Deceived: Devon Brothers, #2, page 17
“I just don’t like the idea of you paying for everything,” she said, shifting on the couch to face him, her hands nervously twisting in her lap. “It makes me uncomfortable.”
“All right, how about this,” he offered as he took her hand. “I won’t pay for the damages. Instead, we’ll consider this a business venture. A lot of the more expensive items that need to be replaced are for your vlogging. You and I will shop around, I’ll get Parker involved because I’m sure he knows where to get the equipment you need, and I will foot that bill as an investment.”
Avalynn looked at him queerly.
“An investment? How would I pay you back? That’s a lot of money.”
“If you do as well as I believe you will, it won't be a problem.”
“Sure, but if I don’t, I’ll owe you all that money. I don’t like having that hanging over my head.”
“I’m not going to hang it over your head. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll draw up a contract with terms we can both agree upon, would that work?”
She considered his words and knew he was being sincere, and at this point she really didn’t have a choice. She needed to fix what was broken and replace what was missing, otherwise all that work she’d done on the last three videos she filmed would have been for nothing and everyone cheering for her, including Amanda, would be let down and she didn’t want that.
“Fine. We can discuss terms for payment.”
“I promise my interest rates won’t be astronomical,” he said with a smirk, and she couldn’t help but return his smirk with her own.
“Thank you. I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. Really I do.”
Sawyer gave her a warm smile, one that melted all the stress, doubt, and anger coursing through her body. It was something he was able to do so effortlessly, and it was one of the reasons she loved him the way she did. Beyond the charm and the confidence, there was something so intimately alluring about him. Something that drew her to him so easily. She trusted him, admired him and was grateful for his advice and guidance. It wasn’t a father figure she saw in him, it was a partner. A true, equal, supportive partner.
“And I appreciate what you bring to my life as well,” he said, pulling her into his lap. “Having been in your presence, you’ve shown me where my priorities need to be. Sure, the money is a nice perk, but my career was taking over my life. I never had time to enjoy the things I could afford, like this place. It was a great investment, one that will fund the things I truly want to do now, but all the years I spent here, I couldn’t tell you one thing I enjoyed. And that’s sad.”
“Well, I could tell you one thing I’ve enjoyed here,” she said coyly, throwing her arms around his neck.
Sawyer’s hands went to her waist then and he raised his brows.
“I stand corrected. How could I have forgotten that day when you took advantage of me on my virginal couch?” he joked, and she felt the heat rise in her face.
“It must not have been memorable enough for you to forget so easily.”
“I beg to differ. That day was so good it obviously fried my brain,” he said, then snuggled into her neck, making her giggle. “That was one of the best days of my life.”
Those words shocked her a bit, not because he said them, but because she could tell by his tone that he meant it.
“Really?”
“Really,” he said with another warm smile, then kissed her softly. “I mean, I’ve always liked you. I guess you could say I always had a thing for you, but on that day you let me know that you felt the same and look where we are now.”
“You couldn’t have just asked?” she asked with a chuckle and Sawyer smirked.
“I’m shy.”
“You?” she asked then let out a loud laugh. “You’re hardly shy.”
“But around you I kind of was, I don’t know why,” he admitted. “I guess when you like someone you start to worry if they’ll see you in the right light, and not take you for a fool.”
That made her giggle, and she hugged him tightly.
“I’ve always liked you. I’m sure you could tell by my flirting when you would come into the restaurant all those years. And just for the record, I never thought you were a fool.”
“See I always thought the flirting was just a standard for waitresses, you know, butter up the clientele to improve tipping? I mean, it worked, but I never took it seriously.”
“That’s a shame, we could have saved a ton of time,” she offered with a smirk.
“Just think, we could’ve been married and had kids by now,” he said with a laugh and her eyes grew wide at that. “Sorry. That was a joke.”
“Was it?” she asked. In all honesty she knew people often joked about what was truly on their minds. It wasn’t like she never dreamed about marrying him over the years, fantasized what it would be like to be part of his family, but this blindsided her.
“Yeah, of course. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t something I thought about. Who doesn’t? But don’t worry, I’m not about to rush through any of this. Down the road, when we’re both more comfortable with each other and more settled in the relationship... we’ll see where it goes.”
She gave him a nod, but her head was suddenly buzzing with images of wedding dresses and beautiful children. It was not something she was ready for. For God’s sake, they hadn’t been dating that long and as much as she really did love him, it was way too soon to even consider talking about it, so she pushed the thoughts aside.
“For now, I need to get dressed and get back to the house to face this dread,” she said, getting up from his lap and he gave her a childish pout.
“I understand. I can’t come with you right now, but I’ll have a car take you home. You should call Kit and have her go with you. I don't want you going over there alone. Once I’m done with work, I stop over. I’ll text you and let you know.”
He stood and took her into his arms and after searching deep into his eyes, she leaned into him and the warm kiss he offered.
