AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then the Xs... oh my God. What if they’re not strikes, Lucas? What if they’re...” She can’t finish.
“The number of women Montero has crossed off since my sister,” I finish for her, choking back bile.
“Then that bracelet means he’s marked me. And he’s the one leaving those X-marks and Roger’s got nothing to do with it. He probably doesn’t even know where I am!”
“Possible,” I say. “Though I don’t think he or Ulysses is the one painting them. The Arrendells never get their hands dirty when they could get caught. They have an accomplice. Probably some dick in town they’re paying, thinking it’s a harmless prank.”
Or not so harmless.
A million gut-wrenching blackmail scenarios come to mind. With great wealth and deep roots comes overwhelming power, and this family has half of Redhaven on a tight leash.
Delilah leans forward to drink her tea and sets the mug back down on the square wood coffee table with a sharp thunk!
Then she lurches up, this tiny ball of vibrating energy. “I’m going to kill them. Kill them both.”
“Delilah,” I bite off.
Her eyes whip to me, bright and spinning.
I can’t help myself.
I laugh warmly, breaking this bubble of misery. Wrapping both arms around her waist, I drag her back before she can make it more than a step, pulling her curvy body against me, hauling her into my lap.
“Lucas, I’m not joking. I really mean it,” she hisses.
“Stop.” I bury my face in her sweet-smelling hair. “Woman, you can’t just go charging up to that mansion in the middle of the night making threats. Also, you probably shouldn’t be confessing intent to murder right in front of a cop.”
God, she overloads me with so much feeling, this pint-sized dynamo of raw energy.
Five minutes ago, she was shaking with fear. Now she’s revved up to slay dragons.
My brave little cactus.
Only, she isn’t really mine yet, and that bothers me a hell of a lot.
Also sobers my dumb ass up.
I hold her tighter as she settles against me.
“You wouldn’t rat me out,” she throws back with a huff. I like the way her body fits against mine, compact and warm and close. “So what do we do then? If we can figure out who’s helping Montero, wouldn’t that give us evidence that he’s responsible for Emma Santos? And targeting me next?”
“We don’t do anything,” I say firmly, bracing for a fight. “Look, I’ve been working this case for a long time on the down-low, Lilah. What I need you to do is stay safe. Don’t go to that party. Don’t let them pull you in, no matter what, even if you’re just trying to help. I won’t be solving your murder next.”
“But...” Groaning, Delilah slumps against me, then turns herself sideways, curling up in my lap with her head pillowed against my chest. Her legs are stretched out on the couch, bare and tanned and too tempting for life in those tiny cutoff shorts. “I just want to do something for Emma.”
“Emma would want you to be safe.” I rumble, running my hand down her thigh, her warmth melting into me.
When she doesn’t pull away, I let my hand settle, keeping my other arm wrapped around her. “Trust me, the best thing you can do for her is to not wind up just like her.”
“I just feel like she’s haunting me, you know?”
“Maybe she is,” I answer. “Not begging you for justice. More like she’s watching over you.”
Delilah smiles faintly, and there’s a sadness to it.
“That’s a sweet thought,” she whispers. “But it still means Montero Arrendell got away with murder.”
“Only for now. I promise you I’m looking for a way to expose him without them being able to use their money and connections to wiggle out of it.” I kiss the top of her head, closing my eyes, breathing her in. “For Emma. For Celeste. For every woman he’s ever hurt. For you, darlin’.”
With a soft purr, Delilah snuggles in closer.
It’s a nice feeling, basking in her warmth with the quiet night all around us. Feels like we’re curled up in the eye of a storm.
Nothing but me and her and the scent of tea filling the room, a refuge from the chaos outside.
Her body heat bleeds through me in this soft swell.
Fuck, I want to ask her so much if the fact that she’s letting me hold her like this means what I hope it does.
That maybe, just maybe, she feels something more serious than a hankering for another one-off fuck, too.
But this isn’t the time or place for feelings.
Not tonight.
Not when I could just be misreading her needing comfort, her fear, and the physicality of someone close by grounding her and keeping her safe.
I can be her rock, without any expectations.
Still, I can’t stop thinking that right on the other side of that wall there’s a yellow ribbon of crime scene tape and a splash of blood against Delilah’s wall.
