Chapter Five

Krista screamed out his name as she came over his dick, and that sounded like music to Devlin’s ears. He pumped in and out of her a couple more times, before climaxing and filling her with his seed.

Panting, he collapsed next to her on the gigantic sofa. He made a mental note to have the furniture cleaned. Galen, Carver, and he sometimes hung out here with beers during weekends to de-stress.

Then he looked at the woman who, unknowingly, posed a significant threat to him. Not because of her theft, but because Krista always had a way of worming her way into his heart. She made him weak, and weakness was unacceptable if one was the head of the Family.

“ Screw it. This job isn ’ t worth my life, ” Krista said. He studied her closely, and it seemed she meant her words. “ Ask whatever you want. ”

And Devlin did. Most of the time, he delegated jobs to others, but he was far from rusty when it came to asking the right questions. He didn’t even have to work hard at it. Krista gave him all the details he needed.

Her client was an ambitious member of a rival crime family. Devlin could easily deal with that man, but the hacker she worked with—Phantom—was the bigger threat.

Galen’s words came back to him. Could Phantom be the one leaking important info to their rivals? And if indeed it was Phantom, did that mean this hacker was still under his employ and loaning out his services to others on the dark web? A chill went down his spine at the thought.

“ Devlin, what are you thinking? ” Krista asked, reaching out to touch his cheek.

He caught her wrist before her fingers could make contact, his grip firm yet gentle.

“I’m thinking about the danger you’ve put yourself in,” he replied. “Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into?”

Krista ’ s eyes widened slightly, but she didn ’ t pull away.

“Explain it to me,” she said. It did genuinely seem that she took this job without realizing there might be something bigger at play.

Devlin didn ’ t tell her everything, only bits and pieces. Her eyes widened when he told her he suspected Phantom betrayed her.

“ I considered that after the alarms went off, ” she admitted. “ I know it ’ s bad. I know you ’ re angry. But I needed the money. ”

“ This hacker could be a dangerous opponent, ” Devlin pointed out, his mind racing.

Something else bugged him. If Phantom was as talented as Devlin presumed, then there was a possibility he had hired Krista for a specific reason—because the hacker knew about her past connection to Devlin.

“ Devlin? I can see the wheels turning in your head, ” Krista pointed out.

“If Phantom is as skilled as I think he is, he wouldn’t hire just anyone. He chose you for a reason. Maybe because he knows about us. About our history,” Devlin admitted. He still didn ’ t trust Krista but she deserved to know how much danger she was in.

Krista ’ s eyes widened. “You think he ’ s using me to get to you? ”

“It ’ s possible, ” Devlin said, his tone grim.

He cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. A surge of protectiveness filled him. He hated the thought of Krista being in danger, hated that she still had a hold on him, even now.

“Stay here, stay with me,” he commanded, his voice brooking no argument. “ I ’ ll take care of this. ”

Krista stared at him, flabbergasted. “That’s an unreasonable request. Devlin, we hardly know each other,” she blurted out.

The stubborn look on her face told Devlin she wasn’t going to cave in easily. She had a point—in some ways, they were strangers, connected only by a fleeting moment in the past. But he couldn ’ t cut her loose that easily.

Devlin wasn ’ t used to being told no, and he didn ’ t compromise. But for her, he ’ d make an exception.

“Fine,” he conceded, “then at the very least, I ’ ll assign one of my men to watch you. ”

Krista began to argue, but a knock on the door interrupted her. She sat up, alarmed. Devlin raised a hand to calm her.

“Only a few people have access to my suite,” he assured her.

“A few people?” she asked, eyes wide with suspicion.

“Just my brothers and my second-in-command,” Devlin answered.

He got off the couch and put his clothes back on. Devlin could hear rustling clothing behind him. Krista was getting dressed as well.

Devlin opened the door only to see Carver standing there. Carver’s gaze flickered to Devlin and then to Krista, who was awkwardly sitting on the sofa, trying to fix her hair.

Carver raised one interested eyebrow, but waited for Devlin to speak first.

“Why are you here?” Devlin asked before Carver could draw his own conclusions.

“Galen said I ’ m needed, ” Carver replied.

Devlin clenched his jaw. “I told Galen I’d handle the problem personally,” he gritted out.

“He seemed to imply that—”

“Nothing,” Devlin interrupted. “Galen was wrong.”

“I see,” Carver said slowly. “If you have nothing for me to do, then I’ll go back to my wife.”

Devlin reeled in his anger, recalling how Carver found his woman. Lucy had been a waitress, an innocent bystander, who happened to come across his brother questioning a traitor from their organization. Carver had ended up bending the rules for her. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was obsessed with her. In a way, his youngest brother might understand his current position and his old history with Krista.

“I have it under control … for now,” Devlin had to add.

Carver nodded, his gaze briefly crossing to Krista again. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m here,” Carver offered.

“I appreciate that,” Devlin said.

Carver turned to leave, but not before giving Krista one last curious glance. Devlin watched him go, the tension in his shoulders slowly easing. He closed the door and turned back to Krista, who was now staring at him with wide eyes.

“What was that about?” she asked.

Devlin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Family business. My brothers can be a handful,” he said.

