“Not sure that’s gonna be enough,” Shotgun warned. “She’s seen a lot, heard a lot, and we’d be putting everything on the line if we let her walk out of here.”
“Then, we make sure she doesn’t. We lay it all out. Explain the consequences, and we cover our tracks in case she tries to pull anything.” I could tell by Viper’s expression that he was surprised by my response. Normally, I’d agree with them both, tell them that the risk was just too fucking high, but I just couldn’t do that—not with Delilah. I had two choices. I could either continue my attempt to convince him that she wouldn’t rat us out or I could come clean about my unexpected feelings. As I stood there staring back at him, I knew there was only one choice. “We can’t kill her, Prez.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Viper knew me better than anyone. He knew my history, knew I’d never spent more than a couple of nights with one chick and liked it that way, so I wasn’t surprised when he stepped towards me and asked, “It’s only been like a day and a half. You actually gonna tell me you got something for this girl?”
I didn’t have to answer. He could tell by the expression on my face. Shaking his head, he chuckled as he replied, “Well, I’ll be damned. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“I’m just as surprised by the realization as you are, Prez.” I exhaled a deep breath as I ran my hand through my hair. “I know it sounds fucking crazy, but there’s something about her I just can’t shake.”
He cocked his eyebrow as he asked, “And how’s she going to handle it if she knows your club ends her brother?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“And if she does decide to talk?” he pushed.
“Then, I’ll handle it.”
“I have your word on that?”
I looked him in the eye as I promised, “My loyalty is with you and this club. You gotta know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you or my brothers.”
“I know that. Just needed to hear you say it.” He thought for a moment, then said, “We’ve got too much going on for you to be watching over her twenty-four hours a day. Get with Menace. Have him put a tracker on her car … and monitor all her calls. Once you’ve sorted that, get with Tripp and Forest. Let them both know they’ll be helping you keep an eye on her for the next couple of weeks.”
“You got it.”
“And bring the girl by my office. I want to have words with her before she’s released.” As he turned and started down the hall, he stated, “She needs to understand exactly what’s at stake before we let her out of here.”
“Understood.”
Once he was gone, Shotgun looked over to me and asked, “You know I’ve got your back, but you sure about this, brother?”
“I know it’s gotta sound crazy, but yeah. I think it’s the right thing to do.” I shook my head. “I just hope I don’t live to regret it.”
“I’ll help see to it that you don’t.”
There was something about his tone that made me wonder exactly what he meant by that declaration, but Shotgun wasn’t the kind of man who’d react without reason. Trusting him to do the right thing, I nodded and said, “Thanks, brother.”
“Tell Menace I’m here if he needs a hand with anything.”
“Will do.”
Not wanting to waste any time, I left Shotgun and went to Menace’s room to give him the rundown of what we needed to do about Delilah. As I expected, he had no problem getting the tracker set up for her car and was able to route her calls and messages through his systems, enabling him to monitor all calls coming in and out of her phone. Once he had everything covered, I went down to the kitchen to snag some breakfast for Delilah. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits, then carried them down to her room. When I walked in, she was sitting on the bed looking as beautiful as ever in a pair of black knit leggings and a long sleeve t-shirt. Her damp hair was pulled up in a messy bun, revealing her gorgeous blue eyes that focused solely on the wall in front of her.
She didn’t even glance in my direction as I placed her coffee and biscuits on the bedside table. I stepped towards her and stood directly in her line of vision. “We need to talk.”
Her eyes drifted away from me and over to the corner of the room as she replied, “There’s nothing for us to talk about, Hawk.”
“Okay ... Have it your way.” I turned and headed towards the door. “I thought you wanted to get out of here. Apparently, I was wrong.”