Out of the Shadows (27 page)

Realization dawned on him and Devon
cut her off finishing the sentence.

“You’re the one who wrote the
letters incriminating him of trying to overthrow Juarez.”

His mom smiled. “It wasn’t easy. I
was always under his scrutinizing gaze or one of his men. But I set things into
motion as best I could.”

She swallowed and inhaled sharply.

“I am so sorry that I couldn’t do
more for you Devon. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wonder if I
couldn’t have done more. I know I failed you…”

Devon hugged her, her frail body
light in his arms. “It’s okay, Mom,” he whispered quietly. He closed his eyes,
forgiveness settling through him. They had a lot of work to repair their
relationship, but maybe this would be the start of something good.

Hearing his mother’s confession and
seeing the fear she clearly still felt gave him a new perspective of her.
Emmett had hurt them all, thankfully he would never be able to hurt any of them
again.

***

Lark’s gaze drifted to the wall
clock for the billionth time in the past five minutes. Time seemed to have come
to a standstill. Devon would be here any moment to pick her up. He’d texted a
little while ago asking if she wanted to go to the farm house to practice this
afternoon.

She had quickly agreed wanting some
time just the two of them. After everything that had transpired, the idea of
some quiet time without interruptions sounded too good to be true.

The door bell chimed. Lark glanced
up from the cookie dough she was mixing, smiling as Devon strode in. His hazel
eyes landed on her and he maneuvered around the cases and tables to the
counter.

“Hey,” Devon said.

“Hi,” she greeted, her lips pulling
up into a grin. “I’m almost ready, got to put the chocolate chips in.”

“Mind if I get a blueberry muffin?”
Devon asked.

“That will be two-fifty-three,”
Vincent teased as he came around the corner. He turned to Lark. “I got
everything put away from the delivery.”

“Thanks,” she said, picking up a
scraper and rolling the chips into the dough. “What happened this morning?”

“Yeah, what happened? I heard you
talked to Mom,” Vincent said, parking himself against the table Lark was
working, arms crossed over his chest.

“She explained some things to me
that I wasn’t aware of. I think we’re in a good place now,” Devon said.

Lark looked up at him, studying
him. She could see how relaxed he appeared, a genuine smile gracing his face.

“What news on the other front?”
Vincent asked.

“Juarez never called,” Devon
shrugged.

“What does that mean?” Lark asked,
her brow furrowing as confusion swept over her.

“I’m not sure, but I’m sure he
wants us to worry over it, which I’m trying not to do,” Devon replied the smile
gone, his jaw set.

“Right, well, I say we celebrate
for the moment and worry later,” Vincent said slapping a hand on his brothers
back. “How do you feel about going to a club tonight?”

“I have plans,” Devon smirked.

“Ah,” Vincent nodded as he nudged
Lark. “I suppose I would skip out too if I had someone as beautiful as you. I
guess I’ll have to speak with some of the guys at the ranch.”

The bell over the door sounded;
Preston and Sarah walked in followed by Emily and Marcus. Lark smiled as the
brunette eyed the place beaming.

“What are you doing here Em?” Devon
questioned flicking his eyes between Lark and his sister.

Emily shifted nervously.

“I ran into her in the hall this
morning and she offered to help out, and we usually get slammed in the evenings
so…” Lark trailed off, plunking her lip between her teeth as she watched Devon.

“Oh,” Devon said.

Lark finished mixing the dough as
she studied Devon, trying to figure out if he was upset or not. His face was
unreadable and he hadn’t said much about it. She was certain of her decision,
but wondered what his opinion was since he’d been so adamant about it before.

“Do you mind putting these in the
oven for me?” Lark asked pushing the bowl toward Sarah.

“Sure,” Sarah replied.

“I have some paperwork in my
office. If you want to sit at a table, I’ll go get it.” Walking backwards she
went to office and grabbed the folder that Emily would need to fill out to
become an official employee at The Cookie Jar.

She returned, placing it in front
of Emily giving her simple instructions.

Lark dusted off her apron and took
it off, hanging it on the wall.

“Let’s go,” she said taking his
hand in hers.

Devon escorted her to the car
wordlessly. He started the car and put it into gear, easing them onto the road.
The longer Devon went without talking the more Lark’s belly churned, her nerves
suddenly getting the best of her.

“About Emily-“

“It’s okay, Lark.” He scrubbed a
hand over his face. “I was against it before because we were supposed to be
hiding. I didn’t want her giving out her social security number and personal
information because Emmett would find us. Now that he is no longer a threat, I
want her to experience life.”

Lark let out a relieved breath.
“You know, you could have said something earlier. We could have worked
something out.”

Devon chuckled. “I was being kind
of a jerk then.”

Lark laughed shaking her head. As
Devon turned down the road that led to the farmhouse she relaxed, prepared to
enjoy the afternoon.

Fernando Juarez sat in his desk
chair, eyes intent on the window. The light flitted in, but did little to help
his soured mood. He hated waiting. He had learned to bide his time. After all,
good things came to those who waited.

He swiveled around in his chair as
a light knock resounded off his door.

“Come in.”

“Good afternoon sir,” his right
hand man and son, Luis said.

“You have word?”

“I do, Maddie apologized for her
delay in contacting us.”

“What is the word on Talia?”

“Both mother and son are well, she
has holed herself up inside one of the rooms though.”

