by Wilder, L.
“What?” Fearing the worst, I screeched, “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” He reached for my arm and tugged me out of the room, leading me down the dark hallway. Thinking he might come to my rescue, I looked around for any sign of Hawk, but he was nowhere to be found. My heart raced with panic as the adrenaline started to rush through my veins. I had no idea where he was taking me, but in my gut, I knew it wasn’t a place I wanted to go. I tried to pull free from his grasp, but he just held on tighter as he yanked me forward. When we stopped at a door, he looked down at me and barked, “You have five minutes.”
He opened the door and shoved me inside. Before I had a chance to figure out what was happening, he shut the door and locked it. I started banging on the door and shouting, “Hey! Let me out!”
“Delilah.”
The sound of Danny’s voice startled me. I quickly spun around, and the sight of him made my stomach turn. He was sitting in the center of what looked to be some kind of garage with strange tools scattered around the room. Danny’s arms were bound behind him, and there was blood all over his clothes. With all the bruising and swelling, his face was almost unrecognizable. I rushed over to him as I cried, “Oh my god, Danny! What have they done to you?”
“I’m all right. Trust me ... it could be a lot worse.”
“Who are these guys anyway? Please tell me these aren’t your new biker friends.”
“No. Not exactly.”
“Thank God for that.” I tried to fight back my tears as I knelt down in front of him. It broke my heart to see my brother like that. “Tell me what can I do.”
“Nothing. I got us into this mess, and I’ll get us out.”
“But how are you—”
“You’re just gonna have to trust me, Dee.”
“I want to, Danny, but look at you. You’re practically hanging by a thread here,” I fussed. “And they have me locked in this room and won’t tell me anything.”
“I know, and I’m sorry about that. I hate that you got pulled into this.” An anguished look crossed his face. “You gotta know I never meant for that to happen.”
“I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here. Please ... just tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s better if you don’t know.”
“How can it be better? Don’t you know I’m going crazy here?” I argued. “I don’t see how it can get any worse, Danny.”
“You’re wrong. It could be a hell of a lot worse. They could have you in this room, torturing you like they’ve done me! Don’t you get that?”
“Yes, I get it, but they have nothing to gain from doing that to me. I had nothing to do with whatever is going on here.”
“Maybe not, but if they think you know something, then—”
“Danny, stop. I know what you’re going to say, and I understand why you’re concerned, but regardless of what might happen, I deserve to know the truth.”
“Damn. You’ve always been stubborn as hell.”
“No more stubborn than you are.” I softened my tone as I pleaded, “Just tell me.”
With a regretful sigh, he lowered his head in shame. “I got word yesterday that the take I’d delivered to these guys wasn’t the real deal. It was counterfeit, and they think I had something to do with it.”
“You were dealing drugs?”
He nodded, and just like that, my worst fears had been confirmed. “Dammit, Danny. You know better than to get involved in something like this.”
“I don’t need a fucking lecture, Delilah.”
“I just don’t understand why you would do something so stupid. You—”
“I fucked up. I know that. You bitching about it isn’t going to make me feel any worse.”
“Fine.” I sighed. While I didn’t like it, I knew he was right. The damage had already been done, so instead of berating him any further, I had to help him find a way out of this mess. “You said the drugs were counterfeit. What does that even mean?”
“It wasn’t pure coke. They had probably cut it with something to make it look like the real deal. Hell, I don’t even know what they did. The hit I took was legit, just like all the times before, but apparently, the rest of it was trash.”
“So, how is any of this your fault if you didn’t even know about it?”
“’Cause I’m the one who sold them the goods. Who else are they gonna blame?”
“You really didn’t know that the drugs were counterfeit?”
“Hell, no,” he answered without hesitation. “I’d have to be all kinds of stupid to try to pull one over on these guys. They don’t fuck around.”
“Obviously.” I lifted my hand to his face, and once again, I had to resist the urge to break out into tears. “What’s going to happen to you? To us?”
“I honestly don’t know, Delilah. It’s bad, really bad, and I had to go and make things even worse by shooting one of them.” I could hear the misery in his voice. “I gotta tell ya. I don’t think I’ll get out of here alive.”
“What?”
“It doesn’t look good, sis, but there’s still hope for you. Just keep your head down, do whatever they tell you to do, and maybe they’ll cut you a break.”
“No, there has to be something we can do. Some way we can convince them that you were innocent in all this.” I stood and started scanning the room. “Maybe there’s a way we can get out of here.”
“What are you not getting here?” Danny fussed. “You’ll just make things worse if you try to pull something. We have no choice but to ride this out.”
“We’re supposed to just sit here and wait for them to kill you?” I gasped. “I can’t do that, Danny.”
