Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Midas
The wounded look on her face makes my gut churn. I want to rip Delphi’s head off for hurting her like this. For fuck sake, she’s been through enough.
She carefully crosses her arms over her chest and looks away, trying to hide her tears from me.
“I didn’t want to tell you yet. I wanted nothing to taint our first official date, but I couldn’t hide the truth from you either. Not when I promised to be honest with you.”
“I don’t understand, Midas. I know there’s more to it. There has to be because even knowing all this, I trust her. She had a million reasons and chances to hurt me, but she hasn’t.”
I don’t say anything, not having the same faith in the woman she does.
“She told me a little about her history without giving away names or places.” She reaches down and rubs her Ravens tattoo and swallows.
“You guys hurt her. No, you guys broke her. And though I understand why you did what you did, I think you were wrong. I think she was as much a victim in all this as the rest of you were—”
“I can’t, Legs. I’m not trying to be a dick here when I say this, but you weren’t there. What happened almost destroyed us all. She wasn’t there when it went down, but she was supposed to be. Seems pretty damn convenient if you ask me.”
“I’m not dismissing that. Not at all. And it doesn’t matter what I think because you get to feel what you feel, no judgement from me. I’m just asking you to twist the view you’re looking from. Before Snake turned on you all, did you ever have any doubt about him?”
I take a deep breath instead of snapping at her with a knee-jerk reaction. I think back to Snake, whom I once considered one of the brothers I was closest to, and shake my head.
“I’ve thought about it a million times. I can pinpoint a dozen red flags with the others, Bear especially. Even Pip, the prospect. But I never saw any warning signs with Snake. I’d have picked a dozen other brothers to turn on us before I’d ever consider him.”
She swallows and nods as if that’s what she expected me to say. “And how did he treat Del?”
“Like a goddess,” I answer without thought. “He worshipped the ground she walked on. That’s why what he did to Lil is—”
I blow out a harsh breath. Even after all this time, the wound is still raw because we expect our enemies to attack us, but nobody is ready for a friend to betray them.
“I’m saying this as an outsider, detached from the situation,” she starts as I reach for her and tug her into my lap, needing her closer.
“If it wasn’t for Del, I’d think Snake would be a classic psychopath.
It sounds like he could mimic people’s feelings and emotions and blend in seamlessly.
I bet he made it so he never seemed like the most dangerous person in the room when he most likely always was.
Maybe life was a game to him, and everyone was just pawns on a board he could move around and study.
But Del was different. Something in her must have tethered him.
It wasn’t enough to change his psychopathy, obviously, but I bet she was the reason he didn’t fracture sooner.
Part of me wonders if him taking Bear’s side in all this wasn’t a deliberate act, knowing the outcome. ”
“You think he did this on purpose so we’d kill him?” I scoff.
She grips my jaw and forces me to stare into her eyes. “I didn’t know him. But what if he did it to set Del free? What if he knew he was slipping, and the one person he never wanted to hurt was suddenly in danger from him.”
I shake my head. “That’s not something we can prove. Not now. Besides, look at Hannibal. He’s a fucking psycho, but he’d never—”
She covers my mouth with her fingers. “He would. He doesn’t hide his crazy because he needs you all ready for the day he steps over the line that he can’t come back from.
Can you honestly sit there and tell me that if something happened to Lola or his kids, he wouldn’t burn the world to ash, us included, to get his vengeance? ”
I sigh because she knows I can’t. If Del really was Snake’s tether, then Lola is Hannibal’s.
Sensing my capitulation, she lowers her hand.
“All I’m saying is, perhaps Snake loved Del in his own twisted way.
And she loved him. She still does, even after everything he did, and she loathes herself for it.
Because, just like with you, there were no warning signs, no red flags.
She just woke up one day next to the man she loved, not knowing he would blow up her whole world before she went to sleep that night. ”
I squeeze my eyes shut, my breathing turning ragged. That can’t be true, because if it is, then we failed her, too.
I pull out my cell phone to dial Kruger, who answers right away. “Shit, fuck Midas, we got a problem.”
I ease Legs off my lap and stand. “What’s going on?”
“Delphi’s in the hospital.”
I tense my jaw so hard I hear it click. “Explain.”
“I went around to do the recon I needed to hand the info to G and found the place on fire. I won’t lie, I thought she might have done it herself to cover her tracks, but something made me check. I found her unconscious on her living room floor, beat to fuck.”
“Shit!” I yell, gripping my hair as realization dawns on me. I turn to look at Legs with wild eyes. “This is my fault. Someone must have followed me right to her. I outed her tie to us.”
Legs gets to her feet, her hand covering her mouth.
“It’s not your fault, Midas. You don’t know that they didn’t make their move because of Delphi’s tie to Legs.
You calling me in could just as easily be the thing that saved her life.
Because if I wasn’t here, she’d have burned with the building,” Kruger tells me.
It must sink in a little because I manage to get my shit together enough to tug Legs against my chest.
“Which hospital are you at?”
I look at Legs as he gives me the details and wonder if this will be one more thing she has to forgive, or if it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
“Alright, we’ll meet you there.”
“Gotta tell you, Midas, she woke up briefly and doesn’t want any Ravens there.”
