His eyes flash in warning, his whole body tense. I know that look, the fire burning in his eyes because that’s how I felt when Lily was—
“Holy shit.” My eyes widen. “A girl.” Daley stays silent. “That’s why you want him, because you have a girl he might know about.” Still he says nothing, and when I know I’ve hit the nail on the head, I laugh.
“You think this is funny?” he roars, pushing back in his chair and slamming his hands on the table. “You think I wanna come here and have to tell you a part of my life that was never meant to be uncovered?” He slams his palm down on the table several times. “Fuck! What the hell am I doing?”
“Protecting what’s yours,” Ty comments.
Daley closes his eyes before inhaling a deep breath. “I’m not telling you everything, but just know that if he gets hold of who I was—who I used to be—he’ll kill everyone I’ve ever cared about.” He pauses, clearing his throat. “My family. He’ll kill them.”
We’re all silent, each of us watching him. He isn’t our family, but he’s helped us in the past to protect ours, and the fact that he’s here speaks volumes. He doesn’t trust anyone—doesn’t rely on anyone—and yet he’s here asking for help.
“What do you need?” I ask, not waiting for Ty, because we all know we’re gonna help him.
“To take him down, but I can’t do it without your help.” I nod, leaning forward. “I know where his base is.”
“His base?” Evan asks, opening his laptop. “Coordinates?”
Daley reels off the coordinates, running his palm over his face. “We gotta move quick because as soon as he knows I’m here, he’ll disappear and none of us will be safe… especially the people you love the most.”
We all hear his warning loud and clear.
“Let’s plan.”
LILY
I sit in the middle of the bed with Luke’s t-shirt covering me as I wait for him to come back. I stayed at Kay’s for hours helping her tidy and when Ty called her to go to Evan’s, I stayed with Eli and put him to bed until she came home an hour ago.
I expected Luke to follow her, but when he didn’t, I went home. Home.
Leaning back, I close my eyes and breathe in deeply but jump up as soon as the front door opens. I’m yanking the bedroom door open before I know it, and when I make it to the top of the stairs, my gaze lands on Luke. He halts halfway up, and I know it’s time.
Time to make this more than it’s ever been. Time to make my own choice.
I swallow, gripping my hands in front of me as I stare into his ice-blue eyes. “For the first time...” I pause, clearing my throat. “Since my mom died, I feel like I belong.”
He moves up a step, coming closer to me and my breath catches in my throat.
“I never thought I’d ever feel like that again, not after everything.” I bite down on my bottom lip and Luke zones in on the action. “But I realized tonight that this is home.” He moves another step closer. “You are home.”
He takes the last couple of steps, looking down at me as he grips the side of my neck. “You’re where you were always meant to be, darlin’.” His throat bobs. “We may have had to endure the pain to get here, but we did it.” He tilts his head down, lowering his voice as he whispers, “We made it to each other, and that’s all that matters now.”
I stare at him and watch as his eyes darken, his fingers pressing into my skin before he lunges forward, slamming his lips down on mine.
His hands slide down my body, gripping onto my waist before he lifts me, and my legs wrap around him on instinct as I clutch his shoulders. His tongue runs over the seam of my lips much like it did earlier, but this time when I open, I don’t hesitate.
He moves us and seconds later, my back is hitting the bed and he’s pulling away slightly.
“You sure?” he asks, his voice deeper than I’ve ever heard it.
I run my hand through his hair before grinning up at him. “I’ve never been surer in my entire life.”
He watches me for several seconds before his hands reach for the bottom of his t-shirt and pulls it over his head. I don’t know what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t the muscles upon muscles displayed in front of me. I should have known, but when I see a tattoo weaving over his chest and down his side, I can’t stop my fingers from whispering over it.
He grips my hand when I stop at the waist of his jeans but brings my fingers to his mouth where he kisses them gently.
“We’re gonna take it slow, okay?” I swallow as he lifts off me and pulls me into a sitting position. “You wanna stop at any time, you tell me, and we can… well, stop.” He chuckles but waits until I nod in confirmation.
Grasping me around the waist, he then moves us into the middle of the bed before resting his back against the headboard.