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh my God....” Kit’s voice faded, mimicking Avalynn’s mind as the two of them stood in the doorway of what was once her home. In the daylight it looked much worse than the night before.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, trying so hard to hold back the tears, but it was impossible. This had been her home for over a decade. She’d poured her heart and soul into this place, and it was violently taken from her.
Kit gave her a sad smile and moved into the space, dropping the empty boxes they’d brought with them.
“For now just gather up the things you want to save. Make note of the things that are damaged or destroyed that you need to replace. Cade said he’s going to contact a friend of his and get a dumpster out here in a couple of days so we can clean out and get you a fresh start on things.”
“But I’m not even sure what I’m doing yet,” Avalynn choked out, not wanting to admit it. “Sawyer feels the place is unlivable and we were going to discuss our next steps once things calmed down.”
“OK, it’s no rush, you have places to stay between him and us, so for now let’s just focus on your stuff and just leave what we can’t salvage.”
Avalynn gave her a thankful nod and headed up to her loft with an armload of boxes. It was a heartbreaking task, seeing her personal space like this and having to comb through everything and decide what to keep. She never was one to save much, which was helpful in this situation, but she did have special things. Pictures and mementos stowed away in bins beneath her bed that they hadn’t touched, so that was a small blessing.
Taking a seat on her bed, she couldn’t help but be shaken by what lay in tatters around her, but she straightened her spine, hearing Sawyer’s voice in her head. This was just stuff. It wasn’t important. What was important was that she was fine, and they would get through this together. Feeling that support so deeply from him and his entire family was another blessing and one she would cherish for the rest of her life. It was like nothing she’d ever had before, even from her own family.
It had been months since she’d spoken to either of her parents, and it wasn’t that they didn’t care, it was that they’d never really been involved in her life, even as a child. She always wondered why they even had her as they seemed to put very little effort in raising her. When they did speak, it was as if she was speaking to some distant acquaintance. There was nothing personal discussed, merely a check in to make sure she was breathing. And as much as she hated to admit it, she was fine with that. From a very young age she’d been far removed from them both. Neither was very emotional or loving, and she got used to receiving approval and support elsewhere. Usually from friends and coworkers, which was also fine with her. It was a wonder, though, that she was ever emotional herself given she’d never lived with that at all. But she was deeply emotional. Perhaps it made up for the lack of what they gave her. Whatever the reason, she was happy she’d now found the love, support, and friendship with Sawyer and the rest of the Devon’s, including Kit. It gave her the hope that one day she could pass it on to her own children and not let them grow up feeling like an unwanted burden.
With a sigh, she stood and went to her dresser to pack her clothing. They’d ripped out a few of the drawers and strewn items around the room, but none of the clothing seemed destroyed beyond needing a wash. She pulled a suitcase from beneath her bed and packed what would fit, which was most of what she had.
Slowly she went through some of the items she found on the floor.... a small wicker container she’d picked up at a farmer’s market years back that held the small handful of jewelry she owned. An old cigar box filled with odds and ends like fun buttons, a beautiful rock she’d found, and ribbon from a bouquet of flowers she once received. In a drawer that hadn’t been opened, she found a few pairs of socks and an old journal she’d written years before tucked beneath it.
Piling everything she wanted to keep into the boxes and bins she had, she stacked them by the stairs and began bringing them down. Kit was busy sorting through the mess in the kitchen and had piled up dishes and cups that hadn’t been broken onto the counter.
“Leave it,” she said, pulling a stool and sitting. “I don’t need to keep anything from the kitchen. I’ll be staying with Sawyer, and he has everything. Once I figure out where I’m going next, I’ll get new stuff. It’ll be a nice change to not bring the negativity of what happened here with me.”
“OK, not a problem. We can box it up and donate it to Purple Hearts. I’m sure they would appreciate it,” Kit offered.
“That’s a wonderful idea. We can do that. I have a marker in that drawer, we can mark the boxes going to donations,” Avalynn said as she pointed to the drawer. At least someone would benefit from this disaster and that lifted her spirits quite a bit.
After about an hour, she’d had enough and needed to leave. Being surrounded by the remnants of her life was something she could only stomach for so long. Kit had cheered her so much and they chatted about her videos and new ideas she’d thought of while they were packing. And she also made her see the benefit of forgetting the mess around them and looking forward to starting fresh, with new things in a new place. It wasn’t something Avalynn had done in her life and abrupt change always made her nervous, but something about the way Kit put it uplifted her and made her realize a fresh start was just what she needed.
Meeting Kevin was a risk, but Sawyer knew it was necessary. They couldn’t email or call while Kevin was at the office because he never knew who was watching and he needed the info Kevin had for him. So walking into the obscure, back alley Chinese restaurant in Fairmount felt sketchy, but he was relieved to see Kevin already waiting... alone.
