Ties That Bind (Ruthless Sinners MC 1)

Delilah

Things with Zander were going well—even better than I’d ever imagined. I never dreamed that I’d fall in love with him and could be so utterly happy, especially given all the secrets and being kept in the dark about what was going on with Danny’s situation. Even though he hadn’t actually said the words, I had a feeling that things were going to be okay with my brother. Zander had never given me any indication otherwise, so I was doing my best to hold on to the hope that someday soon I’d be seeing him again. Besides, Zander was a good man, and he was close to proving that his brothers were too. There was just one thing that gave me doubts—the person in the black truck who had been stalking me for the last week or so.

I assumed it was one of Zander’s brothers, but he was different than the others. When I’d walk by in the mornings, his brothers would at least nod or smile, giving me some kind of acknowledgement. I knew why they were there. I knew they were watching me in case I opened my mouth and went to the police about what had happened with Danny, but there was something about them being there that I found oddly comforting. The same didn’t hold true for the new guy. There was something about him that gave me the creeps. He just sat there behind his dark tented windows, staring at me as I walked by—day and night. And honestly, I didn’t even understand why he was there—especially since the circumstances had changed. Zander spent most nights at my place, or I at his. I’d given the Sinner’s no reason to think that I would go against my word, so it didn’t make sense that they’d suddenly chosen to increase their surveillance.

As I started down the steps and towards the parking lot, I decided not to make a big deal of the fact that he was sitting there, yet again. Instead, I looked over to the guy sitting behind the steering wheel, smoking his stupid cigarette, and gave him a big wave. He did nothing—just sat there completely motionless. Acting complete unbothered by the fact that he didn’t return the gesture, I smiled and continued towards my car. I kept smiling as I got in and drove away. I thought I’d handled the situation very well, until the asshole started to follow me to my mother’s house. That’s was something the other brothers hadn’t done, and I’d had enough. There was absolutely no reason for him to follow me there, so I pressed my foot against the accelerator and started zipping through traffic, doing my best to lose him. Even with my best efforts, he managed to stay close behind, but then I got lucky. Just was I was coming up on a traffic light, a massive dump truck pulled in front of him, forcing him to stop. I quickly turned down a busy street, and after making several more turns, I finally lost him and continued on to Mom’s house.

When I walked in, I found her sitting at the kitchen table, and even though it was well into the afternoon, she was still in her pajamas, drinking a cup of coffee. “Good morning.”

“Hi, sweetheart.” She looked up and smiled. “I was hoping you would stop by.”

“I promised I would.” After I made myself a glass of tea, I went over and sat down next to her. “I would’ve come sooner, but I’ve been swamped at work.”

“Oh.” She looked over me with knowing eyes as she said, “I thought you might’ve met someone.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. You just seem different... happier. I was hoping you might’ve found yourself a young man to date.”

“Well, it just so happens that I have been seeing someone.” I couldn’t go into all the details of who Zander was or how we’d actually met, so I told her, “He’s not like any of the guys I’ve gone out with before, but I’m starting to think that might be a good thing.”

“Will I get to meet this new guy of yours?”

“Maybe. Let’s see how things go first.”

“Okay. Whatever you think. Just know that if you like this boy, I will, too.” She let out a sigh as she said, “Maybe someday Danny will meet someone special, too. That’s if he’s even okay. I’m really having my doubts that he is.”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t want to give her false hope, but it was so hard to see her so upset. “I think we’ll be hearing something from him soon.”

“Really? What makes you think so?”

“I can’t say for sure. Just a gut feeling, I guess.”

“I’d like to think you’re right, but this has gone on too long.” I could hear the determination in her voice and panic started to build in the pit of my stomach when she said, “It’s time to find out what’s going on with him, Delilah. If the roles were reversed and it was you who’d been missing for weeks, I would’ve already contacted the police. Danny would’ve insisted on it.”