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I turned my head to face him, meeting his honest eyes. Sometimes it was hard to forget we used to hate each other because that hate ran so freely. But in times like this, loving him felt more natural than competing with him. It took our rivalry to get us here, and even though we still competed on a too-competitive level, we worked as a team even better. “You wanna marry my ass one day?” I asked.

Devon’s eyes widened and he laughed. “Really? Didn’t take you for the marriage type.”

“I never took myself for the gay type either, but here we are. Come on, would I really be such a bad husband?”

Devon snorted right before he broke out laughing. It drowned out the squeak of the fan and made the bed shake. Best sound ever. “Fuck, you’d be the worst husband!”

“What? Why?”

“You’re bossy as shit, moody, beat on me all the time, abuse me, use me, and piss me off. The world would blow up if we got married.” He smiled at me, so bright.

“Yeah, but the explosion would be pretty.” I squeezed his hand. “Plus, you’re no better. I constantly have to explain away bruises and black eyes.”

He nodded, not denying that. “We’d make a shitty married couple.” He wiped his eyes and kept smiling. “But I think we’d love every second of our doomed marriage.”

My chest swelled. “Not doomed. Just… rocky.”

“A rocky marriage with Maddox Kane,” he said out loud, tasting the idea of it. “That’s my new dream.” He rolled onto his side and kissed me lightly. “I just want your last name so I don’t have to be a Sawyer anymore.”

“That’s it? Just my name, you prick?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “Devon Kane. Sounds pretty badass.”

“Not as badass as Maddox Kane,” I countered. “Marry me one day, Devon.”

“Okay,” he whispered.

He kissed me like he'd be my husband someday.

20

-Devon-

Somethingwasn’taddingup.

There was no record of my dad. None. He left on that boat I paid for and never reappeared. Both him and the boat were missing, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think he magically died at sea; that cockroach would survive an apocalypse. He was out there somewhere, getting away with attempted murder and whatever other sketchy shit he was up to.

It was time to turn a leaf on my stupidity and become a new Devon; one who thought shit through a little more. I thought I’d learned my lesson about being dumb when Maddox walked out on me for neglecting him, but I’d definitely learned it after watching him almost die. No more of that shit. The time to do better was here, and I was full steam ahead on that plan.

Maddox wanted to move forward with our lives, and as much as I wanted that too, it became impossible not to fear the shadows. My dad could be lurking in any one of them, ready to finish the job he failed. Honestly, the best outcome I could come up with was that he believed I was dead, but if he still owed Davis for that ‘job well done’ then he'd be in touch with the dirty cop and find out I lived through it. Dad was a crafty son of a bitch, and I knew in my gut that it wouldn’t end here.

The cops didn’t believe my story about my dad hiring Davis to kill me. No. Those fuckers sided with their sweet little rookie cop who had an impeccable record and some sort of gold star bullshit from whatever academy he came from. Garron Police believed his story, that Maddox attacked him and he had to fire his weapon in self-defence. When he was asked what he was doing at the docks, he told the police he’d been given the job of intercepting my dad, which his captain confirmed, and that it was my fault because I was the one who requested a police presence. Little did I know my dad would have a cop in his deep pocket. Davis spun an even more fantastical tale when he told police that me and Maddox had been there to assist my dad in getting away. So, weren’t we the guilty assholes, eh?

Seth, Nate, and Xavi got hardcore questioned about why they’d been there and why Davis had been tied up when the police arrived. They showed up to have my back, just like Maddox had, and they told the same story about Davis being the attacker, so they had to restrain him. But their story got brushed off the same as mine did. According to Garron Police, we were five unreliable witnesses who’d conjured up the same story.

This whole thing was a crock of shit. My frustration festered inside me like a living disease, eating away at the good parts of me until all that was left were the pathetic bits. I’d never much minded being a lowlife before, but now it meant I had zero power and no credit when I actually needed help. Now I resented my life for putting me exactly where I was. Stomped on.

“Alright,” Nate said, sitting on the deck with me and handing me a beer. “What are we doing about this shit, Dev? I know Madd and Xavi are trying to move on, but Dad’s still out there.”

At least my brother felt the same way. “I don’t even get his play with the shipping documents. Nothing came of it. The ship wasn’t robbed, so why did he want them so bad?”

Nate shook his head, unsure. This mystery got harder to solve each day. “And why can’t we get anyone to believe us? Dad’s got a longer record than we do.”

“Because we’re Sawyers. Our last name is a death sentence. We’ve never done anything credible.” I took a swig.

“Then we do this shit ourselves.”

Yeah, good try. How were we going to find our dad, unhinge his plan, and lock him up for good if we weren’t even trusted enough to give statements during a deposition for a crooked cop? We had no one on our side, no resources, and no voice. The pressure and responsibility todo somethingabout it weighed on me. I wanted to protect my family, but I knew I couldn’t go at it alone this time. Problem was, I didn’t know where to even start.

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