“Hey man, how are you?” Kevin asked, genuinely happy to see Sawyer. The young man had always been a favorite of Sawyer’s. With Kevin being a grad student from a local university, Sawyer felt he would be invested just as much as he was. They always looked out for one another and had each other’s backs. This was no exception.
“I’m good... good,” Sawyer started, now thinking of Avalynn and her situation but not wanting to bring it up. “You?”
Kevin gave a smirk and shook his head.
“Can’t complain, no one would listen,” he said with a laugh and Sawyer gave a chuckle of his own.
“What do you have for me?”
Kevin’s face lit up and he pulled crumpled papers from a pocket, quickly unfolding them and handing them to Sawyer.
“Sorry about that, didn’t want to look sus leaving the office with a briefcase or a folder,” he said, and Sawyer waved him off as he smoothed out the papers and read.
The first page was a copy of an email being sent by Cooper to another colleague. His eyes scanned the document and his brows rose slowly.
“He was asking for advice regarding Cartwright’s account?” Sawyer asked.
“Keep reading,” Kevin said with a chuckle as he pulled a small bowl of fried noodles toward him and popped a handful into his mouth.
Sawyer propped his elbows on the table and began reading in earnest, his eyes landing on words like debt... tax evasion... and scam.
“Holy shit,” Sawyer murmured as he continued to read, then looked up at his colleague.
“Yup,” Kevin said as he chewed through a growing smile.
“I mean...” Sawyer flipped through the pages and reread the information. Cartwright was under investigation for tax fraud, but that wasn’t the only thing. Based on the notes in his hands, Skyway Development had racked up a substantial debt and because of the investigations that were now heating up, banks were pulling back and not giving him the handouts that he was so used to getting. And now Cooper was under the gun because Cartwright had debt building up for the firm's services and the firm was falling behind on paying their own bills, relying on Cartwright to bring in the bucks to cover them. And it was a fault he’d always known about Cooper, one they’d argued about several times in the past. Sawyer had always felt that a company should build its equity slowly, expand only when necessary and control its budgets with a fine tooth comb. Cooper on the other hand was of the mind that in order to expand and grow the company needed to indulge extravagant clients to bait others like them. In some cases, that technique worked, but where Cartwright was concerned, it never would and being a spendthrift would only dig the firm’s hole deeper. Cooper was learning that lesson now. The hard way.
“How deep are they in?” Sawyer asked, still reading over the papers.
“I dig where I can and haven’t found a definitive number, but from what I gather, its high... like nearing a quarter million high.”
Sawyer gave a low whistle at that and shook his head.
“I told Cooper to watch Cartwright. He likes to spend other people’s money, that’s how he gets so rich. But from what this says, his wealth is a lie too. Jeez...”
“Yeah, I did some poking around about Skyway and they are in deep shit from what I can see. They have lawsuits and other investigations going back almost a decade,” Kevin said pointedly. “How they get away with everything for so long just... I can’t fathom it.”
“Money is the great eraser,” Sawyer offered and folded the papers, shoving them into his own pocket.
“I’ll say,” Kevin said. “So what now?”
“Now we just sit by with our bucket of popcorn and enjoy the show. I have a feeling it will implode on its own in due time,” Sawyer said with a smirk. “Do you want to grab food while we’re here?”
“Yeah, I’ve got time. Cooper asked me to do a few errands while I was on lunch break.”
Sawyer waved down a server and they ordered, continuing to chat about the nonsense going on at the office.
“How’s everything with you since you left?” Kevin asked and Sawyer gave him a shrug.
“Well, I’ve been meaning to chat with you about it actually so I’m glad we have this time to talk. After Micheline blessed me with her dismissal,” he said with a snort, “I was given the opportunity to reflect on my choices. And I realized I wanted more from my life than what I had previously thought.”
“Oh, in what way?”
“Well, to start with, I actually began dating a woman,” Sawyer offered, and Kevin gave him a sarcastically surprised look. “Yes, it’s true. We actually have a relationship. And honestly, I can’t say I’ve ever had a girlfriend like her. She’s absolutely wonderful.”
“That’s awesome, how did you meet her?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve known her for years. She was a waitress at a local restaurant my family frequented and, you know, we’ve always had a great rapport and it just kind of happened. Naturally.”
“Wow, I’m really happy for you.”
“Yeah, she’s great and she’s made me realize how out of whack my priorities really were. And she’s really lit a fire under me to go after the things I truly want to do and none of it has to do with blowing sunshine up Cartwright’s ass. That was a true revelation.”
“So what are your plans from here then?”
“I want to start my own firm, start slow, take on clients that mean something to what’s important to me, not just my budget. I have a few in mind and building the clientele will be slow, for sure, but I’m willing to work on it.”
“Cool, any ideas where you want your office to be?”
“I have a few ideas, and I wanted to pick your brain on that too.”
