19. Thorn
CHAPTER 19
THORN
“I don’t know how much longer I can sit here and stare at this shit.”
Glancing at Delaney, I watch as she scrubs her hands over her face. She and I, along with Fort, Lock, and Jez have been locked in the damn meeting room for the last two hours. The rest of the club left when church ended, but the five of us wanted to get working on trying to determine where the Phantom will strike next.
“Why don’t we take a break?” Jez suggests, looking at Delaney with concern.
“I’m all for it,” Fort says. “I’m hungry, and rumor has it Abyss is making his special Purgatory Pizza.”
Delaney narrows her ice-blue eyes. “What the hell is Purgatory Pizza?”
“It’s the one food that makes us all gluttonous sinners,” Lock snickers. “Purgatory Pizza is a delicious combination of pepperoni, four cheeses, sausage, ham, bacon, onion, olives, ground beef, nacho cheese Doritos, grilled chick?—”
“Okay, okay,” Delaney mumbles, holding her hands up. “I get the picture. Gotta say, it sounds disgusting.”
“Bite your tongue,” Jez quips. “It’s incredible.”
“But if you don’t like all that shit,” I begin, watching Delaney’s face pale at the thought of what Lock described. “Abyss will happily make you something else.”
“Orrrr,” Jez says. “Thorn could take you out to eat.”
“And that’s my cue,” Fort says, rising from his chair. “I think it’s time to call it for now. We’ll pick back up on locating the Phantom later.”
Lock follows him out of the room, both of them snickering. I stare at Jez, silently ordering her to leave, but she doesn’t get the memo. Instead, she leans her elbows on the table and rests her chin in her hands.
Delaney clears her throat. “I’ll just head into town and grab something.”
“Well, that’s just stup?—”
“Jez,” I snarl.
My Pres’s twin huffs out a breath and slams her laptop closed. “I can see when I’m not wanted.”
She stands and leaves me alone with Delaney, who’s trying to hide her laugh by covering her mouth.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
Delaney frantically shakes her head, but she can no longer contain herself. She bursts out laughing. “She’s a bit of a drama queen, isn’t she?”
“Jez?” She nods. “Don’t let her hear you say that,” I warn and then smirk. “But, yeah, a bit.”
She sobers and looks at me thoughtfully. “You love her, though.”
I shrug. “Of course, I do. She’s as much a sister to me as she is to Soul. Hell, we all love her.”
“It’s sweet.”
“It’s annoying,” I joke.
Delaney gets to her feet and starts to pace. “Don’t do that,” she snaps, her easygoing demeanor shifting into something… darker. “Don’t pretend like the people that matter to you don’t. You never know when they won’t be around anymore.”
Anger slams into me. “Pretty sure I’m aware of that.”
She whirls around, and her face falls. “I’m… shit, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s fine,” I tell her, sensing her guilt. “But know this… I’m intimately familiar with what it’s like to lose people I give a damn about. Not only did that sonofabitch take Tamara from me, but I served in the military, and I’m a patched member of a one-percenter MC. Death is a normal part of my existence.”
“I-I’m sorry,” she stutters. “I didn’t mean to be so snippy.”
“Look, it’s been a long few days. Why don’t we take the night off?”
Her eyes widen. “What are you suggesting?”
“Well, we both have to eat. And I’m not in the mood for pizza.” When she hesitates, I continue. “When was the last time you took a break from the Phantom?”
She snorts. “I haven’t. I can’t because who else will fight for Daphne if I do?”
“Me,” I say simply, and her expression softens. “The club and Jez, too. You’re not alone in this anymore.”
“And if he strikes while we’re taking a break?”
“I can’t answer that, Delaney,” I reply honestly. “But I really don’t think anything is gonna happen tonight.”
“And if it does?”
“Then we’ll have another crime scene and victim to evaluate and gain info from.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I, but there’s nothing more we can do tonight.”
“Yeah.” She sighs. “Yeah, okay.”
When she shoves her hands in her pockets, I grin. “Let’s get outta here for a while. We’ll eat, talk, ride my Harley, and forget the rest of the world for a while.”
Delaney nods. “O-okay.”
Two hours later, I park my bike at a local diner and help her off. She hands me the helmet, and I hang it on the handlebar.
“This is your idea of a night out?” she asks, nodding at the run-down exterior of the building.
“Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”
Without thinking, I take her hand and lead her inside. I guide her toward a booth in the back where I can see every window and exit. Delaney slides in across from me and grabs a menu.
“What do you recommend?” she asks while looking over the laminated pages.
“They’ve got a little of everything.”
“But what’s your favorite?”
“It’s a toss-up between the bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake and a medium ribeye, loaded baked potato, and a Dr. Pepper.”
Delaney groans. “They both sound good.”
“Then we’ll order both.”
And that’s exactly what I do when the waitress returns. I’m aware of Delaney’s confused stare when I instruct the waitress to bring us both meals and two extra plates.
“This way we can each get the best of both worlds,” I tell her when we’re alone again.
“Anyone ever told you that you’re a control freak?”
I don’t take offense. Delaney’s grinning like a fool, and it’s the best sight I’ve seen in a long fucking time.
“Maybe once or twice. I’m guessing you’ve been told the same thing.”
She shakes her head. “No. But to be fair, I haven’t let anyone close enough to feel like I had to maintain control in a long time.”
“Because of the Phantom?” I ask, praying I’m not gonna set her off again.
Her eyes darken, and her smile falls, but she looks more sad than angry. “Haven’t really had time for anything else but hunting him.”
“We’re gonna get him,” I assure her.
“I know. But how many more will die before we do?”
When the food arrives, we eat in silence, each digging into both meals. As soon as the food is gone, Delaney leans back and rubs her stomach.
“You weren’t kidding,” she says. “I loved every bite.”
“Told ya.”
“Now what?”
“You tell me.”
She doesn’t respond because the waitress comes to take the empty plates.
“Can I get y’all anything else?”
“No, I’m stuffed,” Delaney replies.
“Just the check,” I say.
“Comin’ right up.”
After paying, I settle my hand on the small of Delaney’s back and ease her out to my bike. My dick jerks to attention as she swings her leg over the seat, and I don’t bother hiding it. But she doesn’t seem to notice.
Huh.
The ride back to the clubhouse is intense. My focus is split between the road and how her arms feel around my waist. I ignore the guilt that slithers through me each time I speed up just so I can feel her thighs tighten against me.
But the guilt isn’t enough to make me stop. Not when she feels so damn good.
The sky glitters with stars above us, and when we leave the road to cross the desert, it’s as if we’re flying through the Milky Way. Ten minutes later, I’m pulling into the garage, and her grip loosens.
“That was fun,” Delaney says after I park. “We should…”
“Should what, sweetheart?” I push when she presses her lips into a thin line.
“No-nothing.”
She starts toward the elevator, and I follow on her heels. Grabbing her arm, I spin her around to face me and end up pulling her into my chest. Her breath hitches as she slowly lifts her eyes to mine.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Should what?” I repeat.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
Delaney sighs. “I was gonna say, we should do this again sometime.” She pushes away from me but doesn’t turn away. “But that’s crazy because it wasn’t a date, and we don’t even know each other, and as soon as we catch the Phantom, we’ll go our separate ways, and?—”
I fuse my lips with hers to stop her rambling, and Delaney whimpers into my mouth. Settling my hands on her hips, I tug her close, letting her feel what she’s doing to me.
“We should definitely do this again sometime,” she breathes when we pull apart.
“Who says we’re done for the night?”