Showing little emotion, he replied, “You don’t have a choice. They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
Before he could respond, the door opened and Hawk stepped inside. Shotgun was standing there next to him, and I knew my conversation with my brother was over. I wanted to resist and stay there with him, but I could tell from their fierce expressions it wasn’t a good idea. I stood up and then bent down in front of Danny to lightly kiss him on the forehead and whispered, “I love you. Please don’t give up hope.”
He didn’t respond as he watched me walk over to the men who’d tortured him for hours on end. I couldn’t even look at Hawk as I followed them out of the room. I was too angry, too frightened for my brother’s life to even speak. We all walked in silence as we made our way down the hall to the room where they’d been keeping me prisoner. I walked in and kept my back to both men as they closed the door and locked me inside. Unable to hold on to my emotions a moment longer, I dropped down on the bed and started to cry. Actually, crying wasn’t the word for it. I was a broken, sobbing mess, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
The only thing that kept me from completely losing it was remembering that hairpin in the desk drawer.
Hawk
“Looks like you were right,” Shotgun told me as we stood outside Delilah’s door. “The girl didn’t know shit.”
“Doesn’t really matter now.” It was Shotgun’s idea to let Delilah see Danny. He’d hoped that by getting them together that they would talk about everything that had gone down with the take. Just as I feared, that’s exactly what happened. “He told her everything.”
“Yeah, but at least we can feel certain that we got the truth out of him.”
“Let’s hope.” My chest tightened as I thought back to the expression on Delilah’s face when we walked back into the room. I’d expected her to be upset, but she looked completely broken by the sight of her brother. I couldn’t blame her. Even though we’d cleaned him up a bit, he still looked like he’d been through hell and back. I glanced over to Shotgun. “What do you think Viper will do about her?”
“Got no idea.” He shrugged with indifference. “I would say it’d depend on whether or not he fe
els like he can trust her or not. The last thing we need is for her to go running her mouth about any of this. It could cause us some real problems if she did.”
He was right. If word got out to the cops that we’d kidnapped her or Danny, much less the fact that we’d done so because of a drug exchange gone bad, we’d be ruined. No way in hell Viper would ever let that happen, nor would I. The club and my brothers meant everything to me. No matter what was going on in my head about Danny’s sister, there was no way in hell I’d ever let it come between my brothers and me. I glanced back over to her door and said, “I trust he’ll make the right call.”
“He always does.” He turned and started towards his room. “See you in the morning.”
Even after he was long gone, I remained standing outside Delilah’s door, listening to the sounds of her muffled cries. Hearing her so upset tore at me, and I had to use every ounce of my restraint not to go into that room and try to console her. Knowing that I would only make matters worse for the both of us, I went to the room across the hall and lay across the bed. I could still hear her crying as I thought about everything we’d learned from Danny’s latest interrogation. It wasn’t much. In fact, he’d simply confirmed what we already knew. He was just a mule. He, along with several others, would pick up their take from specific locations and distribute it in their territory. Menace was still working on finding out more about Danny’s handler in Texarkana, but it hadn’t been easy. The guy was smart. He stayed under the radar, used a different burner cell for each one of his associates, and met at different locations for each drop-off. Hell, Menace hadn’t even been able to find an official name for the guy. All we had to go on was the name Miller. I was trying to think of a way for us to find out more information on him when I realized I couldn’t hear Delilah anymore. Even though I was relieved that she’d finally settled down, I couldn’t seem to do the same.
I was lying there trying to clear my head when I heard an odd, scratching sound coming from across the hall. At first, I thought it was just a mouse or one of the guys fucking around, but when it continued for several minutes, I knew it had to be something else. I got out of bed and stepped into the hall. It didn’t take me long to realize that the sound was coming from Delilah’s room. Being careful not to be heard, I stepped closer to the door, and that’s when I realized she was tampering with the lock. Half amazed, half pissed, I stood there glaring at the door, wondering if she had any idea how to pick a fucking lock. I got my answer several minutes later when I heard the lock disengage and the door slowly eased open, revealing a very surprised Delilah. I crossed my arms as I asked, “Going somewhere?”
“What are you doing here?”
“My job … or have you forgotten that I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you?” I stepped towards her, grabbing her arm as I pulled her back into the room and closed the door behind us. As I took the hairpin from her hand, I asked, “What the hell were you doing? Did you really think you could just walk out of here?”
“I had to at least try,” she cried. “Seriously, what else would you expect me to do after I saw what you did to Danny? Just sit here and wait for you to do the same to me?”
“I expected you to do what you were told, Delilah. It’s the only way I can help you.”
“I don’t want your help, Hawk.” Her voice trembled with sorrow as she muttered, “How could you do that to Danny? How could you do that to anyone? I just don’t get it.”
“Some things happen here that are difficult to explain, but there are reasons for everything we do … including how we’ve dealt with Danny.”
“But he’s innocent!” Tears filled her eyes. “He’s not the one who tried to trick you, and you know it.”
