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James let the man usher them both inside and set her on her feet in the entryway. “It’s okay. This is my cousin, Brogan.”
Delaney relaxed against James’s chest, watching Brogan sweep around them and crouch next to Charles. He felt for a pulse, inching away from the widening pool of blood, and then shook his head.
In that instant, it hit her, and her legs gave out. Sinking to the floor, her body shook with sobs. “He’s gone. He’s really gone.”
James knelt next to her and reached for the knife, prying it from her clenched fingers. She let him have it and closed her eyes when his fingers trailed over her face, neck, and shoulders, checking for injuries.
“Delaney, look at me.” She dragged her gaze up to his face. “Are you okay?”
Delaney looked back at Charles’s motionless body and nodded, tears still streaming down her face. “I’m free.”
ChapterThirty-Five
James sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. Seven days. That’s how long it had been since he’d found Delaney in that hotel room, steak knife clutched tight in her fingers, her husband lying in a pool of blood on the floor. She’d done it. She’d freed herself and come out the other side with only a few scratches and bruises.
Declan was pissed, though. At the relationship, the compromising position James had put the family in by having his name appear in the papers next to the killing of a prominent New Orleans attorney. The Callahan name. That’s really what this was about. What it would always be about. Protecting the family's interests.
For the last week, James had been desperately trying to come up with a way to have them both. To keep Delaney in his life and not put the syndicate at risk. Deep down, he knew she wouldn’t betray him, wouldn’t betray the family. He couldn’t say how he knew that. He just did. Convincing Declan of Delaney’s loyalty was less certain.
James glanced at his phone when it rang and sent the caller to voicemail. New Orleans newspapers and TV outlets had been calling for a statement since the news broke. It didn’t matter how much he ignored them; they were persistent. All they did was remind him he couldn’t have the only thing he wanted. Delaney.
He heard her moving around downstairs. She’d slipped out of bed early this morning before the sun came up. He could tell she knew something was off between them, but she hadn’t said anything. It was just as well because he had no idea what he would say to her anyway. How did you push someone away you wanted to pull close?
But he needed to get it over with. Ignoring the inevitable was only going to hurt them both in the long run. She would have money coming in from her ex and his estate as his next of kin. She could use that to start over anywhere in the world. She could be happy. He could let her go if he knew she’d be happy, even if it wasn’t with him.
Snatching his phone off the bed and shoving it into his pocket, he dragged himself to the stairs, pausing at the top to study her. The sight of her took his breath away. Her warm brown skin and black curls that coiled around her head and danced when she moved. Her lean dancer’s body and long legs and perfect ass.
He’d miss everything about her, from her laugh to how it felt to hold her while she slept. Aidan was right. He never should have let it get this far. He never should have put himself in the position to lose someone else he loved to this life.
Steeling himself, he jogged down the stairs, heart squeezing in his chest when she turned, setting her coffee mug on the edge of the counter and watching him with those amber-flecked eyes.
“We need to talk.”
She deflated, the hope visibly draining from her face, and he hated himself for it. Hated himself for what he was about to do.
“Yeah,” she breathed. “That’s probably a good idea.”
“You’re free now. You can start over somewhere new. Use the money from his estate to tide you over for a while. Maybe go back to Chicago and finish your law degree.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, she pinned him with a searching look. “What if I don’t want to start over somewhere else? What if I want to stay here? With you?”
The words were a knife to his heart; the look on her face twisted the blade. He wanted that. She couldn’t possibly know how much. He couldn’t have it. This had to be over.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He raked a rough hand through his hair. He could hardly form the words he needed to end this. “A lot you don’t want to know. Trust me, it’s better this way.”
Anger flashed in her eyes, and she took a step closer. “Says who? Why do you get to decide what’s best for me?”
“This is what’s best for both of us. Please, Delaney,” he pleaded. “Just trust me when I say you’ll be better off if you leave and make your life far away from here, from me. Be free and be happy.”
She laughed through the tears gathering in her eyes, but there was no joy in it. “You were the first person who made me happy in a long time. Before I met you, I didn’t think I’d ever be happy again. I love you.” Her words were whisper soft, and they nearly broke him.
“You shouldn’t.” He forced steel into his voice because he was afraid if he didn’t, he’d cave and go to her. If he touched her now, he wouldn’t be able to let go. “I’m dangerous.”
“You’d never hurt me.”
He snorted. “There are plenty of ways a man can be dangerous without beating the woman he claims to love.”
She took a tentative step forward, and it took everything he had to remain rooted in place. She was fraying the edges of his control.
