Chapter 33

Devon hated that his father was being held in a federal prison in New Mexico. Who the fuck wanted to go to New Mexico? He needed to talk to his father face to face. That meant he had to fly, and he couldn’t afford first class because of that stupid bitch.

The flight was terrible. The man sitting next to him was big, and their shoulders kept brushing together. No amount of him shooting the man dirty looks helped. Before that woman ruined them, he would never have had to put up with this bullshit.

It was just one more thing he had to make her pay for. The long list was already making him think of new ways to punish her. He had some good plans in the works, but he needed more. Something perfect that would take her down to size and make her regret ever investigating his father or their company.

New Mexico was colder than he’d expected, and he had to stop in and buy some crappy sweatshirt. The prison was terrible, and he couldn’t imagine how his father was surviving. He would have ripped his hair out if he’d been sent here.

Luckily for him, he hadn’t been implicated. His name hadn’t been on any documents because his father hadn’t wanted to hand anything over. A part of him thought it was funny that the FBI couldn’t pin him with a crime because his dad hadn’t trusted him to take over.

His old man had paid the price for not giving him a part of the business. Of course, he would have changed how things had been run, doing a better job of hiding their criminal activities so the authorities couldn’t punish them.

Now, he was in charge, though the business had been gutted and was a small shell of what it used to be. He would have been better at it than his father. That was the only reason they’d been caught.

Saying so to the old man wouldn’t help his cause. He needed information, and he’d flown out here to see if his dad would talk.

Once in the room with the plexiglass separators and phones on the wall, he wondered if this had been a good idea. Paying respect to the old fart may help him, but he wanted to tell his dad he’d been an idiot.

The door across from him opened, and he saw his dad shuffle in. My, how the mighty fall. He hid his reaction, waiting for his dad to sit and pick up the phone, the only way for them to communicate.

The amount his dad had aged in the time he’d been on the inside was shocking. Before going to prison, he’d wondered if his dad would ever die. Now, he wondered if his dad would live long enough to get out.

He smiled as he picked up the phone, trying to act like he was happy to see his father. The man had been a jerk when he’d been younger, and he hadn’t improved with age.

“Why are you here?”

It wasn’t the welcome he expected. “I needed to ask a few questions.”

“They hear everything. You’re a dumbass for flying all the way out here, wasting money.”

Devon bit back the anger, pushing down the rage that mushroomed up to the top of his head. “It’s been a while. I wanted to see you.”

“Bullshit. You were a waste when you were a teen, and you’re still a waste now.”

He adjusted, leaning in closer, talking quieter. “I have some questions about the bitch who did the article.”

His dad leaned in quickly, almost banging his forehead against the plexiglass. “Shut up, you imbecile. They record every word on these things.”

Shock pulsed through Devon, and he jerked back. He’d thought the rumors of them recording conversations during visits were overblown, but his dad was acting like he was an idiot for talking. Maybe there was some truth about them recording.

“Go home and never come back. You’ve been a disappointment from the day you were born. Should have forced her to give you up. Would have been better for everyone.”

Devon watched as his father stood and shuffled back to the guard waiting for him. What had just happened? His dad had treated him like a stupid little kid. It wasn’t fair. If he could, he would force his dad to listen to him. The old man was being a jerk, treating him like he didn’t matter and was too stupid to run anything.

The old fucker didn’t know what he was talking about. Devon was doing his best working with what he had. The old shit had left a mess, and now he was clawing and fighting his way back to being significant, trying to make everything work.

But he was having difficulties. He needed information, but his dad was such a jerk he wouldn’t get anything out of him.

As Devon left the prison, he laughed. The old man was so inept he was locked up in federal prison while Devon was free. He wasn’t incapable of running a huge enterprise. And he would show his dad that he’d been wrong the whole time.

He would figure out everything he needed to know about the bitch and make her pay. While she’d been in New York, he’d kept tabs on her after he’d figured out where she was staying. They could have grabbed her then, but the plans hadn’t been well thought out. Now he knew what he would do, he was trying to figure out where she’d gone. Once he knew where she was living, he would finalize the plans and take her for a ride that she would never forget.