50. Delilah
Chapter fifty
Delilah
“ I know it needs to be done… but something feels off. I don’t like the idea of you being with him alone,” Archer muttered as he sat with me in the car on the way to a cafe. He had a business meeting with his father’s associates in an hour or so, and he was so tempted to cancel last minute in order to stay with me.
I grabbed his hand in mine and rubbed his palm softly. I had agreed to meet Michael, and we were meeting at a small cafe by a park as I didn’t want us to be secluded.
“I don’t either... but Kimi’s ‘philosophy’ still stands. Look him in the eyes one last time, then never again. I will make it clear to him that I have no intentions of building any sort of relationship with him.”
It was the truth. I’d never met the man until a week or two ago, and I didn’t intend on acting as if we knew each other forever.
“Still don’t know why you are so keen on keeping her around. We should just let both her and Sterling into the wild,” Archer muttered, and I rolled my eyes at his comment.
“Are you going to be at the office long?” I asked him, and he sighed.
“Unfortunately, I’m on damage control since Stephan has been MIA for some time now, and my father is handing me all his work.”
I nodded softly as I continued to caress his hand.
He muttered as he brought my hand to his lips, “Side note, Princess. You look adorable today—any day really—but I like this look. It almost makes me want to give into my intrusive thoughts and pull over to the side of the road.”
His hand left mine for a moment, and I pouted slightly before a blush rose to my cheeks as he placed his hand on my thigh.
It was a simple outfit, nothing I wouldn’t be caught wearing on the regular, yet for some reason the man beside me was almost beside himself as he gazed at me.
“Pull over to do what?” I asked, and he chuckled.
“To do anything I want with you, baby, in the backseat, preferably,” he muttered casually.
I blushed profusely as I hid my face in my hands. “You’re terrible, you know that?” I responded, and he chuckled as he caressed my thigh slowly.
Looking out the car window, I sighed, as this was probably going to take the most courage I’ve had in a while. And for some reason, I had a gut feeling that I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
My knee bounced as it crossed my other leg. I took a sip of my tea slowly and gazed at the sign that stood a few feet away from the coffee shop I was sitting outside of. Waiting seemed to be the worst part of it all as I could barely keep my composure. Not only had we informed Uncle Blaine and Uncle Shin, my mother was looped in as I didn’t feel comfortable going this far without her.
“I don’t want you to go. At all. But if you do, which you probably will, Nathan will be watching you, and Benjamin will be ready with a sniper to be used at any cost,” she said worriedly, and my eyes went wide.
“Benny has a sniper?!” I almost screamed.
She ignored me. “I could ask George to be on stand-by in case this becomes a hit-and-run. Okay, okay, this could work,” she muttered as she thought, feeding my sibling in her arms while I could only stare at her, dumbfounded and in shock.
She shrugged as she looked at me. “He won’t actually pull the trigger. He’s just going to be a… precaution.”
I tried to remain calm as my nerves were at an all-time high. I almost couldn’t sleep last night until he calmed me down. Just breathe, Princess. Just breathe.
I repeated his words as I looked down at the ground, but my breath hitched when a pair of loafers made their way into my line of sight. I gulped slightly as I looked up and made contact with the man I cursed just the other day—my biological father, Michael.
“Delilah, thank you for meeting with me in person,” he said as he stood in front of me.
I nodded slowly and directed my attention back to my cup of tea as he slowly made his way to the seat across from me.
I don’t know what he was expecting. This man deserved none of my attention or time… much less a hug.
He folded his hands on the table as he sighed. I tried not to notice how his skin was an olive tan, and his hair was curlier than on my mother’s side. Traits I inherited from him, I guess.
“I don’t even know where to start. You’ve grown so much. Into a beautiful young woman—”
“You don’t even know me,” I cut him off, and he frowned. “You left me when I was a child, a literal infant. And you have the audacity to tell my mother that I belong to you more than her?” I asked him, enraged.
He bit his lip.
What, did he think I was going to let him off the hook for disrespecting my mother? For disrespecting Bribri?
“Delilah... I came to speak with you, honey. I didn’t come to argue or to make you miserable. I want to make amends with you. You’re my only daughter. I know I screwed up, and I know I can’t ever make up for the time lost... But all I’m asking for is a chance. To make things right between us,” he finished, and I puffed.
