“Damn, I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“So, she’s got some guy watching her. You got any idea why?”
“I wish I did.”
“How long has it been going on?”
“Apparently, he’s been at it a while—a week or more.” I let out a deep breath. “She thought it was one of the brothers, so she didn’t mention anything about it until she came by here tonight.”
“When was this?”
“Hasn’t been long since she left. Twenty minutes or so. She was pretty upset when she got here.” I thought back to the moment she stepped out of her car. I was glad that she’d come, but I didn’t get a chance to tell her. Hell, I didn’t get a chance to tell her much of anything. “She was freaking out over her mother wanting to go to the cops about Danny.”
“You set her straight about him.”
“I was about to, but Danny beat me to it. He came outside when we were talking. Needless to say, she was pretty torn up that I hadn’t told her he’d been shot. Things went south from there.”
“She took it pretty hard, huh?”
“Yeah. She left on a pretty sour note,” I grumbled under my breath. “I didn’t expect it would go well. Her brother means a lot to her. For that matter, her whole family does. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for them.”
“That’s a good thing. It’s important to have those ties to family. Those binds will see you through some hard times, and Delilah having them says a lot about her.” He ran his hand over his thick beard as he mulled things over for a moment. “You think she’ll come around?”
“Hard to say. She had her mind pretty set when she left here.” My chest tightened at the thought of actually losing her. I never imagined it would happen, not to me, but I’d fallen in love with her. I knew she deserved more than I could ever give her, but I didn’t have it in me to just let her walk away—not without a fight. “But I’m not giving up on her. I can’t.”
“You really got something for this girl, don’t ya?”
I nodded. “She’s everything I never knew I wanted. I’m just afraid I’ve fucked it all up and lost her.”
“I doubt that.”
“I don’t know, brother. When she sets her mind to something, it’s hard to change it.”
“Same with most women.” Viper chuckled. “Just give it some time. She’ll come around. For now, we need to be figuring out who’s staking out her place. Find out what the hell he’s up to.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“You think he’s there now?”
“Can’t say for sure.” I shook my head and scoffed. “I’d call her to ask, but something tells me she wouldn’t answer.”
“Well then, you best get over and see for yourself,” Viper suggested. “Try and get this guy’s license plate number or something. Anything we can use to find out who he is and why he’s got a sudden interest in Delilah.”
“I’ll head over there now.”
“Take one of the guys with you. Just in case.”
“Will do. Thanks, Prez.”
I gave him a nod, then left his office. When I got outside, I went over to the bonfire to find Shotgun. I quickly explained the situation with Delilah to him, and minutes later, we were headed over to our bikes. I was just about to start up my engine when Danny rushed over. Seeming unsure of himself, he shoved one of his hands into his pocket as he asked, “Hey, you going to see about Delilah?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“You mind if I tag along? I’d sure feel better if I knew what was going on.”
“If this guy happens to be around”—I glanced down at Danny’s sling—“I’m not sure you’d be any help to us with that bum shoulder.”
“Probably not.”
“Then I’d say it’s best you just hang out here, man.” I appreciated the fact that Danny wanted to check on his sister, but it was too risky. If we ran into trouble, he’d cause more harm than good. “If something’s up, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
“Okay, sounds good.” As he stepped away, he gave us a slight wave and said, “You guys be careful.”
I nodded, and moments later, Shotgun and I were on our way to Delilah’s place. As much as I wanted to go up to her apartment and talk things out, I knew it wasn’t a good idea—at least not yet. I needed to give her some time to sort things out on her own, but that didn’t mean I was just going to roll over and play dead. I’d waited too damn long find a woman like her, and now that I had, I wasn’t going to give her up without a fight. One way or another, I would make her see that we were right for one another. When we pulled up to her place, I scanned the parking lot for the truck, but saw no sign of it. In fact, Delilah’s was one of the few cars in the entire lot. Shotgun looked over to me as he asked, “You seeing anything?”