Until Delilah

by Harlow Layne

  I pick a hot pink, matching lace set, a pair of jeans, and a long sleeve flowy top. I don’t want to keep Max waiting, so I rush to put my lotion on and dry my hair as best as I can with a towel before I put on a coat of mascara and a swipe of lip gloss. I’m easy like that. I learned from my mom I don’t need makeup. Only put on what will accentuate what you’ve got.

  I find Max standing at his picture window in the living room, looking out with a thoughtful expression on his face.

  “Are you already regretting having me move in?” I joke, but there’s a ring of truth to it. I can’t get over how easily he brought us into his house. There aren’t many men who would do what he did.

  He turns to look at me. His piercing blue eyes taking me in. “Not in a million years. I got the call that the dog doesn’t have rabies.”

  My body deflates. I’d been praying that Beck and I wouldn’t have to get rabies shots. I’ve been scared of needles since I read a book as a child with a giant needle and these soldiers that were inside. I’m pretty sure it was meant to make me feel better about getting shots, but it did the exact opposite.

  I moved to stand beside him and look out the window at all the trees that surround his place. It’s like living in a treehouse, almost.

  “I found my things in your closet. Why didn’t you bring my toiletries into the bathroom?”

  Dipping down, Max takes my mouth in a short, but hot as hell kiss that leaves me breathless. “I knew if I came in the bathroom, I’d get into the shower with you, so I left everything in the bag.”

  My hands trail down his chest and along the ridges of his stomach, through his t-shirt, and stop when I reach his jeans. “I wouldn’t have minded the company.”

  “I’ll remember that for next time. Now grab your phone and purse before you distract me anymore. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’re averse to dates.”

  “To tell you the truth, I can’t even remember the last one I went on. It’s been years.”

  “Then I’m going to make up for all the dates you should have been taken on. How do you feel about Chinese?”

  “Like I should have put on my sweatpants.” I laugh. The only places I’ve eaten at since being in Murfreesboro are the shelter and the pizza place. I’m not a picky eater, but the thought of some Chinese food has my mouth watering.

  “That’s what I like to hear. It’s a little hole in the wall that most people overlook, but it’s the best Chinese in the state.”

  Linking my arm with his, I skip to his large steps out to the truck.

  “And here I thought you didn’t want to go on a date with me. I guess I should have mentioned Chinese first.” He smirks at me from his side of the truck.

  Reaching over, I pull his hand into my lap and play with his rough fingertips. “I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. It was never my intention. I do want this date, but I didn’t want you to feel obligated either.”

  Max pulls his fingers free from my grip and wraps his hand around the side of my neck. Not hard, but enough to get my attention. “Listen to me. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. It’s as simple as that. And I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do just to appease me either. Just be honest with me. It’s as simple as that.”

  “I’m sorry. It wasn’t until I left my old life behind that I realized how much I’d changed. If you can believe it, I used to be a strong, opinionated girl, but she slowly started to slip away sometime after I had Beck and then withered out of existence once Bradley was in my life.” I swallow down the emotion that threatens to take over. “I’ve never met a man like you, Max Black. Since I started dating, men have always wanted one thing from me, and played games with me to get it.”

  “Boys can be assholes when they don’t mean to be. In high school, all we can do is think with our dicks. There should be a class on it they make girls take so they know what they’re up against, but I’m no boy.”

  He certainly isn’t. Max Black is all man. And it seems he’s all mine as well.

  Max is right. When he pulls up to the Chinese restaurant, it’s a place I’d never look at twice. It’s close to where he lives, so that must have been how he found it.

  We step inside and there are only three tables with chairs around them, but the line to order is twenty deep.

  Max stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. I feel his hot breath on the shell of my ear before he speaks. “I thought we’d order and then we can take our food to the park. Have a little picnic and enjoy the sunshine.”

  It really is a beautiful day. It’s in the sixties; the sun is warming the slight breeze. I’m tempted to turn and look at him, but when I notice every set of eyes on us, I keep facing forward and read the menu.

  I know it won’t take long for everyone to know I’m with Max if they don’t already know after the game yesterday. It didn’t escape my notice that most of the moms were looking at me when I’d turn their way. It seems I’m the talk of the Little League team. I only hope it doesn’t come to bite me in the ass if Bradley comes looking for me. There’s no reason for him to come looking here, though. I have zero connections, and it was a random pick on where the buses were going that day. If I’d had more time to plan, I might have picked someplace else, but I’m glad I didn’t.

  Maybe it was fate that brought me to Murfreesboro and into Max’s arms.

  I dig my chopsticks into one of ten containers of food we have sitting around us and pick up a piece of Kung Pao shrimp before tossing it into my mouth.

  “How do you do that?” Max chuckles from beside me. His long legs are stretched out as he leans on his arm. He’s got a fork full of noodles hovering close to his mouth. “I’ve never been able to figure out how to eat with chopsticks.”

  “It’s probably because my mom’s favorite place to eat by their house is a Chinese place. Her and our neighbors used to get it at least once a week. We’d have a spread like this, but there were more of us to eat it. Me, my sister, Ava, and my sister’s best friend, Birdie, just picked it up.”

