“Where are you going with this?” I don’t mean to say it as gruffly as I do.
“Well.” He drops his hand. “Maybe we can get a message to Mom, you know? Maybe we can see if she can do something to keep Delilah away from that senator guy?”
“There’s nothing she can do.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I won’t risk Delilah on a hazy guess of what Mom can or can’t do. Not to mention the fact that being here, being married to Dad, has driven her batshit crazy.”
“Don’t say that.” He faces me. “Don’t talk about her that way.”
“I don’t want to, trust me.” I slow as we approach the house. “But I need you to understand that Mom’s vision for Heavenly is never going to come to life. Never. And I can’t entrust Delilah to her.”
“Do you love her?”
“Mom? Yeah.”
He shakes his head. “You know who I mean.”
I sigh and slow to a stop next to a set of golf carts parked at the rear of the house. “I can’t answer that.” A lie. I kill the engine but leave the radio on.
“So you’re still dead set on throwing away your real family for a girl that you don’t even know if you love?”
“What did you do to her?”
He doesn’t catch the subject change, and answers, “I didn’t do a thing. I have no clue what the fuck all that was.”
“You swear you don’t know?” I look into his eyes, needing the truth from him. If he’s innocent of whatever she thinks he did, I should be able to work this out.
“I swear on Mom that I haven’t done anything and don’t know what she’s talking about.” He holds up his hand like he’s swearing on a Bible instead of an old woman driven mad by grief and captivity.
“I believe you.” I open my car door, but he grabs my arm.
“I meant what I said about Tuesday. We can’t do it. We need to give Mom a chance.” He lets go. “But I’m sorry about how it went down.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, too. And you need to change your mind.”
“I won’t.” He gets out, and we slam our doors.
“We aren’t done here.” I stride to the back door.
He mumbles something. I ignore it and climb the staircase to the main floor.
“Boys! Get in here!” my father yells as soon as I swing the door open to the foyer.
“What are we going to tell him?” Noah whispers.
“Just tell him you grabbed her or something, made advances.” I shrug. “And that’s why she’s pissed.”
“Okay.”
We stride in and sit down as Dad watches a replay of Delilah trying to take Noah’s head off. I smirk. When she gets wound up, she fights like a banshee. It’s fucking hot.
“What the hell is going on with you two?” My father slams a hand on his desk.
“I made a pass at her, and she’s mad,” Noah blurts.
Jesus. I want to slap him on the back of the head.
My father pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why would you make a pass at another Protector’s Maiden?”
Noah shrugs. “She just, you know … She’s really pretty and, um, I like her ass.”
“That’s not like you.” He narrows his eyes.
Noah shrugs. “Just something about her, I guess.”
“What is it with this girl? First the senator and now you?” His demeanor changes to bemused and he pulls a cigar from his desk. “Maybe I should’ve charged more for her, huh?”
“You would have gotten it.” I lean back in my chair.
“I think I may have.” He lights up. “I do indeed. What about you, Adam? You seem to have taken a shine to her, too. I see you in her room, cuddling her instead of fucking her in the ass.”
I shrug. “She’s a fun little toy. I may as well spoil her a bit before Evan gets his hands on her. That’s not going to be a picnic.” Keeping my tone nonchalant has never been harder. Fuck, I want to kill that goddamn senator right along with my father.
He laughs, the sound scratching across my consciousness. “You got that right. He gets into some shit that even makes me blush. She’s going to be in for a whole new world of pain as soon as she walks out those doors with him.” He takes a big puff. “But she seems to cause a lot of trouble, that one. Maybe it’ll be good to get rid of her. Especially since she’ll be off our hands even sooner than I thought.”
“What?” I dig my fingers into the arms of the chair.
“Oh, Evan is back from D.C.” He takes another puff. “Going to come claim her at lunchtime tomorrow.”
Chapter 29
Delilah
Another morning spent with Miriam almost has me wishing for the tortures of the training room. Instead, I learn all about Evan Roberts—his likes and dislikes, how he prefers his steak, who his parents are, what his siblings do, and how to be the best sex slave to him I can be.