“Maybe not, but he’s the only one who can lead us to the person who did,” I explained. “And don’t forget, he shot one of our brothers.”
“And what about me? I didn’t have a part to play in any of this.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“But that’s not good enough, is it?” She lowered her head as she wiped the tears from her cheek. “I’m never getting out of here, am I?”
“Not like this, you aren’t.”
“Why does it matter? It doesn’t matter what I do. You’re still going to kill me, especially now that I know everything and I tried to escape.”
“That’s never going to happen, Delilah. I’d never hurt you.”
“After everything that’s happened, how do you expect me to believe that?”
I didn’t have the words to explain it to her, so I showed her. I took a step towards her and placed my hand on the nape of her neck, pulling her mouth to mine. The touch of Delilah’s lips set me on fire, and I knew right then there was no going back. She felt too good, too right. The scent of her skin and the warmth of her mouth got to me in a way that no woman ever had, and I feared I’d never be able to let her go. My hands made their way past the small of her back down to her perfect ass as I pulled her close against my body. A soft whimper escaped from her lips as they parted, allowing me to kiss her deeper. It was like the world around us faded away and we became lost in each other’s arms, but sadly, the moment didn’t last long.
Just as my body was becoming hungry for more, Delilah brought her hands up to my chest and gave me a hard push, forcing me to release her. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“Don’t try to say you didn’t feel something.” I crossed my arms as I looked down at her. “’Cause I know you did.”
“It doesn’t matter if I did. This”—she motioned her hand between us—“can never happen.”
“It already has.” I turned and headed for the door. Before I walked out, I stopped and said, “You can try and fight it all you want. God knows I have.”
She placed her hand on her hip as she sassed, “You’re crazy if you think I’d ever want to be with a man like you.”
“That kiss just proved otherwise.” Before I closed the door, I told her, “Get some sleep, Delilah.”
I locked the door and went back across the hall, then collapsed down on the bed. The second I closed my eyes, I found myself thinking back on that fucking kiss—the one that would haunt me until I had her in my arms again. I knew it was fucked up, but I was a selfish asshole and even more stubborn than she was. I wanted to make Delilah mine, and I couldn’t just give up and walk away—not without at least trying. I was feeling more determined than ever as I finally drifted off to sleep. As soon as I woke the next morning, I went to check in with Shotgun. When I got down to the room where we were holding Danny, I found him standing in the doorway talking to Viper. As soon as I walked up, Viper announced, “Just the man I wanted to see.”
“About?”
“The girl,” he answered flatly. “Shotgun was just telling me about her visit with Danny last night. Said it was pretty clear she didn’t know anything about him.”
“Apparently so.”
“Well then, I don’t see any point keeping her around. We need to decide what we’re going to do with her.”
“It’s not like we can just let her walk out of here. It’s too fucking dangerous.” Shotgun ran his hand down his beard as he continued, “If she goes to the cops, we’re—”
“Wait, she’s just an innocent bystander in all this, and you’re saying we should end her?”
“You got another way to handle her? ’Cause Shotgun’s right.” Viper’s eyes narrowed. “If she runs her mouth or even thinks about going to the cops, then—”
“She wouldn’t go to them.”
“You sound pretty certain of that fact.”
“That’s because I am. No way in hell she’d do anything to jeopardize Danny’s life any more than it already is.”
“Not sure that’s gonna be enough,” Shotgun warned. “She’s seen a lot, heard a lot, and we’d be putting everything on the line if we let her walk out of here.”
“Then, we make sure she doesn’t. We lay it all out. Explain the consequences, and we cover our tracks in case s
he tries to pull anything.” I could tell by Viper’s expression that he was surprised by my response. Normally, I’d agree with them both, tell them that the risk was just too fucking high, but I just couldn’t do that—not with Delilah. I had two choices. I could either continue my attempt to convince him that she wouldn’t rat us out or I could come clean about my unexpected feelings. As I stood there staring back at him, I knew there was only one choice. “We can’t kill her, Prez.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Viper knew me better than anyone. He knew my history, knew I’d never spent more than a couple of nights with one chick and liked it that way, so I wasn’t surprised when he stepped towards me and asked, “It’s only been like a day and a half. You actually gonna tell me you got something for this girl?”
I didn’t have to answer. He could tell by the expression on my face. Shaking his head, he chuckled as he replied, “Well, I’ll be damned. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“I’m just as surprised by the realization as you are, Prez.” I exhaled a deep breath as I ran my hand through my hair. “I know it sounds fucking crazy, but there’s something about her I just can’t shake.”
He cocked his eyebrow as he asked, “And how’s she going to handle it if she knows your club ends her brother?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“And if she does decide to talk?” he pushed.
“Then, I’ll handle it.”
“I have your word on that?”
I looked him in the eye as I promised, “My loyalty is with you and this club. You gotta know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you or my brothers.”