Page 112 of Reckless Devotion

This is why Evelyn worked her way to the top at Dev Tech Inc.—she was never afraid of telling me exactly what she thinks. Whatever filter people usually have to warn them not to cuss out their boss is absent, and that works for me. I’d rather know exactly where I stand with someone.

“For saying sorry?” My eyebrows rise.

“At least give me a minute to be mad at you before you go all healthy masculine and apologize!”

The corner of my lips twitch.Women.I’d like to think I understand them better than most men, but some stuff will never cease to amaze me.

“In that case, I take back my apology. Be mad.” I shrug, leaning back in my chair and drumming my fingers softly on the arm.

I feel like I’ve got a thousand tabs open in my brain. And I can’t stop worrying about Sunny, which is insane because she’s about to be sixteen and not a toddler. I know she’s pretty self-sufficient, and she’s only spending the day settling in at my place, but I feel like I should be there. I hadtriedto be there, but she declared loudly that she didn’t need to be babysat and that I should go do my, “Rich boy things,”today. Which I took to mean go to the office.

Evelyn’s shoulders slump, all of the haughty fire in her frame wilting as she blows out a breath. “I don’t feel like beingmad anymore. You took the fun out of it.” She returns to her seat and fixes me with an astute glare. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Nothing gets by her.

“Someone tried to frame you. Or at least, used your name as cover.”

Her perfectly painted lips drop. “I would never—”

“I know,” I cut across. “It was never even a question in my mind.”

She falls silent, her eyes wide.

The door crashes open before she can truly react, and Tessa barges through the door with more urgency than I’ve ever seen, her lined face tight. “Quick, line one.”

My phone light blinks up at me, but I don’t reach for it. “We’re kind of—”

“It’s Pepper!” She reaches the phone and snatches it up, hitting the button and handing it to me urgently.

My stomach plummets and I take it from her immediately, my throat feeling tight. “Pepper?”

“Chase,” her voice cracks as I rise from my chair, turning away from Evelyn and Tessa.

“Baby, are you okay?”

I hear soft sniffling, but the voice that responds is strong. “I’m fine, are you okay? And Sunny? Chase, I heard what you did, I…” The line crackles as she trails off. “How can I ever repay you?”

A slow sense of comfort melts over my skin just from hearing her voice. “I’m fine, we’re fine.” I close my eyes and press my fingers into them. “You can repay me by staying safe.”

“Chase, listen. If I get sentenced, I need you to know.” Her voice definitely wobbles this time. “That you don’t need to feel guilty for leaving me behind. You’ve been so kind, but it would be crazy to put your life on hold for a summer fling.”

“That’s not what this is.” My words grind out like boots over wet gravel. “This couldn’t be further than a fling for me and I know damn well it isn’t for you either.”

She hiccups softly on the other end of the line, the only tell that her tears still flow.

“I’m going to get you out of this, I promise.”

I’ll never give up. Loving someone through the good is easy, but loving them through the bad is what counts. If I have to use every drop of money and influence I have to get her home, so be it. We’ll live in a shoe box if we have to.

“I—oh shit, Chase, I’ve got to go. Tell Sunny I love her and don’t forget the manife—” A brief static buzzes and the line clicks, a dead tone relaxing it in a long, somber note.

“Fuck,”I mutter, pressing the phone to my ear in the vain hope it will keep me tethered to her. When it doesn’t work, I drop my hand down into my side, still white-knuckling the receiver.

The sharp scratch tipped skyscrapers glitter in the late summer sun, the sky behind them a painted wash of oranges and pinks amongst the blue. A happy scene that opposes the bleak cloud settling over me, coaxing me back into the murky shadows I’ve been operating in since her arrest.

“Chase?” Evelyn places a hand on my arm, appearing from nowhere, and gently pries the phone from my hand. “What can we do to help you?”

I turn to face them, a steely resolve slipping into place. “I need you to read something for me.”