Chapter 33 #2
“Thank you,” she said in a croaky voice.
“You don’t have to thank us, sweetheart,” Kent told her gently.
“But I do . . . you could go to the police and get me in a lot of trouble.”
“I think the police have bigger things to worry about,” Kent told her. “And even if they didn’t . . . Stein was a terrible person. Under the same circumstances, any of us would be angry at him.”
“But you probably wouldn’t send him threatening letters that scared him so much he hired bodyguards.
” She winced. “I do feel bad about scaring Sondra. I just . . . well, I didn’t expect him to hire protection.
I never intended to hurt him. I just wanted .
. . well, I think I was just angry and looking for an outlet. ”
“You won’t do anything like that again,” Hayes told her firmly.
“I won’t. I promise. No more breaking the law.”
“I don’t care about you breaking the law except that it put you in danger. Do you know how much trouble you’d be in if the cops had caught you? If Stein had? You won’t be putting yourself at risk like that again.”
Wait.
Was he upset because he was worried about her?
“You’re not upset that I wasted all of your time?” she whispered, looking over at Kent.
To her shock he just smiled. “I get paid whether the threat was real or not, sweetheart. Just means that my guys were safe. I’m guessing you had no intention of blowing up Stein’s house so he ended up in a million tiny pieces.”
She winced. “I was particularly upset that day.”
“In all seriousness, though, you cannot tell anyone that you did that. It doesn’t leave this room. I won’t be telling anyone else. Because if the police did discover what you did . . . you’d be in serious trouble.” Kent gave her a stern look.
Devi nodded. “I won’t. I promise. I don’t want to go to jail. I just . . . I wasn’t really thinking about that. All I wanted was to make him hurt the way I was. Didn’t think it all through and I certainly didn’t expect him to hire bodyguards.”
“I get it. But no more revenge, okay?” Kent said to her.
“No revenge at all? On anyone?”
“Well, I meant toward anyone involved in your brother’s case. I’ll let Hayes talk to you about any other revenge.” Kent’s lips twitched.
“We’ve heard about the salt in his coffee incident,” Liam said, studying her. “I might consider doing that when someone annoys me.”
“Don’t even think about putting salt in my coffee,” Kent warned him.
Liam just raised his eyebrows. If he was hoping to look innocent, he failed.
“We’re going to get rid of this evidence.
We’ve also gone through the trailer and there wasn’t much to salvage.
But what we could find of yours is in a couple of bags we brought by earlier.
” Kent waved over toward two roller bags that looked brand new.
They certainly didn’t belong to her. “I’m afraid that Liam and I need to get back to JSI.
I’m obviously leaving Hayes here. He wouldn’t come with me even if I tried. ”
Hayes grunted.
“I’m also leaving Donovan. Gwen and Dominic are still here as well. Dominic’s main focus is Gwen’s safety, but if he’s needed, he can be here quickly. Zander and some of his team are here too. They’re hunting the guys that took your father.”
“Do you still think they’re a threat to me?” she asked nervously.
“It’s hard to know,” Liam told her. “They might be angry because you went to the police. But they let you go after you saw their faces. That was a foolish move on their behalf. Perhaps they didn’t think you would survive your injuries.
I suppose if you weren’t found so quickly, then you might not have. ”
Well. That was a cheery thought.
“Won’t Hayes and Donovan be in danger being around me? Maybe you should take them with you?”
Hayes grunted. “Not fucking happening. We’re staying.”
“They’re well-trained,” Kent told her. “They can protect themselves and you. So long as you do what you’re told.” He walked over to squeeze her good hand. “Nice to meet you, Devi. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
He would be?
He reached the door before she remembered something important.
“What about the cost?” she asked.
Hayes tensed.
Kent simply turned and smiled. “Family never owes family.”
The door shut behind them and she frowned in confusion. Why the heck did he keep talking about family?
Hayes settled her back in the bed, tucking the blanket around her before sitting, facing her.
“What did he mean?”
Hayes shrugged. “Who knows what that crazy bastard thinks. The scary thing is that in his family, he’s the sane one. His brother thinks everyone who lives on the Ranch belongs to him. And his sister . . . well, she belongs to Zeke and he has his hands full.”
“Your friend, Zeke?”
“Yeah, he works for Kent, too. That’s how I got my job. Zeke and I were in the Seals together. After May died, he was one of the few people who didn’t let me push him away.”
“He sounds like a good person to know.”
“He is. I haven’t told you about what makes Sanctuary Ranch special, have I?”
She shook her head.
“No? Well, I will. After I scold you properly for the risks you took with those letters.”
“Do you have to scold me?” she asked tiredly. “Can’t I just admit that I made a mistake and we can move on? I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Have you? If you could go back, would you do the same thing again?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Devi,” he growled.
“Because if I hadn’t sent those letters, I never would have met you.
And it’s possible that I would have bled out on that trailer floor because I wouldn’t have known who to call.
Even if I’d called Silla or Mac, they wouldn’t have been close by like your friends were. Do they live on Sanctuary Ranch too?”