Am I being unreasonable? I mean, he is more than twenty years late... Should I give him a chance? Should I trust him to keep his word about genuinely wanting to build a relationship with me?
“I-I don’t know. As selfish as this may sound, I already have a father. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression that we are going to magically build some sort of relationship that will change the past.”
He nodded. “I completely understand. I know I’m far too late for anything of the sort, but I would like to get to know you at least... Would you let me start with that?” he asked.
I hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding. “Okay,” I whispered, and he smiled. His teeth were straight, white, and pearly, but I knew a genuine smile from a fake one, and he wasn’t smiling genuinely. I tried not to overanalyze it, but something was off.
What’s going on? I wondered, but I shook the thoughts from my head. I didn’t want to overthink anything, but how could I not? I knew going into this would be a little dangerous, and I didn’t want to let my guard down, even for a second.
“How’s life with Brielle and Killian?” Michael asked, and I shrugged lightly.
“It’s fine. I do sometimes miss when I was younger and had fewer responsibilities regarding school, work, and my siblings,” I said, reminiscing about the time before all of my siblings were around—when it was just me, Killy, and Bribri.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my siblings. However, I only like them on certain occasions.
He continued asking me questions, and I answered them as best as possible. Soon there was a silence that was almost deafening as I mustered up the courage to ask him something I longed to know.
“Why did you leave?” I asked softly.
He paused for a moment.
“...I was young and dumb. And I’ve been somewhat dumb for the last twenty years as I never saw the need to reach out or find you.”
“Why now?” I asked him.
I noticed a slight change in his posture. “I guess I finally grew up enough to take responsibility and apologize to you,” he muttered.
I didn’t say anything for a moment.
“It took you twenty years to grow up? It took my entire childhood for you to grow up?” I asked him. He gave me an indecisive look as he had no answer to my question. “And my mother, Marissa ?” I asked, and he sighed.
“She was a one-night stand. I didn’t know she was pregnant until it was a little too late,” he said.
I no longer had any questions for him. His answers… seemed truthful, but again, there was something off, like he couldn’t bother with telling me the whole truth—or maybe he just didn’t care.
We continued the conversation, and eventually, he somewhat ran out of questions. Since I didn’t have any more questions to ask him, I felt as though our time shared was over.
I went to speak, but stopped as he spoke first. “Delilah… I’m enjoying our time together. Do you mind if we go for a walk?” he asked.
I bit my lip, going to respond. However, his following few words sent my heart to my stomach.
“Preferably without your bodyguard or butler keeping constant surveillance on us.”
He leaned back in his chair, and my hands became sweaty as my mouth went dry.
How do I even respond?
I cleared my throat before shaking my head. “I-I don’t think right now is a g-good time. My mother is expecting me back home a-and—” I tried to speak, and he cut me off as he raised a finger to his lips and shushed me softly while showing me the gun in his waistband.
If he knew Benny and Nathan were watching, then why is he so open to—
“If you run... I won’t hesitate to shoot you. I won’t kill you since you are my daughter, after all, but you may be paralyzed afterward, so I wouldn’t risk it. And even if they do shoot to kill me, it’ll definitely be after I shoot you.” He spoke nonchalantly, and he eventually stood up. He held his hand out for me to take.
I sat frozen in my seat, and he tilted his head.
“Be a good girl, act natural, and get your pretty ass up before something terrible happens to you.”
I gulped softly and slowly took his hand.
He smiled brightly as I stood up, and as soon as I did, I let go of his hand, much to his dismay.
We walked along the block as my heart hammered in my chest. I tried to look around to see if I could spot Nathan or Benjamin, but it felt almost impossible. We walked in silence for some time.
“How long do you think it will take Killian to transfer ten million dollars?” he asked.
I bit my lip. “N-not too long,” I said softly, and he nodded.
“And I assume the same answer would be for twenty million as well, hmm?” he asked, and I nodded.
Where exactly is he going with this?
“Perfect,” he whispered.
I held in my tears that were threatening to fall as we entered an alley.
We stopped in front of a black SUV, and I turned to Michael with tears in my eyes. I don’t know where Nathan or Benny are, but they are clearly my only hope at this point.