  “Your parents are really great. I can’t believe they want to buy a place here though.” He shoves the noodles into his mouth and smiles at me.

  “They are pretty great.” I set my chopsticks in one of the containers and turn my body toward his and bite on the inside of my cheek. “Does it bother you that they want to buy a house here?”

  He finishes chewing and sets his fork down to hold my hand. “Not at all. Now, if they wanted to move into my house, I might not be up for it, but family’s important. I want you to be able to have your parents here and for them to come to Beck’s games and to watch the baby grow as much as they’re able.”

  My eyes mist up at his words. He can’t be as perfect as he seems. There has to be something wrong with Max; I just haven’t found it yet.

  “Plus, we can always visit them. I wouldn’t mind some beach time every now and then.” He looks down and when his gaze comes back up, his face turns serious. “Speaking of the baby. The hospital checked you out and everything, right?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t even know I was pregnant until that day. Talk about a shocker.” My chest aches thinking about that night. Who knew something so devastating would bring me to where I am now? “They checked both of us out and said everything looked fine. Why?”

  “I don’t know much about pregnancies or babies. Literally next to nothing, but I want you to start seeing a doctor that’s meant for that type of thing.”

  “An OB/GYN? I’m thinking of finding a midwife or a doula. I need someone who won’t put me on the books.” I cringe at what this means. “And that entails me giving birth not in a hospital.” And with no pain meds.

  Max’s face hardens. “Beauty, I think it’s time for you to tell me what you learned that night. The way you talk scares me and I’m pretty damn unshakable. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  I know I should tell Max, but I don’t want his life in danger. It’s already bad enough we’ve started a
life here. What happens when Bradley finds me? What will he do to the people I’ve grown to care about?

  13

  Max

  The fear I see in her eyes has me scooping Delilah up and sitting her in my lap. “You can tell me anything. Nothing you say will change the way I feel about you. I only want to be better able to protect you. I don’t even know what to look out for.”

  She lays her head on my shoulder and shudders. I hug her to me and give her time to tell me what I desperately need to know. I thought she’d tell her parents, but her dad came to me last night and asked if I knew what happened. The fear in his eyes had me vowing I’d do everything in my power to protect his daughter and grandchildren.

  “When I first met Bradley, I didn’t know who he was, and now thinking back on it, I think he wanted it that way. He said and did everything perfectly until we moved in. It was like a switch flipped and the man I thought I knew was gone.” She takes a deep breath and holds it for so long I start to worry. Right as I’m about to pull her away and check on her, she blows it out. “It was an accident when I found out he was a lawyer on a political path. We were at some gala he said was for work, but when I was in the bathroom, I learned it was for his father, who is the governor of Mississippi.”

  That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I know there’s more, so I keep quiet knowing how difficult it is for her to open up and tell me this information.

  “Once I knew who his father was, I was curious why he didn’t tell me. Then one day, I saw an article online saying how corrupt his dad is and his grandfather. He’s a state representative in the House. I thought nothing of it, though. People hate politicians and make up lies every day. I was going to show the article to Bradley when he got home, only it was gone. Any mention of it was wiped off the internet. Who has the power to do that?”

  Someone very big.

  “He said I was tired and must have imagined it, but I knew I didn’t. I went along with it but kept my eyes and ears peeled for anything else. There was this niggling feeling deep down in my gut telling me I needed to stay on my toes and not let it go. But the second I’d see something; it was gone in a matter of hours. It made me think maybe I was going crazy, and I was imagining it because I wanted to.”

  What kind of family was she involved with?

  No wonder she’s had such a hard time believing in me. This mother fucker tricked and deceived her at every turn.

  “There were a few times I’d overhear him on the phone, but the second he knew I was anywhere near he’d get off. It was then I started looking for cameras in the house because how would he know where I was. The one’s I did find wouldn’t explain how he knew of my location in those moments.”

  She looks up and cups my face. “Are you sure you want to know?” I nod, needing to know everything. “Because once you do, there’s no going back. I feel like I’ve already put your life and the lives of the people you love in danger by staying here and getting close to you.”

  I want to tell her she’s among the ones that I love, but now isn’t the time. She needs to get this off her chest. Plus, if she only knew of the trouble the women and men in the Mayson family had been in, she might think differently.

  “I need to know everything. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

  “I hope you’re right. The night everything happened, Bradley came home, and he was angrier than I’d ever seen anyone in my life. He stormed through the house and went into his office and slammed the door shut. At first, my natural inclination was to stay away, but after hearing him on and off the phone for two hours yelling, I had to know what was going on. When I looked for cameras, I never saw any leading to his office, but now I know he must have had one put in otherwise he never would have known I was outside his door.”

  I smooth my hand down her back and hold her close. “It’s not your fault he’s a bad man. I’m just happy you and Beckham are away from him now.”