Krista nodded slowly, her eyes still wary. “So, what’s the plan?”

Devlin crossed the room and sat down beside her. He touched her cheek and thought of her soft and tempting lips, her pliant body under his while she begged him for more. One taste and he was already intoxicated on her, hopelessly addicted.

It wasn’t just physical when it came to Krista, it was something more profound, something that tugged at Devlin’s very core.

At that moment, he couldn ’ t allow himself to name that emotion yet. Soft emotions made one weak. His father embedded that knowledge to Devlin and his brothers with his fists.

“ I ’ m letting you go, but you ’ re going to accept my help, ” Devlin decided, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Krista opened her mouth to protest, but he raised a hand, silencing her.

“As for the documents you promised your client, I’m going to have them altered before returning them to you. You’ll hand in the edited version and say nothing of meeting me to your client or Phantom, if they have questions,” he said.

Krista regarded him for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “ You ’ re setting a trap for them, aren ’ t you? ”

“ Of course. Everyone knows I don ’ t suffer fools, ” Devlin answered with a smirk.

When he took over from his father, he had made sure their defenses were ironclad. Krista was a dent in his armor, and his enemy knew that.

They were probably counting on Devlin making a misstep, and that still angered him. But Krista wouldn’t betray him, not now. Survival was her priority, and after speaking with Carver, he’d gotten inspiration from him without Carver realizing it.

He’d do to Krista what Carver did to Lucy. Killing Krista was nonnegotiable, so he’d claim her for himself and have her join his world. After all, as a thief for hire, Krista was already halfway in it.

“ Devlin, you can ’ t just— ”

“ Yes, I can, ” he interrupted, his voice softening as he cupped her cheek. “ Krista, I won ’ t let anything happen to you. Trust me on this. ”

Her eyes flickered with doubt and something else—fear, perhaps. But she nodded slowly. “ Fine. But if this goes wrong, it ’ s on you, ” she pointed out.

Devlin leaned in closer, his breath mingling with hers. “ It won ’ t go wrong. I promise, ” he told her.

The tension between them crackled like electricity, and he closed the gap between them, capturing her lips in a fierce, possessive kiss. Krista’s initial surprise melted into something more passionate, her hands gripping his shoulders as she kissed him back with equal fervor.

Pulling back slightly, Devlin rested his forehead against hers, his breath ragged. “ Trust me, ” he told her.

Krista widened her eyes, her breathing uneven. “ You ’ re asking a lot, Devlin, ” she said.

“ I know, ” he admitted, his thumb brushing her cheek gently. “ But surely fate must ’ ve put you in my path again for a reason. ”

For a moment, they just stood there, locked in an intimate embrace, the world outside forgotten. It was dangerous, this fragile truce between them, but it was also exhilarating.

And as Devlin held her close, he knew that no matter what happened, he wouldn ’ t let anything or anyone hurt what belonged to him.

****

Back in his office, Devlin watched the security footage on his laptop, tracking Krista’s every move as the two men he ’ d assigned to her led her to the waiting SUV in the building ’s parking lot.

His mind raced with second thoughts. Letting her go meant using her as bait to lure out an enemy, but he couldn ’ t force her to stay with him either.

He was so engrossed that he didn ’ t notice Galen entering his office and perching on the edge of his desk.

“What hold does that woman have on you?” Galen asked, his tone more curious than accusatory.

Devlin watched the SUV door close behind Krista and slammed the lid of his laptop shut, glaring at his brother.

“What are you talking about, Galen?” Devlin demanded.

“I mean, I’ve never seen you like this before. So she must be special, huh?” Galen continued, oblivious to Devlin’s growing annoyance.

Devlin clenched his jaw, trying to rein in his frustration. “ I decided she ’ ll be a key piece in a larger plan, that ’ s all. Nothing more, ” he said in a dismissive tone.

Galen smirked, clearly unconvinced. “ Oh, come on, Devlin. I know you better than that. You don ’ t get this worked up over just anyone, ” Galen pointed out.

“ Drop it, Galen, ” Devlin warned, his voice low and edged with steel.

But Galen didn’t. He never knew when to stop. “You’re playing a dangerous game, brother. Mixing business with … whatever this is,” Galen reminded him.

Devlin stood up, leaning over his desk, his fists pressing into the wood. “You think I don’t know that? Are you questioning my decisions?” he asked.

Galen raised his hands in mock surrender, a knowing look in his eyes. “All right, all right. Just don’t let whatever this is cloud your judgment. We can’t afford mistakes with our enemies having their sights on us,” Galen said.

Devlin watched as Galen left the office, his words lingering in the air. He was right, of course. Mixing business with personal feelings was a recipe for disaster.

But with Krista, it was different. She wasn’t just a pawn in this game, she was special to him. A reminder of a past he couldn’t let go of, no matter how hard he tried.

As the SUV pulled out of the parking lot on the security feed, a sense of unease settled in his chest. He was sending her into the lion’s den, hoping to draw out an invisible enemy in the shadows. But more than that, he was sending away the one person who had the power to unravel him completely.

He sat back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. This was a gamble, and the stakes were higher than he’d ever imagined. He could only hope that when all of this was over, he wouldn’t lose the one person who had become more important to him than he dared to admit.