“I don’t blame her. But she’ll want to see Legs.”
He blows out a breath, sounding as exhausted as I am, before hanging up.
“How much did you hear?”
“All of it.”
“Get your shoes on, and we’ll head to the hospital. If you have any questions, you can fire them at me while we’re on our way, but we need to be a united front at the hospital, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispers.
“I’m just going to text Havoc and give him a heads up because I don’t know if Kruger’s had a chance to yet.”
She nods, stepping back to give me a second. She snags her phone from where she left it on the sofa before slipping her shoes on. I text Havoc, explaining what I can and telling him I’ll fill him in on the rest later.
His one-word response of “okay” is more than enough to tell me he’s pissed, but I know he’ll keep a handle on it until I can check in.
I take Legs’s hand and lead her back out to the truck. I get her in and settled before starting the motor and heading out.
“Why was Kruger there?” This is her first question and one I expected.
“I spoke to him after I found out who Del really was. I was pissed and told him to burn it down.”
She looks at me, horrified.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s a phrase we use when we want to burn bridges.
We find out everything we can and, first of all, see if there are any ties to our club.
We burn those first. Then we look to see where else we can stir shit.
If a husband is cheating, we send proof to his wife.
If a guy is doing dirty at work, we send his bosses an anonymous tip.
That kind of thing. We make it so they’re completely isolated, and then strike while they have nobody to fall back on, or watch them run away with their tail between their legs.
We did not burn her business down. No matter how pissed we are at Del, we wouldn’t risk others getting caught in the crossfire. ”
She swallows and nods, and I’m so fucking thankful she believes me.
“You think whoever followed you heard what you said and took it literally?”
“How can I not think that? This asshole has done a lot, but they didn’t strike a match until I mentioned burning shit.”
“It’s not your fault, Midas, though I’m pissed you’d come in and wreck someone’s life like that.
We’re not talking about people who’ve crossed the MC.
We’re talking about a woman who you used to all care about.
She hasn’t come anywhere near you guys since you kicked her out.
She didn’t seek me out. I’m the one who found her.
She saw my tattoo and almost died on the spot.
You condemned a woman without any proof.
I’m disappointed in you and the whole MC.
I thought you guys were better than that. ”
I shut up after that because she is right. We don’t have a single shred of evidence to suggest she wasn’t involved in what Snake did. We focused on that fact when we couldn’t find anything to say she was involved either.
“I’ll talk to the club. I’ll tell them what you said. I don’t know if it will be enough, but I’ll lay everything on the table.”
“I don’t know if it will matter anymore. Her home is gone. Her business is gone too, and all because she got dragged right back into MC bullshit, and she didn’t have any of the protections in place the rest of us had.”
I blow out a deep sigh. “Don’t know about that anymore.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kruger. There’s a reason I called him. He’s always been in love with Delphi, but he steered clear because of Snake.
She was oblivious and only ever had eyes for her old man.
When we were convinced she betrayed us, it fucked with Kruger badly.
I thought this would give him an outlet for his rage and bring him some closure.
Instead, I tore open a wound that hasn’t fully healed but… ”
“But if you can get him to see what I see, you might have one very protective and pissed off a man willing to watch over her,” she finishes for me.
“Exactly.”
“She won’t come back. You both need to know that now.
You didn’t just wound Del, you guys amputated a limb while she was still awake.
She lost her husband, home, friends, and everything all in one night and had to deal with the aftermath alone.
I think that damage might be too deep for any of you to heal. I’m sorry.”
I pull into the parking lot and park the truck, helping Legs out and leading her inside, where we find Kruger pacing. He hurries over to us when he sees us, the smell of smoke thick in the air from his clothes.
Legs walks right up to him and hugs him. He looks at me and wraps his arms around her. Legs is one of the few women in the MC who doesn’t see Kruger’s scars. She never has, mostly because she has plenty of her own. They just aren’t visible like his.
When she pulls back, she says, “Show me where she is, and I’ll go talk to her.”
Kruger swallows. “Her brother turned up. He won’t let any of us in.”
“He’ll let me in. Trust me. What room is she in?”
He tells her before she looks at me. “I’ll meet you in the waiting room. Fill him in, yeah?”
I tug her to me and kiss her temple. “I’ve got him. Do not leave this hospital without me. Don’t go anywhere alone, not even the bathroom. I don’t know who this fucker is—”
She silences me with a kiss. “I’ll only be out of your sight when I’m in her room.”
I nod and blow out a relieved breath. “Go before I can’t let you.”
She hurries away, knowing how on edge I am.
I watch as she walks away, stopping in the corridor to look back at me and wink.
She knocks on the door and waits for it to be answered.
I can see her talking to someone, but not what’s being said, before she’s invited inside and the door closes behind her.
I look at Kruger and point to one of the chairs. “We need to talk.”
“I’m not sure I’ve got it in me right now, Midas.”
“I get it, but this is important. It’s about Delphi. Legs has a theory, and I can’t rule it out. I’m going to bring it to the others, but you need to hear it first.”
He sits quietly as I tell him everything Legs and I discussed, and watch as my words tear my friend to shreds.