  “I don’t know it all, but what I know is enough to get his entire family put in prison. From what I gathered, Bradley has a drug business on the side. That’s bad enough, but they’ve been smuggling women in and out of the border with drugs. Women that have been sold to them by others who couldn’t pay off their debts. One of the women died at the airport and I don’t know how, but she had something that would lead authorities back to the Stanton family if they found it.”

  Delilah looks around the park and when her eyes come back to me, she has tears streaming down her face. “He… ordered…” She hiccups and starts to cry in earnest now. “He ordered them all to be killed.”

  Hugging her to me, I cradle her to my chest. “It’s okay, beauty. I’m here and won’t let him hurt you ever again.”

  “That’s what scares me.”

  My brows furrow. “What’s that?”

  “That you’ll do something to protect me and get yourself hurt or killed.”

  “Now that I know who we’re dealing with, we need to be more vigilant about making sure our surroundings are more secure. I’ll talk to Cobi who’s a police officer and see what he suggests.” She looks up at me with wide eyes. Her cheeks are pink and wet with tears. “I won’t give him specifics, but enough for them to advise me on what I need to do to keep everyone safe.”

  She tries to wipe the tears away, but more follow. “He’ll probably tell you to dump the dead weight and pretend like you never knew me.”

  “That’s not ever going to happen. Do you hear me? You’re mine now and I’m not going to let some sketchy, lying, murdering bastard take you away from me.”

  “I should have left sooner.” She nuzzles her face into my neck and whimpers. “I think as things escalated, that’s when he started to keep me more and more isolated from the world. He never planned on me finding out.”

  Likely until she was a casualty.

  “He knows what I know, and he’s not going to stop looking for me.”

  Unfortunately, she’s more than likely right. It hasn’t been that long. Only a matter of weeks.

  “Maybe as time goes on and he realizes you’re not going to do anything with the information, he’ll forget about you and move on.” Even as I say the words, I know they’re only to make us both feel better. Delilah’s right. He’ll likely never stop keeping an eye out for her.

  I flip the ends of her hair, and it makes me want to see what she looked like as a blonde because I know I won’t be able to see her natural hair color until she’s safe from them.

  Hugging her tighter, I kiss the top of her head. “Thank you for telling me. You did the right thing. I only hope now I can make it easier for you. I’ll ask around to see if we can find someone who will keep you and the baby off the books.”

  She nods into my chest and when she speaks her voice is muttered, but I can still make it out. “Is this too much for you?”

  I pull her back so she can see the truth in my eyes when I tell her. “Not even a murdering ex-boyfriend is going to keep me away.”

  “You, Max Black, might be crazy.” She smiles and sniffs.

  Never did I think I’d be in this position or find my person like my dad did, but now that I’ve found her, there’s nothing and no one who will take her away from me.

  14

  Max

  The second we pull into the garage, Delilah’s parents pull up in their rental car. They’ve got big smiles on their faces while I can’t hide the frown marring my own. I thought I’d have a little more time with Delilah before the house was full again.

  “Mama,” Beck hops out of the car and runs straight for his mom. “Did you know GiGi and PopPop are going to buy a house here?”

  “I did.” She squats down so she can hug and kiss him. “Isn’t that exciting?”

  He nods and runs back to her parents and grabs their hands to drag them into the garage.

  “I’m guessing it was a successful outing going by your happy faces,” Delilah states looking back and forth between all of them.

  “It was.” H
er dad puts his arm around Delilah’s shoulder. “We found a place not too far away from here. We figure if we’re going to have a place here, we’d like for it to be a little secluded.”

  Lexie’s face scrunches up with worry. “I hope that’s okay, we won’t be too close?”

  “Of course, not. What’s the point of you living here if you’re going to be far away again?” Delilah says with a big grin on her face. Her parents being here makes her happy, which in turn makes me happy.

  “I promise we’re not the type of neighbors who just pop in unannounced.” Lexie blushes as she speaks.

  “We learned that lesson the hard way when we walked in on our neighbors going at it in their living room. After that, we thought it would be best to call or knock so…” Ryder trails off.

  Yeah, I’m sure her dad doesn’t want to think about his daughter having sex with me or anyone for that matter, and definitely doesn’t want to see it.

  “A call would be good, Daddy,” Delilah says softly. “Anyway,” she says and turns to move inside the house, “did you guys have lunch? We picked up some Chinese and had a nice picnic at the park, but if you’re hungry, I can—”

  “We’re good, sweetheart. We ate while we were out. Did you have a nice date?” Her mom arches her brow with a knowing look.

  Delilah smiles and I swear it lights up the entire world. “It was probably the nicest date I’ve ever been on.”

  “That’s because you were with shit guys before who didn’t know how to treat you right,” Ryder grumbles.

  I’m going to take that as he likes me and knows I’ll treat his daughter the way she should be treated.

  Turning to look over her shoulder, Delilah asks. “What’s that, Daddy?”

  “Nothing, sweetheart. I’m glad you had a good time. It’s about time someone treats you right for a change.”

  We all head into the kitchen, even though no one’s hungry. It seems to be where we congregate the most. There and the living room.