, I don’t think you hurting him will help matters any,” my father says calmly. Devon lets go of my throat and my back hits the thinly padded mattress. The side where I had been stabbed burns as my body readjusts to the bed.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” a nurse says, clearing her throat behind Liam and Rhyann.
“Sorry,” Devon says curtly and moves back to stand beside Rhyann.
“Mister Crawford, I just came in to let you know the doctor said you’re cleared for release,” the nurse explains. “ He’s having the discharge paperwork drawn up right now. I’ll be back shortly with them and you can get ready to leave.” She smiles at me and my father before walking out quickly with her head down.
“Well, that was awkward,” Liam says with a chuckle.
My father sighs and shakes his head. I have no fucking clue whats going on right now, or why the twins and Rhyann are here, but I am relieved to be able to get out of this god forsaken place.
The quiet detective coughs. “If the lot of you are done with your own personal drama, we are here for a reason.” His matter of fact tone draws all eyes on him. “As we told the Morris brothers and the older Mister Crawford this morning, there’s been a break in the case this morning.”
“Which case?” Rhyann asks from the other side of the room.
“Well both,” the chatty detective explains. “The same person who tried to kidnap you the first time is the same one who broke into the apartment and stabbed Mister Crawford.”
“No shit,” I grumble.
“That’s not all,” he goes on. “The fingerprints on the car matched the ones found in the apartment. But there was also DNA left behind.”
“The prints and the DNA were a match in our system.” the quiet one says.
“To Garret Montgomery.” The two detectives drop a ghost bomb on us all. Rhyann gasps and I turn to see her brace herself against the wall. Her face is pale and she looks like she’s going to vomit.
“Impossible,” my father says.
“That’s what we thought as well. So we are hoping to get a blood sample from Miss Devereux to see if they’re a genetic match.” Both detectives look in the same direction my eyes have been locked on since the revelation.
“I can’t,” she breathes out.
I sit up in bed, the sting of my stab wound sending lightning through my whole body. Fuck, moving hurts. Before I can make my way over to her, Liam is right there, wrapping his arms protectively around Rhyann. She pushes him away, shaking her head rapidly.
“And why not?” I don’t know which detective asks, all I can do is watch the facade fall and the head strong feisty woman that Rhyann worked so hard to become is gone, and the little girl who was orphaned at ten years old is all that remains.
“I just, I can’t. I’m sorry,” she sobs and runs out of the room.
“She was adopted,” my father offers an explanation. “She just found out this week.”
Holy shit! I look to the brothers, and it looks like I’m the last to know. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I ask, trying to reign in my anger.
Devon glares at me before he leaves toe room to check on Rhyann. She was adopted. By blood, she isn’t a Devereux. The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. All these years, our whole lives, if I had known, so many things could have been different. I need to go to her, I need to talk to her, to explain. I need to apologize.
“I have to talk to her,” I blurt out in pain. I grab the back of my hospital gown when I realize that there’s nothing covering my bare ass, and I doubt the detectives and my father want an eye full of my white cheeks.
“Tate, I think you should sit down and let Devon handle it.” My father rests his hand on my shoulder.
“You don’t understand. I fucked up,” I tell him, panic rising in my voice.
“Ya think?” Liam glares at me.
“Sit back down son,” my father guides me back and gently pushes me into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. I look up at the pair of detectives as they stand close together, talking quietly amongst themselves. “Take my blood.” Every head in the room snaps in my direction and I sigh before explaining what I always thought was my mothers drunken ramblings, that may just turn out to be true.