Yes, she was partially trying to distract him from his scolding, but she was also interested.
“Fuck, no. Zander doesn’t exactly work for Kent. He will take some jobs that Kent sends his way, but he’ll also go off with his team and take other jobs. He does whatever the fuck he wants.”
“Isn’t it dangerous to go after Fury and those other guys?”
“I’m not worried about Zander and you shouldn’t be either. He and his team know how to protect themselves. They’ll find Fury and those other bastards. But don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”
Drat.
He cupped the good side of her face. “Never put yourself in danger like that again.”
“I won’t.”
“Revenge isn’t healthy. Salt in coffee is fairly harmless. But what you did . . . that wasn’t harmless at all.”
“I know. I am sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I know, baby,” Hayes said. “There is something else we found. Don’t know if it’s important.” He drew a card from his pocket and held it up.
Devi’s heart raced. Shit. It was the card that Vega had given her.
“Whose number is this?” Hayes asked.
She could tell him a lie. After all, Vega had warned her against telling anyone about him.
But she didn’t want to lie to Hayes.
“He said not to tell. And he’s scary. More scary in some ways than Fury. Even though he’s never hurt me. Well, not much.”
“Not. Much?” he asked in a deadly voice.
“If I tell you will you promise me not to go after him?”
“Not. Much.”
That was all he said.
“I can’t tell you, then,” she replied.
“Devi,” he growled.
“I can’t. You can’t go after him!”
“What if I ring this number?”
Shit. She hadn’t thought of that. Actually, it was a bit weird that Vega had cards with his number on it.
Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he tapped on it and held it to his ear.
“This is a bad idea,” she told him.
Hayes pulled the phone away from his ear with a frown. “Number not found.”
Vega must have changed his number.
Relief flooded her.
Hayes crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at her intently. “Tell me.”
“Promise you won’t go after him?”
“I won’t go after him. I promise.”
Okay. She believed him. “His name is Vega. He went to my school, and I haven’t seen him much since he left. I didn’t have any interaction with him until . . . well, I think it was that night after you first spoke to me in the café. I bumped into him at the trailer park.”
“He lives there?”
“No. Apparently, he was there to talk to my father.” He was going to hate this next part. “Vega works for a . . . a man who runs brothels. And according to Rohan, some of those women aren’t there willingly.”
Hayes started to swear. “What did he want with your father?”
“My dad must have been pestering some of his ‘girls’ for a meeting with his boss.”
“About what?”
“Me,” she whispered.
“What. The. Fuck.”
“Apparently Derick wanted to . . . to sell me so he could have money to finance his debt with the Satan’s Sons.”
“That motherfucking bastard!” Hayes roared.
A nurse popped her head through the door and glared at him. “You will have to be quiet or leave.”
“Sorry,” Devi said, watching Hayes warily. “He just got some bad news.”
Hayes turned away from her, leaning his fists against the wall.
“Hayes?” she asked quietly. “Do you . . . can I do something for you?”
He turned, his gaze intense. “Just stay safe. Stay fucking safe.”
Devi nodded slowly. “I’m trying. If it makes you feel better, Vega and his boss decided against taking that, um, agreement. He gave me that card so I could call him when my father turned up.”
“Did you?”
“No, but he . . . he turned up anyway. After Fury did this.”
Hayes paled and moved toward her. “What? Vega was there after you were stabbed?”
“Yes. And he could have killed me, but he didn’t even though he said it would likely make his life easier. That’s when he told me all of this. And it’s why you can’t go after him.”
“Because he didn’t kill you? That doesn’t make him a good person!”
“No, but I don’t need anyone else coming after me. I can’t cope with anything more. Right now, he’s not a threat to me.”
He breathed heavily. “I want to kill him. And Derick.”
“Derick is probably dead.”
“Good fucking riddance.”
“You promised not to go after Vega.”
“I promised I wouldn’t. Not that Zander wouldn’t.”
“Hayes!”
“He’s not a good person. He hurt you. What did he do?”
“Just grabbed me a bit hard. It wasn’t that bad and I bruise easily.”
His breathing grew heavy. Then he closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them again, he seemed calmer. “What about all the women that they do buy? That they kidnap and use?”
Oh God.
She hadn’t thought of that. “We should help them.”
“Not we. But after we leave this town, I’m going to talk to Zander. See what he thinks.”
“Vega and his boss are likely dangerous,” she warned.
“So are Zander and his team.”
She nodded.
“Derick doesn’t deserve to live.”
“No,” she whispered. “He really doesn’t. I’m sorry I’m such trouble, Hayes.”
“Hey,” he said gently, cupping her good cheek with his hand.
Warmth filled her at his touch.
“You aren’t any trouble at all.”
That was a lie, but she let him try to reassure her.
“Thank you for all of this . . . I don’t think I could have done any of this on my own.”
“You’re never going to be alone again, baby.”
Right. Because Rohan was hopefully going to get out of jail and she had her other friends.
Still. None of them added up to having Hayes with her. He had a way of making her feel so safe and cared for. It was going to be hard to go back to being without him.