Page 41 of Still Yours
“Oh yeah? You already did.”
I am truly thrown by the way my old friend stares at me. Like I’m horse shit he stepped on with his boots. I say slowly, “What I choose to do and how I do it is none of your goddamned business. I shouldn’t have to explain my past actions. You, of all people, should understand.”
“Not anymore.” Rome backs away.
“Don’t talk to me like you’re my father,” I snap against my better judgment. This heat, this environment, thisguy, brings my old self raging to the forefront. “All high and mighty with your farm and good morals andboring fucking life.I’ve made mine exciting, and I sure as fuck can’t wait to get back to it.” I wish I still had the pitchfork so I could toss it at him instead of handing it over like we had some kind of friendship after all these years.
I stomp to the passenger side of the truck, throwing the door open.
“I really am sorry about your ma,” I hear him say as I slide in.
“Me, too.” The door latches with a hard click, and I jerk my chin at Devon. “Drive.”
“Uh…”
“Your boss isn’t mad at you; he’s pissed at me. You’ll be fine.”
Devon’s pacified enough to turn the engine. He’s stopped from pressing the gas when Rome steps up and folds his arms on the open passenger window.
“Damned old trucks with manual window rollers,” I mutter.
“Despite your shit, I’m glad you’re back,” Rome says.
I palm his face and push him out of the window. His rough laughter almost overpowers the rusty cough of the engine.
Jesus, andI’mthe one who’s fucked up.
Still, the tightness in my chest eases as the last thing I see through the blinder is my old friend’s quick and easy smile.
After a few minutes of driving down the gravel road, I say to Devon, “So. Which is it?”
“Huh?”
“Oxy or coke?”
Devon’s chin juts out, but keeping his eyes on the road, he gives a single, tight, “Coke.”
“I find you with that stuff, either on Rome’s property or in any vicinity where my private jet, my super yacht, or my fucking submarine can get to you, I will make sure you will never succeed another day in your life. If I hear you so much as made your mamma cry, I will ruin your chances of a happy future. Anywhere, or with anyone.”
Devon turns to me in what I will now always refer to as gobsmacked horror.
“But if you walk the line?” I continue. “If you get straight and become a welcome addition to Rome’s ranch and a godsend toyour mother, I’ll make sure there’s a place for you. At my firm, here, wherever you prove yourself.”
Devon blinks rapidly.
“Now drive.”
He does as I say.
Devon’s jaw hardens, and he stares through the car’s window like if he glances at me again, I might shatter it just to prove a point.
I smile internally to myself while leaning back in the seat. “And they say I scare children.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Noa
The next time I run into Stone, I don’t expect him to be sweaty, shirtless, and intent on a rampage.
