by Katee Robert
“Ryu …”
He waited. And waited some more. “Yes?”
Delilah nibbled her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I was trying to think of a reasonable, responsible response and I got nothing.”
“That answers that.” He chuckled. Ryu led the way down to the boat and helped her aboard. He didn’t want to release her hand, but he could hardly get them unmoored and moving if he clung to her. Fuck, he was gone for this woman. He gave himself a shake and got to work.
It was only when they cut through the water around the north side of the island that Delilah spoke again. “No matter what you say, the other Horsemen won’t want me here when this is all over. I’ve crossed too many lines.”
She wasn’t wrong, but Ryu didn’t give a fuck. “You let me worry about it.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He slowed the boat and turned to face her. “You don’t have to answer now, and we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but believe that I’m entirely serious when I say that I want more time with you.” All the time with her.
Fuck, what was he doing? He couldn’t say all these things to her, not when they were a single duplicitous week into …he couldn’t even call this a relationship. Could he?
Delilah stood and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I can’t promise that I won’t overthink the hell out of this situation and the future, but I do want more time with you, too.”
A warm feeling blossomed in his chest and he found himself smiling like the fool his sister accused him of being. Delilah wanted more time with him. He’d do whatever it took to ensure they got that extra time. He just had to remove the threat to her sister, convince his sister that there was an alternative route, and vanquish his evil monster of a father.
Simple.
Chapter 15
Delilah fully expected to be shuffled off to her room the second they got back to Pleasure, but Ryu claimed her hand and led her in the opposite direction. They walked through a door into a small hallway used by the staff to move through the casino. She knew the Horsemen kept rooms in the building, but they were strictly forbidden to anyone except the Horsemen themselves. She didn’t expect Ryu to push a section of the wall halfway down and have it slide back to reveal a secondary set of halls.
He shot her a surprisingly boyish grin. “We like our privacy.”
“Is that it? Or were you like every other child on the planet who wanted a house with secret passageways?”
His grin dimmed a little. “We aren’t like every other child on the planet. We wished for simpler things.” He tugged her into the hall and released her to trigger the door closing. “And, yes, we wanted a home with secret passageways.”
“I knew it.” She forgot, for a moment, what he’d gone through. In so many ways, Ryu seemed so … Normal wasn’t the right word, exactly. He was a man who’d survived things she didn’t want to think about too closely and then styled himself as one-fourth the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Normal didn’t come into the equation.
Then again, no one who worked and lived on the Island of Ys could be defined by that restrictive term. No, Ryu was simply Ryu.
And he wanted more time with her.
The cynical part of her wanted to believe he wanted more sex with her, but men like him didn’t have to jump through these kinds of hoops to get laid. The sex was out of this world, but nowhere near enough to motivate him to put his neck on the line for her and Esther. No, he liked her.
The thought sent fiery butterflies soaring in her stomach. She liked him, too. More than liked him, if she was going to be perfectly honest. Delilah had edged right into infatuation. This should be a time for giddiness and letting her fantasies about the future have free rein. She’d never had that ability. Not when so much of her time and energy for the last eight years had been centered around making sure Esther wanted for nothing.
She sure as hell didn’t have that option now.
Even if they managed to remove the danger, she couldn’t see how this would work. No matter what Ryu said, Death wouldn’t forgive this transgression. She might not send Delilah away, but she’d never give them her blessing. And Delilah would never put Ryu in a position where he had to choose between her and his siblings.
Her thoughts stuttered to a stop as he led her through a doorway and into a room that seemed to be a combination entertainment room, security room, and dining room. The hub he’d mentioned. For some reason, she hadn’t expected it to look like a home. Even without windows, the warm cream walls and high ceiling gave the impression of space and lots of it. The large television took up the wall opposite the desks and monitors, and there were two overstuffed leather couches arranged in front of it that had to be expensive. The dining room table wasn’t particularly large, but it was sturdy and made of shining dark wood. Four more doorways branched off from the main room. Those must be the hallways to their private suites.
Ryu’s home.
Movement in one of the halls had his hand tightening on hers. Delilah’s stomach did a low flip as Death walked into the room. She looked just as put together as she ever did, this time wearing a pair of loose slacks that flowed around her legs with every movement and a bright pink jacket-top that showed a deep V down her chest. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders in a perfect black river. She raised an eyebrow at them. “All my siblings have the terrible tendency to bring home strays.”
Ryu half stepped in front of Delilah. “Be nice.”
“That was me being nice.” She cast a critical eye over him. “You look like shit.”
“You’ve said it before. No doubt you’ll say it again.”
