Chapter 9 #2
After discussing a few more things and preparing for Esparza’s protection run next week, Lucifer dismisses church. I don’t waste time getting out of there.
With the whole Marcy situation dealt with, I wanted to set eyes on Della for myself. I also wanted to talk to her about what Marcy said. If that really did happen, I needed to make things right with her.
* * *
Pulling up to Meadows Ranch, I don’t bother looking at the barn. I see her on the porch, hands on her hips, facing off with a man wearing a suit.
I come to a stop, neither Della nor the man turns their attention to me as I put the kickstand down and swing my leg over and straighten before I start in their direction. From the look on Della’s face, she’s not happy.
“Della, I’m not letting you quit.” I hear the guy say as I get closer.
“Luka, I told you more than once in text and email, I’m not coming back to the firm,” she snaps, her eyes widening slightly when she notices me.
The guy turns so he can also see me.
“Everything good here, little mouse?” I ask, moving to Della’s side.
“Little mouse?” Luka mutters, watching me closely before turning his attention back to Della. “Seriously?”
“Luka, you don’t know . . .”
“You quit your job, broke off what we had for this guy?”
What the hell? Della was fuckin’ this guy?
The thought of it alone pisses me off and makes my blood boil.
“Luka, you and I both know we were nothing. Don’t stand there and act like we were more than an office booty call. We didn’t date. We didn’t spend time outside of meetings or work. We’re not together. I turned in my resignation. I’m not coming back. You came all the way out here for nothing.”
“I came here because I refuse to lose you for no good reason.”
Is this guy for real right now?
“I’m gonna stop you right there,” I say, intervening.
“Shadow, I have this.” Della sighs.
“Maybe so, but I’m gonna say this,” I tell her without looking down at her, keeping my focus on the suit in front of me.
“If Della’s told you repeatedly, she’s not coming back, then she’s not.
Her granddaddy dying is a damn good reason to quit if that’s what she needed to do.
You coming here to bring her back, not a smart move on your part. ”
Luka narrows his eyes and puffs out his chest. His actions would be hilarious if I weren’t so pissed.
“You need to go, Luka,” Della says softly, stepping closer to me.
With her movements, it’s not lost on me what she’s doing. I also don’t miss just how small she is compared to me. She’s a small thing, it’s one reason why I always thought of her as little mousey. She’s dainty where I’m all muscle.
“You’re making a mistake here, Della,” Luka growls.
“She’s not making a mistake,” I state, looking him up and down. “Seems to me, it’s a damn excellent decision and something she should have done way before now.”
“I’m not changing my mind, Luka. I’m staying right where I’m at.”
Good girl.
“When you come to your senses, you’re gonna have to beg to come back.” Turning on his heel, Luka stalks down the stairs and to his car.
Neither Della nor I speak a word until he’s behind the wheel and backing up. Damn good thing I didn’t park my bike next to his car, but on the other side of Della’s. Asshole peels out, kicking up gravel as he floors it.
“I’m sorry about that.” Della sighs from next to me.
“Not your fault.” I shrug and turn to face the woman who has taken way too much space in my head in the last few days.
Della steps back and moves to the porch swing and grabs some papers before sitting down.
“What do you got there?” I ask, moving to sit next to her.
“What are you doing here? Maddox is out at the barn.”
“I’m not here to see Maddox.” It’s not a lie, and she needs to know exactly why I’m here, but first, I want to know something. “Why didn’t you let me know when they discharged you?”
“I was fine to get home by myself, Shadow.”
I find myself frowning at the lack of attitude in her voice. Something’s different about her. Even her eyes are softer.
“Well, I’m glad you got home safely. How’s the leg?”
“It’s fine. Judy refuses to let me go out on Rex or even for a run right now. She’s mad that I went for one after I got home from the hospital.”
“You run?” That’s interesting.
“Yeah, I run every day. In Copper Run, that was the only thing I did for myself outside of work.”
