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“Thiscousin. Roman. Fucking.Devlin.”

“Never heard of him,” Darien quipped.

Glen blew a humorless laugh through his nose. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“Sometimes, yeah.”

“You won’t be laughing when I tell you we have a warrant for his arrest,” Glen spat.“Where the hell is he?”

74

I-5

STATE OF KER

Shay awoketo the car bouncing, the back of her head thwacking against the headrest.

It was morning, and they were flying down the sunlit interstate at a speed way beyond legal.

“Sorry,” Roman muttered when he saw that she was awake. “These roads are shit.”

Shay sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes as she looked for evidence that this road was indeed shit. There was the odd pothole here and there, but it didn’t look different than any other in Terra.

She fought a smile. “I think they’re meant for people who don’t drive as if they’re fleeing from the cops,” she teased.

The edge of Roman’s mouth quirked with humor. “There’s no fun in driving slow. Besides, the minute you get behind a wheel like this baby—” He dragged his large, scarred hands along the curve of the wheel. The gesture—so simple, yet so attractive—made Shay gulp. “—the only correct way to drive it is like you stole it.”

That she felt hot all over was downright embarrassing. All the man had done was caress his steering wheel, and here she was, sweating like a sinner in Temple.

“Have you always been into cars?” she asked him. Getting to know Roman Devlin better was probably a bad idea, but she had to fill the silence somehow. It was either that or shut her eyes again and pretend to be asleep. That was the less desirable, but smarter choice.

“Since the moment I set foot on a race track,” he replied. “My Uncle Dean took me, my mom, and Travis to see a race when I was a kid. The minute I smelled the hot rubber and fuel…” His expression turned wistful, his eyes sparkling. “I was a goner. A changed man.” He gave her another of those roguish smiles that made her stomach tighten, her pulse accelerating.

“Your…uncle,” she mused. “Your dad’s brother, or your mom’s?”

“Dad’s.”

Her brows jumped up. “Wow. A Slade brother who isn’t a total psychopath?” Hopefully she wasn’t jumping to conclusions, and this story that had started out so wholesome wasn’t about to take a bad turn.

But Roman snorted a laugh. “I know—shocking. Apart from their looks, they have zero in common.Dean the Mean—that’s what Travis and I call him. He’s the good apple. The one brother who didn’t turn into a complete rage-aholic.” The dreamy smile teasing the edge of his mouth… It made Shay smile. “Dean’s normal,” he went on. “Funny. Kind.” That little smile faded into a frown. “Nothing like Don.”

“How didyouend up this way?”

He glanced sidelong at her. “What way?”

“So…you.”She gestured to all of him with a wave.All of himwas damn near perfect. “So different from your dad. You’re nothing like that horrible monster, either.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.” Despite his flat tone, she could tell the compliment meant a lot to him. He cleared his throat. “It was my mom, mostly. Seeing how horribly my dad treated her mademe want to be a better man than him. It was hard—watching her live in fear, constantly walking on glass every time my dad came home… I decided from a young age that I didn’t want to be anything like him. The example he set…it was terrible. He was always hitting things, always screaming and swearing at us…” A chill pebbled the skin on his arms. He cleared his throat. “When Travis was born, and I watched him grow up, I saw a lot of myself in him. Protecting him and setting a better example became a sort of personality for me.”

“Well, I’d say you succeeded,” she said. “With Travis.” He looked pleased to hear it. “What made your mom decide to marry him, anyway? Did he beg her until she agreed?” She was trying to lighten the mood, but she didn’t think it was working. Hopefully he didn’t think she was being insensitive.

Roman briefly hesitated. Finally, he said, “A lie. My dad’s a manipulative mastermind. Long story short, he put on an act until she was in too deep to turn back. She fell in love with the fake Donovan, and she stayed because she was afraid of the real one.” That explained Clare as well, then. Why Paxton’s mom hadn’t run.

It was easy to judge as an outsider looking in. Everyone always asked,‘Why didn’t you run?’When really, they should be asking,‘Why did he make you feel like you had to?’

As the conversation stalled, Shay noticed how Roman’s expression had darkened, his aura melancholy. Was it wrong of her to have brought up his mother?

Desperate to see the light come back to his eyes, she changed the subject. “What happened to your other car? The white one.”