A small smile pulled at her pink lips. “No doubt.”
Even sort of sniping at each other, the love between them was obvious. Delilah gave herself a full five seconds to let jealousy sting over the fact he got to see his siblings every single day. She hadn’t seen Esther in months, not since she’d flown out to New York to surprise her for her sister for her birthday. She missed her, missed her in a way totally separate from the terror she felt over this whole situation.
Death turned those dark eyes, so similar to Ryu’s, on her. In the space of a breath, she passed some kind of judgement, though Delilah had no idea what it was. The woman’s expression gave away nothing. Death propped a hand on her hip and sighed. “I suppose my brother has promised to help you.”
“I have,” Ryu cut in.
She nodded almost to herself. “Then that’s what we’ll do.” The woman waved a languid hand at the room. “Make yourself comfortable.” Her gaze sharpened. “Though I think it goes without saying that I will happily make you disappear if you think to use my brother’s kindness against us.”
Ryu groaned, but Delilah lifted her chin. “I’m not going to betray you.”
“You already have. If you do it a second time, you won’t live to try for a third.” She turned and walked back the way she’d come. A few seconds later, the sound of a door shutting softly nearly took all the bones out of Delilah’s legs.
Ryu caught her around the waist as she wobbled. “Careful.”
“Is it always like that with her?”
He cast a contemplative look at the doorway Death had disappeared through. “I wish I could say no, but most of the time, yes. People get used to it.”
She didn’t think she’d be here long enough to get used to it, but Delilah kept that to herself. She wasn’t ready to burst what little bubble they had. Not yet.
Heels clicked over the tiled floor and Ryu cursed softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know they’d ambush you like this.”
She didn’t get a chance to ask for clarification, but in the end she didn’t need it. War strode into the room, a man at her back. Delilah got the impression of a nice suit and a dark glower from him, but then all her attention was taken up with the other woman. War wore a fitted red dress that hugged her body and left most of her legs bare. She also had a knife in her hand.
“Kenzie�
�”
“No. You do not get to Kenzie me.” She pointed the knife at Ryu and then at Delilah. “And you don’t get to fuck with my brother.”
The man at her back rumbled out a laugh. “Put the damn knife down, Kenzie.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side!” She flipped the knife in her hand and passed it to him, handle first. Then she turned back to Ryu with a show-stopping grin. “Look at you! I’m normally the problem child and you’ve totally erased all the shit Amarante was annoyed at me for this week. I’m so proud of you.” She pointed a finger at Delilah. “And you. I like you, but you break my brother, I break you. Got it?”
“Got it,” Delilah said faintly. Being around the Horsemen was like standing in the middle of a hurricane. They each had such big personalities in their own way. She couldn’t find her footing.
War gave her a brilliant smile. “Then we’ll get along just fine.” She propped her hand on her hip in nearly an identical way that Death had and frowned. “Ryu, for real, did you sleep even a little while you were out at the villa? You have bags on the bags under your eyes. Get a skin care regimen, brother.”
“Kenzie,” Ryu sounded like he wanted to throttle her. “I have things to do. So do you.”
“Yes, yes, I’m getting to it.” She waved that away. “We have a quick errand to run first.”
Ryu used a hand against the small of Delilah’s back to guide her out of the way. “Then get to it.”
“Yeah, yeah.” And then she was gone, trailing her man behind her.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here before Luca decides to try some menacing of his own.” He all but hauled her down the farthest hallway, and she let loose a laugh that had been building since the whole song and dance started. It was a little too hysterical to be comforting, but it was really the only appropriate response. Ryu stopped short. “Delilah?”
“Oh god.” She slumped against him, giggling. “They love you so much. I half expected one of them to start cleaning a shotgun like some overprotective dad.”
He stared. “You …aren’t freaked out.”
“Ryu, I’m so freaked out, I bypassed freaked out and am straight into whatever is on the other side of it. Your family is fucking scary, but I knew that before we ever had a conversation. You’re the Horsemen, for god’s sake. Your whole reputation is about being scary.” When he kept staring, she felt compelled to explain. “Your sisters love you very much. Even though they’re threatening me and would happily follow through on those threats if I step out of line, I’m just …” She made a vague motion, not sure how to put it into words. “It’s just so normal to threaten your little brother’s girlfriend the first time he brings her home.”
He nudged her through the door and closed it behind them. “I’m older than Kenzie.”
That brought another laugh to her lips. It felt so good to laugh right now. “Sure, sweetie.”
