Chapter 17
Hawk
Istood there under a blanket of darkness, feeling completely powerless as I watched the taillights of her car disappear into the night.
I wanted to call out to her, demand her to stay, but I couldn’t.
Deep down, I knew she was doing the right thing by leaving.
That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell to watch her go.
Fuck, it had taken me a lifetime to find Delilah, and it gutted me to think I’d actually lost her.
My hands were tied. If I’d told her what had happened with Danny, she would’ve had questions—questions I couldn’t begin to answer.
I’d hoped the fact that he was set free would be enough to appease her, but I should’ve known that wouldn’t have been the case.
I was still standing there, staring off into the darkness, when Danny stepped over to me.
“What was that all about?” His eyes narrowed as he stood there studying me. “You got something going on with my sister?”
“You could say that.”
“Damn, I didn’t see that one coming,” he scoffed.
“I don’t think anyone did.”
“You’re a brave man to get involved with my sister.” He snickered as he said, “Dee is a hard-ass, man. Doesn’t let anything slide by.”
“I’m aware.”
“No offense, man, but”—he ran his hand through his long shaggy hair—“After everything that happen, I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to fuck off.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“I’m not one to judge. Fuck, I’ve never had any kind of relationship that was worth a damn, but Dee’s got a good head on her shoulders.
She thinks things through ... Something I’ve never been very good at.
So, if she gave you a chance, there had to be reason.
” Danny looked over to me as he continued, “I’m guessing she saw some good in you; otherwise, she wouldn’t have given ya a second thought. ”
“If that’s the case, then she was wrong.”
“I don’t know, man. I got no idea what kind of fella you really are.
Still trying to figure that shit all out.
I do know that the lifestyle you got going on here is a lot different than what she’s used to.
Hell, it’s a lot different than what I’m used to, but that’s not a bad thing.
I’ve seen how you guys interact with one another.
It’s like you’re more than just a club or whatever.
You stick together and have each other’s back.
Even the way you handled me. You did what you had to do to protect the club. You gotta respect that.”
“Not sure she saw it that way.”
“So, what?” His eyes narrowed as he asked, “You’re just gonna give up on her?”
“I can’t force Delilah to see things my way, Danny.”
“No, but you can do your best to make her understand.” Sounding completely sincere, he offered, “You know, I could go talk to her. Explain things the way I see ’em and maybe set things right.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Once Viper had given the word that Danny would be released, he gave him limited range of the clubhouse, allowing him time to finish healing from his gunshot wound instead of just forcing him out the door.
It was a decision none of us expected. I had a feeling that Viper saw something in Danny and wanted the opportunity to see if his instincts about him were right.
While I had my doubts at first, I had to admit that he wasn’t at all like I’d expected.
Similar to his sister, he had a good head on his shoulders and had completely owned up to his mistakes.
Hell, he didn’t even hold a grudge against Shotgun, understanding that he was doing his part to protect the brothers.
As I stood there talking to him, I could see him as being a good addition to the club, but I had my doubts that his sister would feel the same.
I looked at Danny and said, “I think I need to give her some time.”
“Maybe so.” Danny glanced behind him, watching the guys as they sat around the fire drinking a cold one. “How about a couple of beers? Might help take your mind off things for a bit.”
“Doubt it, but you go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“You got it, man.” He turned to leave, but quickly stopped and looked back at me. “Hey, I was meaning to ask you ... Have the guys been watching Delilah?”
“Yeah, we had to be sure she wouldn’t talk about you and everything that happened.”
“I get it. Did Delilah know y’all were watching her?”
“We didn’t keep that a secret.” I sighed. “Figured it would help motivate her to keep her mouth shut.”
“She didn’t talk, did she?”
“Not a word.”
“Didn’t think she would. Delilah isn’t one to go back on her word.” Apprehension crossed his face as he said, “So, this creeper she was talking about ... He something I need to be concerned about?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure.” I’d seen the guy and hadn’t forgotten the uneasy feeling I got after I noticed him parked outside her apartment.
At the time, I hadn’t known for certain if he was there for her, but now that I did, it made my blood run cold to think he might do something to hurt her.
I needed to know for sure that he had no connection to the club, so I told Danny, “I’ll talk to Viper and see if he knows anything about it. ”
“Okay, sounds good,” he replied, sounding relieved. “If you don’t mind, let me know what he says.”
“Will do.”
When Danny turned to join the others, I went inside the clubhouse to find Viper.
He and Menace had been going over the intel Menace had collected on Flint, the new dealer we were looking into.
With the new club open and doing so well, we wanted to get product moving before our customers went looking somewhere else.
Even though Viper was eager to get our first order placed, he wasn’t going to make a move until he was certain that we’d found the right guy.
When I walked into his office, they were both gathered around his desk, going over all the files. “How’s our guy looking?”
“Pretty good, actually,” Viper answered. “I’m not seeing any red flags yet, so I’d say that’s a good sign.”
“That’s a very good sign. So, now what?”
“I’m thinking we’ll place a small order and just see how it plays out. If the product is as good as they say it is, then we’ll be set.”
“That’s great to hear. It’ll be good to finally get the ball moving on this. Just let me know if you need me to do anything.”
“You know I will.” He lowered the papers onto his desk, giving me his full attention. “You got something on your mind?”
“Yeah, I need to ask you about something.”
Menace stood up, and as he started out of the room, he said, “I’ll give you two a minute.”
Once he’d closed the door, Viper looked up at me and asked, “What’s going on?”
“It’s about Delilah.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know anything about a guy who’s been watching her? He drives a black truck ... been sitting outside her place and hangin’ around.”
A puzzled expression crossed his face, and I knew right then he didn’t have a clue. “I don’t know anything about it. Hell, I put you in charge of watching her, so if there’s anyone who’d know about a new guy, it’d be you.”
“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.”