Page 126 of The Retaliation You Deliver

The second Devin and Libby’s eyes connect I swear to God I feel the sparks of electricity shoot straight down my spine.

“You two know each other.” It’s not a question. It doesn’t need to be, the answer is obvious.

Devin pulls his mask back into place, his easy, cocky smirk returning as he walks over to Libby and throws his arm around her shoulders.

“Oh, we go way back. Right, Lib? Got into all kinds of shit together.”

I glance at Libby to find her face pale and her eyes wide.

“Put her down, Dev,” Reid instructs, walking up to us. “Macie, how’s it going?” he asks when his eyes find me.

“It’s good, thank you.”

“Our boys ready to kill it down there?” he asks our group, but while he might distract most of us, my eyes are still darting between Devin and Libby.

The dealer and the ex-addict. If that doesn’t have disaster written all over it, I don’t know what does.

I have no idea how long I watch the two of them try to ignore each other while clearly being painfully aware of the other’s presence but eventually it’s Reid who once again distracts me.

“He looks like he’s ready to take on the world,” he says, forcing my eyes back to the field where Leon’s standing with Kane.

“He is… thanks to you.”

“Nah,” he mutters. “I might have helped get rid of the trash, but I’m pretty sure that’s everything to do with you.”

It turned out that Reid had orchestrated the entire situation around Richard’s demise, along with Ellis and Alana without Leon knowing. Neither of us know why he went to such effort to wipe him off the face of the Earth, but I do know that both of us will be forever grateful.

With him gone, it’s like I can breathe a little easier.

His estate has been sold, everything he owned is gone, and his fortune is now sitting untouched in a high interest account, growing for when I’m ready to hit go on my foundation in a few years.

“They’re going to kill it this year,” I say as they get ready to start.

“With you three behind them, they haven’t really got a choice.”

“What’s the deal with Devin and Libby?” I ask, although I regret it the second the question falls from my lips because Reid might be a lot of things but I don’t get the impression he’s a gossip.

“Probably best you don’t ask.” The crowd around us roars as the game begins so I don’t entirely catch his next words, but I swear to God it sounds something like, “you should probably be thanking them too.”

The excitement from the game stops me asking what he meant by that, or even if that’s what he said, but I can’t deny that it gets my head spinning.

I alternate between watching the game—which the Panthers win by a mile—and keeping an eye on Libby and Devin.

They ended up at either end of our group but that doesn’t mean I miss either of them looking at the other, both of them sitting tight with tension pulling their bodies.

Leaning into Peyton, I whisper. “What’s the deal with Libby and Devin?”

Her jaw ticks at my question, telling me that I’m not the only one who’s noticed.

“I have no idea,” she grinds out. “But she needs to stay the hell away from the likes of him.”

* * *

Letty, Peyton and I are practically bouncing on the balls of our feet as we wait, surrounded by a massive crowd of fans, for our guys to exit the locker room.

When they do, I wince with the volume of the cheer that erupts around me. It’s infectious and I find myself shouting along with them as some of the team come out, although it takes a few more minutes before the three we’re waiting on emerge dressed in smart suits and wearing matching accomplished smiles.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing the three of them this happy,” Letty says before bolting toward Kane and jumping into his arms.