The Handsome Devil

Chapter 55 - Toughen up

"You need to get your shit together!" Dylan's enraged figure stormed into Max's bedroom, the sight of the man's half-naked self lazily spread on the bed despite it being late afternoon sending him into frenzy.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" The devil murmured as he threw the covers over his head to shield himself from the man's burning gaze.

"Oh, you don't?" Without hesitation, Dylan pulled the covers down and sent them flying across the room. This - whatever it might be - has been going on for way too long, and it's time he put a stop to it.

"Let me refresh your memory then. You've blown off most of gang meetings in the past weeks, and when you attended, your input was limited to grumpy mutters and blank stares" He recounted disgustedly while struggling to calm his ragged breathing.

However, the devil's face remained perfectly indifferent. "So? Nothing important went down, naturally I was bored"

"Right. Nothing went down, like when our convoy got jumped in the middle of delivery?" Dylan shouted at the top of his lungs before taking a pause to recompose himself.

"But I guess our men nearly dying is not a big deal anymore" He added bitterly, and Max's eyes widened in shock."What? Surprised to hear that? Well, perhaps that's because you demanded I attend the meeting on your behalf, and haven't bothered to pick up your phone since"

There was a minute of silence before Max's raspy voice spoke again. "Maybe I've been a little... distracted.. lately, but.."

Dylan couldn't resist rolling his eyes at the underestimation, but let the devil continue.

"You know me long enough. It'll pass" He let out an exhausted sigh before rolling on his back and hypnotizing the ceiling.

"I thought I knew you. But the Maximón that used to lead us wouldn't put us at risk, and he as hell wouldn't sabotage the Northern operations" The passion behind the man's words instantly gained Max's attention.
"Do you not want to get Connor anymore? Did that change too?"

"Nothing has changed" It bothered him that he lacked ground on which to fight the accusations. 'I'm alright' has become his internal mantra for long enough that he fooled himself. Unfortunately, the same apparently couldn't be said about the Bulldogs.

"You should talk to someone" Dylan interrupted his thoughts with a defeated head shake.

"I'm talking to you" That might not mean much on a regular day, but let's just say the two haven't spent much time in the same room recently, mostly because the devil used him as a scapegoat to run everything during his incapacity.

Still, it wasn't quite what his friend had in mind.

"I meant a professional" Dylan raised his eyebrows as if unsure how to make it more obvious, and his boss eventually caught on.

"Professional? You mean a shrink?" One could easily guess what he thought about the idea, solely by how his nose crinkled and eyes shrank into narrow slits. "Are you trying to tell me I'm crazy?"

"Oh, come on, it's no secret you're fucked up in the head. You've always been." Dylan blurted out without hesitation, and it shocked him when the devil let out a small chuckle. For a millisecond, he even believed this truly is a crisis that will pass.

Still, he wasn't about to take chances.

"I think that the incident might have affected you more than you're willing to admit" The blond started carefully only to be interrupted.

"I've told you a million times, I'm over her" Although the devil tried hard to suppress his emotions, this reminded him just how much he failed.

What happened? Wasn't lying one of his most precious talents?