Devin #2
When the Bastards from Omaha had shown up and kicked the door in, she’d gone willingly.
They’d wanted blood, they’d wanted to storm the house and burn it down, but she’d begged them to just take her home.
She knew they’d only bowed to her wishes because it would’ve already been in play and decided without her.
But she couldn’t let them wait for Thom and end him or Ida would’ve had no one.
She’d witnessed firsthand how much Thom cared for his mother. He’d pursued and taken Devin just to give her the care he couldn’t afford, so she would’ve been safe there without her, right?
That’s what she’d told herself for months.
But a nagging question had plagued her ever since. Was Thom A, an out-and-out bad guy, or B just a morally flexible son caught in an impossible situation?
Life was never all black and white, but one thing about the whole fucked up situation that was, no matter the answer, he had done her wrong. No matter the reason, he needed to pay, somehow. The only question had been how to make him pay and not Ida in the process.
If she’d let the Bastards do what they did best, Ida would’ve been left all alone. If Thom went to jail, Ida would end up in one of those god-awful state care facilities.
Neither outcome was acceptable to Devin. Ida hadn’t committed a crime. She’d just had the misfortune of her only surviving relative being her asshole of a son.
That’s what she’d believed anyway, until two weeks ago when her therapist had her talking about Lucas leaving for college.
That’s when it’d hit her, she’d done a performance worthy of an Oscar so her brother would feel comfortable leaving her in her mother’s care at a tender age. Who’s to say what she’d witnessed from Thom and Ida had been anything more real than what she’d done?
She’d convinced herself of the conditions Ida had been in and Thom’s devotion to her, but was any of it real? She had to know. She had to see it for herself.
Devin knew she could’ve come clean to Lucas, and Zombie would’ve made all the calls.
Had Omaha punish Thom and get Ida out. But she also knew that Lucas would shield her at all costs.
He’d even lie to her if it spared her pain, so she couldn’t trust anyone else’s account.
She needed to see with her own eyes, fresh open eyes, not to mention she needed to stand for herself.
With Thom and then her mother. Tell them what assholes they were and free herself from their voices in her head. Take their power away.
She had a plan for Thom, her mother not so much.
From his very first job, Lucas had set Devin up a savings account that her mother couldn’t touch.
He still deposited money in it every single month, had always done so.
She’d never touched it, not a single penny.
Never planned to, however, she would now.
It would go strictly to Ida’s care. Devin had Joanie reach out to friends in the industry and had already chosen the best facility she could afford.
Her plan for Ida was solid.
Confront Thom and make him listen to her say her piece. Then threaten him into signing the guardianship agreement she’d printed from a legal document generator, and Ida would get to live out her days in relative comfort and safety, away from Thom.
And none of the Bastards ever had to know that she was the type of person who would leave a bedridden woman behind when freedom came for her.
Shame threatened to consume her yet again. Loyalty was everything to them, they’d never leave a brother or his ol’ lady behind, not for anything.
By the time she checked into the Omaha Inn, it was late and she was emotionally numb. No sleep last night, followed by a sixteen-hour drive, and her mind still wasn’t wanting to shut down.
All the things that had run through her mind on the drive had taken their toll. The worst part of feeling this raw was she was unguarded, that made her nervous for what was coming.
She needed sleep. There were just a handful of hours before she had to get to Thom’s to catch him before he woke in the morning.
Vulnerable. That’s what Lucas had always taught in defense. Catch your enemy with their pants down so to speak, and that’s what she planned for Thom. If not, she could’ve waited and shown up later while he was at work and just waited for him.
Nerves were fucking up her sleep. She’d hit the hay almost as soon as she got to the hotel, she wanted to be well rested for what lay ahead.
However, after just a short time, she was awakened by her phone.
A flurry of texts had come through. Scott and Harmon had both been texting up a storm.
Demanding proof of life and mental state.
She rolled her eyes and texted each back. However, as she read through the texts from Scott, there was an unexpected undercurrent she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
While she was trying to puzzle it out, another text came through.
From Jasper.
A pleasant sensation, like carbonation, zinged through her bloodstream. Could she really be in deep with him when she didn’t even think herself capable? At least her body thought so.
JASPER: How was work today?
She typed, fine as always and deleted it. Then retyped a variation of the same, deleted it. Over and over until he probably thought she was writing a damn book report from the bouncing dots that never produced a response.
The fact was she’d never out-and-out lied to him, and she didn’t want to start. Eliminated details, yes. Avoided and deflected hard questions. Hell yeah, she was a pro at that. Bald-faced lied to him? Never.
She settled on what to type and it instantly felt wrong.
DEVIN: I had a long day.
It was a lie of indication if that was a thing.
JASPER: Really? That busy at the office?
Shit, it felt so wrong. If she answered it too ambiguously, it would be a lie.
DEVIN: I played hooky from work, but still a long day. I got up early after barely any sleep, remember?
The sense of wrongness lessened with the truth, even if details were eliminated.
JASPER: Good girl, Darling Devin. winky face emoji
The winky face emoji she got, he was proud of wearing her out and keeping her awake, the good girl, while causing her pussy to spasm, was confusing. Before she could dwell on it too long another text came through.
JASPER: What are you wearing?
DEVIN: Ninja Turtles Underoos and chicken leg socks?
DEVIN: image
It was a lie, the Underoos part anyway. She was wearing his tee she snagged from the hotel, because it smelled like him, and Tuesday underwear even though it wasn’t Tuesday.