Page 67 of Devlin

Devlin settled into the chair and, without delay, said, "Mia and I are back together."

Robert looked to the side, his jaw tight, but he said nothing.

Continuing, Devlin said, "I know you two were close. I know you dated. I'm coming here to let you know that as long as there's no interference from you, I have no problem with you. I also want to inform you that Mia wanted to tell you herself."

Robert's gaze jumped back to Devlin.

Pressing on, Devlin said, “She's a good woman with a good heart. She cares about you as a friend and wasn’t in favor of me coming here, even though I need to talk to you about some things happening in the camp. I told Mia that men understand things differently and that you'd appreciate me coming, even if you didn’t like what I had to say.”

Robert held his gaze, then finally scoffed. “I bet she was real happy with that, wasn't she?”

Devlin shook his head, but his lips quirked upward. “Mia is her own person, and I would never interfere with that. And she's also a person who would've preferred telling you about us herself. I'm not here to swing my dick or piss a circle around her. I just wanted you to know and hear it from me. I don't interfere with who she's friends with. I respect her choices and friends. And the fact that she has remained friends with you after you two dated a few years ago tells me that you must be a good man.”

At that, Robert's brows lifted in surprise. The two men were quiet for another moment, and then, finally, Robert nodded. “I knew it was over years ago between us. She's an easy woman to fall in love with, but something always stopped her from becoming mine. She never gave me details of her past relationship with the mysterious man who broke her heart, but I knew a part of her would never fully allow herself to give everything to me. When she realized my feelings were deeper, she broke off our relationship, offering friendship only. It hurt like hell, but for a woman like Mia, I would take friendship with her over nothing any day.”

Devlin understood exactly what he was saying and nodded in agreement. “Did you come out here because of her?”

Robert hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “Honestly, yes and no. I was looking to move up, and being the lead logistics and supply chain officer for a huge refugee camp was going to look fucking good on my résumé. We hadn't talked for a few months, but I heard she'd taken a job out here, and that settled it for me. I didn't know if she was still hung up on the guy from her past, but again… just being around her was enough to make anyone happy.”

“Fair enough.”

A muscle in Robert's jaw tightened, and he held Devlin's gaze. “My question to you is, can you make her happy? From what I understand, you broke her once.”

“I'm not going to discuss my past relationship with Mia, but years have passed… a lot of water under the bridge. We’re back together now, and I don't plan for it to change. And that, Robert, because you're a friend of hers, is all you need to know.”

Robert nodded slowly. “Okay. Well, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do.”

“That's the other reason I wanted to come talk to you?—”

The sound of running footsteps caused both men to turn toward the door. Farid burst through, his gaze darting between the two men. Panting, he gasped, “Something is not right!”

Before he could say anything else, Devlin's phone buzzed in his pocket. Grabbing it, he answered, “Cole, talk to me.”

“Moses is looking for you. I told him you were with Robert, and he's headed your way. Something's up with Enock.”

“Get over here now. Farid just came in and said something is happening.”

More footsteps sounded, and Moses barreled into the room. With all the commotion, Dr. München followed from his office. “What is happening?”

Leaping to his feet, Devlin growled, “What the fuck is going on? Where's Mia?”

Farid cried, "Mia said a truck broke down, and Enock came to take her to it. She never called back, and when I checked, Moses didn't know where Enock was."

“There was no call about a truck breaking down,” Moses said.

“Where the fuck is Mia?” Devlin roared just as Cole and Todd raced into the small office.

“We don't know,” Moses said. “I rallied my men and told them to head out in all directions.”

Devlin stood, his eyes wild as complete mental paralysis hit him. The only thing running through his mind was Mia.

“I have access to a helicopter,” Moses said as his expression tightened. “We could cover more ground, but my pilot isn’t here now?—”

“I can fly it,” Cole said, jarring Devlin as he jerked his head up and down.

“I’ll get our group on it,” Todd said, pulling out his phone.

“The truck… she said it looked odd,” Farid said, his chest still heaving from his dash from the warehouse.

---