“Well, Judy’s right to not let you run, not when you need to rest a few days after getting home.”
Della nods. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you. Wanted to check in and make sure you’re good.” I twist in the seat next to her, using one leg to push the swing while watching her closely. “I want to ask you something.”
“I know about the deal your club made Maddox. But you should know I’m not selling,” she says, eyes widening. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have blurted that out.” Della shakes her head and looks away. “I don’t know all the details yet of the deal, but Maddox and I are meeting with Lucifer tomorrow.”
“I’ll be at the meeting as well,” I inform her. “Lucifer told me about it during church today.”
“Church?” Her eyes come back to me, confusion clearly visible in her features.
“It’s when we meet to discuss club business. Church is what we call it.”
“Ahh.” She nods. “So, it’s your conference room.”
“You could say that.” I grin. “Though it’s not. It’s church and sacred to us. What we would call our conference room is where we meet with those outside of the club for business dealings. Granted, it’s in a trailer and definitely not pretty. Mostly it’s a card table and chairs.”
Della laughs and shakes her head while looking down.
“What do you have there?”
I nod to the folder in her hands when she lifts her gaze back to me.
“Oh, it’s something I’d put together while I was in college. Technically, it was a school project, but I kept it because it was ideas for when I came home.”
Again, she surprises me by not giving me attitude and telling me it wasn’t any of my business.
“Can I take a look?” I ask, holding my hand out.
“Sure, I was going to show it to Maddox when he had some free time.”
Della hands me the file and sits back, bringing her legs up into the seat.
Damn, she’s beautiful.
Opening the folder, I turn my attention to it and not the woman next to me. Though with her proximity, I can still see her in my peripheral and can feel her watching me closely.
It takes me a few minutes to go over all that she has in here, but it’s a good idea. A dude ranch. It’s a damn good idea. She has it written clearly with all the numbers, a rough mock-up of her plans, including where she’d want to put it. There was even a small restaurant involved with it.
The details Della put into her business proposal are remarkable and something Lucifer and Maddox both needed to see. It was brilliant. Best of all, there isn’t a dude ranch within two hundred miles of here.
“It’s not the latest numbers since I did this in my sophomore year of school, though I’ll note that they were at the time,” she explains apprehensively.
“This is awesome.”
“Thanks, I’m not sure my brother is going to go for it.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” I ask, watching her closely.
“He said that we’d talk to the club tomorrow about the deal you guys gave him. I’m not stupid enough to think that this would be included in it. It’s more money involved.”
“Considering how this was written up, it wouldn’t be an issue to bring it forward and discuss. My brothers and I might be bikers, but we’re not dumbasses. We know when we see a good deal. Lucifer would agree with me. You mind if I take it and show it to him?”
Della draws her bottom lip in between her teeth and looks around.
“I was going to show it to Maddox first, get his thoughts on it. We just got on good terms, and I don’t want to ruin it.” Her honesty baffles me.
That must be what’s so different I’m sensing the tension between her and her brother isn’t there. Neither is the animosity. She can be herself without protecting something so profoundly deep inside.
“Don’t think he’d have a problem with me showing it to Lucifer.”
As for these plans, I think my President should see them before the meeting in the morning. Show my brothers. I’m sure without a doubt they’d be down with this being part of the deal.
“I guess you can.” Still, she looks apprehensive about it.
“Look, if Maddox has an issue with it I’ll tell him it was my idea to show Lucifer beforehand,” I tell her, wanting to reassure her.
“Okay, then, if you’re willing to take the fall for it if he gets pissed,” she agrees, smiling brightly. “You really think it’s a good idea?”
“I do.”
Her smile brightens, and damn it, if it doesn’t feel like I won the lottery.
“What exactly did you go to school for?” I ask, closing the file and leaning back, not in a hurry to move from this spot. I like exactly where I’m sitting, and I plan to stick around for a while.