Chapter 26 Devon #3
“No.” I shook my head, planting my feet.
The fabric of my life, and who I thought I was as man, had just been ripped out from under me.
I was done having conversations in corners.
Done with the secrets. Just… done. “I fell in love with her,” I said, not aiming it at anyone in particular.
“I’m not going to apologize for it either.
She’s into me too—or at least she was until she found out about Levee tonight.
Now she thinks I’m some asshole repeating history while filling up a bingo card.
” I gripped the back of my neck, not able to squeeze hard enough to alleviate the pain behind my sternum.
“That’s where we’re at.” I looked at Leo.
“So if you’re gonna fire me, just do it already. ”
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody looked particularly surprised either.
Lark cleared his throat. “We’ve known that you two were at the bare minimum sleeping together.”
“For a while,” Alex confirmed.
“Even before the bra,” Johnson said.
I stared at him. “The what?”
Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Her bra landed on one of the bedroom cameras few weeks ago, blocking it. The Guardian office lit up with alarms, so we turned on the audio and heard enough to read the situation.”
“And be scarred for life,” Jude added.
I sliced my gaze to Apollo.
He raised both hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me like that. I acted with discretion and immediately cut the audio…after a few minutes.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic. And nobody thought to tell me?”
“Why the hell would I tell you anything?” Leo rumbled. “I’d already warned you about blurring lines. Did everything short of skywriting it. But you’re right. We’re here now.” He jerked his chin down the hall. “The part I’m most concerned about is the fact that she’s in there.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Fuck. Maybe it is a pattern.”
His brows shot up. “Come again?”
“She thinks it’s a pattern. Me falling for the woman I’m protecting. But that’s not it. The pattern is me screwing up and screwing myself over in the process. The first time damn near cost me my career, but I’m fucking terrified that this time it’s going to cost me her.”
Leo let out a long breath. “What are you going to do about it?”
My mind drifted back to her dad sitting on that overturned crate, his mind longing for the woman who was completely out of his reach.
You’re gonna screw up, you’re gonna argue, you’re gonna apologize, and then you’re gonna make up.
It’s the circle of love. As long as you don’t do anything you can’t take back, don’t call her names she can’t forget, and you spend every day trying to make sure you’re making her life as good as she’s making yours, you’ll be fine.
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “But it’s Lofton. So, no matter what, I’m gonna hold on with both hands.”
He smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. “Good, because you are absolutely fired.”
I shot him a scowl. “Really, you’re gonna do this now? You couldn’t wait until maybe I’m not on my knees anymore.”
He scoffed, then flicked a knowing smile to his wife, Sarah. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. A woman brings you to your knees, you don’t ever get up. You won’t even want to.”
I blew out a ragged breath. Yeah. That tracked.
Perfect. So now all I had to do was win back Hollywood’s hottest movie star… as an unemployed bodyguard… who she currently thought was a lying, emotionally stunted asshole.
No problem. Piece of cake.
Fuck. My. Life.
Alex cleared his throat from across the room. “So, is this like a everybody-needs-to-leave crisis, or are we still allowed to eat? Because it smells incredible and I’m starving.”
“Yeah. Please. Eat.” I waved a hand without looking at any of them. “She’d be pissed if you didn’t. I can’t afford to mess up again tonight.”
The women hesitated, exchanging glances, but the guys didn’t waste another second before filing into the dining room, stomachs overriding manners.
I didn’t move.
I just stood there, staring at the door she’d disappeared through.
Every instinct I had was screaming at me to fix it. To go after her. To make it right before the damage set too deep to undo.
But I had no fucking idea where to even start.
I could’ve stormed that bedroom, poured out my heart, said all the right words, but she thought I was a liar. And as much as that felt like a jagged blade straight through my chest, my words didn’t carry any weight with her anymore.
And if actions spoke louder than words, I didn’t exactly have a highlight reel working in my favor there either.
But that wasn’t the whole story.
I hadn’t always been this guy—jaded, guarded, screwing things up at the worst possible moment. My life wasn’t defined by a few bad weeks with Levee or one omission with Lofton, no matter how badly those things had blown up in my face.
I was a good man.
I’d spent my whole damn life making sure of that.
Taking care of the people who depended on me. Doing the right thing when it mattered. Showing up when no one else did. And I had a house full of people who could back that up.
People who’d seen me at my best—and at my worst—and still trusted me with their life when it counted.
“Hey, Rhion?” I called.
She smiled and came walking over, her yellow dress sweeping the floor. “What’s up?”
“You know how you write all those books about romance and shit?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t usually include shit, but yes, I do in fact remember that I write books.”
“Good, now I need you to forget everything about that.”
Her brows shot up, but a slow smile curled her lips.