“No matter,” Fernando flicked his
wrist. “There is no place on this earth my granddaughter and great grandson can
hide.” She’d had a boy. He shouldn’t have thought otherwise, but he had hoped
for a great granddaughter.

“I must say, Father, I thought it
was crazy reaching out to the young girl, but it has paid off,” Luis praised
him.

“Of course son, young children are
so incorrigible and naturally she wants to look out for her own future.”

“What exactly did you promise her?”

“Well,” Fernando laughed. “Sparing
her life for one, and her pick of one of our alphas to mate with.”

“That was all it took?”

“Of course, son. You still have
much to learn. At that age they don’t want much. Especially when they haven’t
been allowed to experience life. Now tell me what word of the others?” Fernando
asked.

“Claire has taken the two girls
under her wing, and Emily and the Davies girls have returned to their normal
lives.”

“Good.”

Claire didn’t seem like the kind of
woman who would plant ideas into the younger girl’s heads. More than likely,
she would keep them sheltered and their lives as they had been before. It was
the two Davies girls who interested him though.

“What should our next course of action
be?” Luis inquired rocking up and down on his heels.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“We’ll let them get a false sense
of security, let them think all is well while we take the opportunity to learn
their routines and day to day lives. Before we strike, I want to know as much
about them as possible,” Fernando beamed.

The moment he’d spoken with Gene
Harris he’d realized he would never be swayed to their cause. Fernando could be
a patient man, for now they would wait. Then when the time was right, like a
viper going in for the kill, he would strike.

***

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lark
smiled as she handed Adrian back to his mother. The baby boy had grown rapidly
over the past three weeks and with his thick brown hair and chunky cheeks he
was adorable.

Natalia, or Talia, as Lark had learned she preferred to be
called, hadn’t made much headway. She rarely came out of the bedroom and had
yet to let anyone but Lark hold the baby. The other woman hadn’t said much
about her past, and Lark didn’t want to push.

Lark waved at mother and son a final time before seeing
herself out. Devon stood in the hallway leaning against the wall, eyes intent
on her.

“You ready?”

“Yeah, is this okay?” Lark asked indicating her red sundress
and sandals.

“I was thinking we would pick up Luigi’s and then spend the
evening at my place. I wanted to show it to you before everyone moves in,”
Devon said as they descended the stairs together.

“Oh, sure,” Lark smiled. Devon and some of the other guys
had been doing renovations to the farm house the past few weeks. They were
getting everything updated, and redoing the bedrooms and adding on an
additional bathroom.

With him moving out, she wasn’t sure where that left them.
Especially since they had been sharing a room at the ranch the past three
weeks.

“Did you guys get a lot done today?” Lark asked as they
climbed into the Jeep.

“We finished.”

“Wow, a few days ahead of
schedule.”

“Yeah.”

Lark nodded as Devon started the
car and headed down the gravel drive. She wouldn’t invite herself to stay in
his home, but wanted to feel out his thoughts at least.

“So you’ll be moving out then?”

“Over the next few days,” he said
shifting in his seat. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Oh?” She asked, an edge filtering
into her voice making it high. Lark really hoped it was for the reason she was
hoping for.

Devon inhaled and pulled the car
into the farmhouses drive.

“I thought we were going to
Luigi’s?” She questioned as he pulled them to a stop.

“I…” he started then stopped. “ We’ll
order in, come on I want to show you something.”

Lark bit her lip as he climbed out
of the car, she hopped out following after him. He seemed tense and she
wondered what the cause of it was. Things were going great between the two of
them. Sure they butted heads still, but they always made up.

“What did you want to show me?”
Lark asked as he jammed the key in the lock and opened the door.

“This way,” he said gripping her
hand in his and leading her down the hall.

Lark gasped as they walked into the
kitchen.

“Oh my god.” It had been completely
redone, and rivaled the one at the ranch. The sterling silver appliances were
brand new. The pot and pan rack held top of the line matching cookware. The
pristine grey marble counter tops were spacious, giving more than enough room
to work.

“You like it?”

“Yeah,” Lark breathed still in
shock. Her eyes went to the corner where there was a variety of muffin, cookie,
and cake pans. She walked over to them picking them up and setting them down.
They were the same brand she used in the shop.

“I know Gene’s offered you a place
to stay with him, until it is safe for you and Sarah to return to your home
whenever that may be.” Devon cleared his throat, glancing away before back to
her. His hazel eyes swirled with emotion as he took a step forward. “I was
hoping you would consider moving here with me.”

Lark shook her head, still in
shock. Her heart pounded in her chest. “Yes,” she said happily.

Devon’s lips crashed against hers,
hands on her hips, he pushed her into the cupboards. His teeth nipped at her
bottom lip as his stubble burned against her chin. He pulled back green-blue
eyes intent on her.

“I love you, Lark.”

“I love you too,” Lark whispered,
kissing him again.

Even though Lark knew they were
nowhere out of danger yet, right now in this moment everything was perfect.
They would deal with tomorrow when it came.

Coming in
January 2014

Into
the Unknown

Gene has taken control of his pack after the devastating loss of
his father,
Rick
the alpha. He’d been prepared for this his entire
life, but nothing could have prepared him for the brewing war, or the beautiful
Talia.

Talia trusts no one. If she had it her way she would take her
son and run far away from everyone. But, she wouldn’t get far with her
psychotic family after her. Going against her better judgment, she teams up
with Gene in an attempt to end her family’s tyranny.