“He’ll give you any amount you need… please,” I begged him.
He stood emotionless as he stared at me and nodded to the car, opening the door.
“Get in, Delilah,” he muttered, and I stepped back reluctantly.
“I... I don’t want to,” I almost sobbed.
He chuckled as he approached me slowly, closing the back door of the SUV in the process.
“Have you forgotten who is in charge here, little girl?”
I tried to step back again, but I yelped as he fisted my hair and brought me closer to him. He tightened his grip around my hair, and I stayed silent as tears rolled down my face.
“I asked you a fucking question!” he yelled, and I continued to cry as he reached for his gun.
I closed my eyes as I thought he cocked his pistol, but my eyes opened as I realized one of his hands was still on me, and he couldn’t have possibly done it with the other one. He seemed to be taken aback, and my eyes widened as a voice rang out in the alley.
“You know… she doesn’t really have to answer you,” the man muttered.
Michael pulled away from me as a gun rested against the back of his head. Recognizing the voice, I looked up and made eye contact with the “legend” himself, or the ninja, as Uncle Blaine puts it… Uncle Eugene.
“Delilah, behind me. Now,” Uncle Eugene ordered without room for question, and I ran behind him as I faced his back, not wanting to see Michael... However, when I came over, Uncle Eugene didn’t lower his gun.
He was just scaring Michael… right?
Michael noticed, too, and he held his hands up in surrender. He was shaking as if he didn’t think this would happen. Uncle Eugene, in contrast, was calm… way too calm.
“Please… Please don’t. I have a daughter,” Michael begged.
Uncle Eugene tilted his head to the side in thought.
“So do I.”
I covered my ears as the gunshot rang throughout the alley and choked as Michael’s body fell to the ground. My chest heaved up and down, and I noticed a tiny speck of blood splattered onto my shoe.
I felt like throwing up my lunch as my stomach flipped. I glanced at Michael’s lifeless eyes as they stared directly at me, and I almost threw up in my mouth once again.
Uncle Eugene turned around, and his face remained emotionless. Almost like he wasn’t fazed.
We held eye contact for what felt like forever before I attempted to run from the fastest man I knew. A very stupid decision on my end, but I’ve made my fair share thus far, so nothing new.
He grabbed me before I could get too far and shielded me from the body as he held me against the wall to keep me from running.
“You killed him,” I whispered as he glared at me.
“And he was going to kill you. What the hell are you doing here!? Do you know how dangerous this is and how wrong this could’ve gone!” he boomed.
I shied away from him in fear as my tears fell and sobs racked my chest. Trembling, I wiped my face with my hand, and his face softened.
“Y-you killed him. You really killed him,” I cried, and he sighed.
“God, you’re just like Brielle,” he muttered, and he pulled me into his chest for a hug.
I felt both a sense of terror and comfort and my mind was in a constant battle with my body as I wrapped my arms around him.
After a few minutes, he spoke softly. “No more crying… please. When the two of you cry, I feel hopeless, and I don’t know what to even do with myself.”
I tried to stop my tears, but they flowed like a river.
“W-Why did you kill him, and how did you know I was here?” I asked, and he sighed.
“As I said, he was going to kill you or, rather, kidnap you and torture you for money. I’ve been following him for some time, and I’ve been trying to find the right time to… get it over with, but I couldn’t.”
My mind raced with a thousand possibilities and theories of what could have happened.
Uncle Eugene grabbed my chin and tilted my head to look up at him. “Benjamin and Nathan know you’re with me. You need to go home, Delilah, and get some rest.”
I nodded softly, and he wiped my tears from my cheek as he continued to gaze down at me. He had an empty look in his eyes, but at the same time… they were filled with love and care.
“I will do anything to keep my family safe, Delilah. You need to learn that quickly. It’s not the first or last time someone will be after you. If and when they are... I will protect you. Always.”
I didn’t say anything in response.
As if on cue, Nathan pulled up at the entrance of the alley.
I gave Uncle Eugene one last glance before walking away and entering the car.
I lay my head on the window as I stared blankly outside. I never expected something like this to happen, and I was simply in shock.
I just watched someone get killed.
I just watched Michael get killed.
And now, Michael is dead.
My father is dead.