Ryu stopped short and seemed to really look at her. He gave a slow grin that had her stomach doing an entirely different kind of flipping. “Delilah.”
“Yes?”
He caught her hips and tugged her closer. “You’re my girlfriend.”
Forget flipping. Her stomach was doing aerial spins. “What?”
“That’s what you just said—they were threatening their little brother’s girlfriend.” His grin became downright blinding.
“You’re impossible.” She pulled back against him a little, but she didn’t really want to escape. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Maybe …” He shifted his grip on her and ran a hand up her back, pressing them flush together. “But it could be the truth.”
Her mind stumbled over itself in an effort to keep up with this turn of events. “You want to date me.”
“I meant what I said when I mentioned a future. Yeah, Delilah, I want to date you.” He leaned down until his lips brushed hers. “Want to go steady?”
“You don’t think we should wait to make decisions like this?” She was grasping at straws and she knew it, but she couldn’t seem to stop. It wasn’t that she wanted to say no. She didn’t want to say no. Fear had her feet rooted and her heart racing. She could barely think past all the things that could go wrong.
“Delilah,” he murmured. “If we start running worst case scenarios, we’re never going to live. This could all fall apart on multiple different levels. We don’t know what the future holds. There are no guarantees.”
“Are you trying to be comforting? Because you are not being comforting.”
“My point is that why not grab for a little happiness while we have the chance? I’m happy when I’m with you.” He paused. “Are you happy when you’re with me?”
She closed her eyes, defeat and something like joy swirling through her. “Yes, Ryu, I’m happy when I’m with you.”
“You want to be my girlfriend.”
She rasped out a laugh. “Okay, yes, fine. I want to be your girlfriend.”
“Perfect.” He cupped her jaw with one big hand and tipped her face back to give him better access to her mouth. “Let’s celebrate then.”
“Ryu—”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Someone pounded on the door behind him. Ryu sighed and let his forehead rest against hers as he raised his voice. “What?”
“I have that information you wanted on the girl in New York.” The speaker’s deep voice was one she wasn’t familiar with. “Stop making out with your woman and get your ass out here. Time’s a ticking.”
“Two minutes.”
A laugh. “If that’s all it takes, you better just start by apologizing.”
He groaned. “Everyone thinks they’re a comedian these days.”
The obvious love his siblings had for him, the level of protectiveness they felt … It made her strangely happy. No matter how bad things had been when they were children, they had each other then and they had each other now. That kind of bond couldn’t have a price put on it. “We should get to work.”
“I know.” He gave her one last fleeting kiss. “Rain check?”
“Definitely.”
Ryu hesitated. “I wanted you to see the hub and meet my family, but we need to get back to the semblance of normality. At least for appearances’ sake.”
“Yes, agreed.” She took a careful step back and smoothed her hands over her hair. “I’m going to talk to Laura about grabbing a shift tonight and getting back to work.” They would probably be the last few shifts she’d ever have. Things would fall where they may in the next couple days, and no matter how they turned out, she couldn’t shake the certainty that life would be forever changed.
Whether it would be changed for the better or the worse was beyond knowing.
“Good. We’ll keep eyes on you and see if we can determine if the mole is electronic or an actual person.”
“Okay.” She hesitated. This might be the last she’d see of him for hours …days. “I’m sorry about how this got started, but I’m not sorry for the time I’ve spent with you.”
“I’m not sorry, either.”
After that, there was nothing more to say. It felt a little like goodbye, but it wasn’t forever. Delilah followed Ryu back into the hub and he led the way through a series of halls to a door that spit her out near the employee quarters. He gave her a long look. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Happy hunting.”
She turned and walked away. It hurt. What a silly thing to feel right now. She had half a dozen world-ending fears hovering around her head, but all she could focus on was the growing distance between her and Ryu. It didn’t seem to matter that she knew exactly where he would be, or that he obviously had every intention of seeing her sooner, rather than later. All that mattered was that they were farther from each other than they had been in days.
And it hurt.
She rubbed a hand over her chest, as if the ache were actually physical instead of all in her head. Was this what love felt like?
Delilah didn’t know. The onl
y person she’d ever loved was Esther, and that felt completely different. With her sister, it was part family bond, part almost parental. She cared for her, was proud of the strides Esther made over the years, felt joy over Esther’s accomplishments and pain when she stumbled.
Yes, she missed Esther when they were apart, but they couldn’t stay attached at the hip forever. She wouldn’t clip her sister’s wings just so she’d never leave. But it didn’t hurt to be away from her.
Delilah stopped short.
Oh god.
She did love Ryu.
Chapter 16
Even though Luca had interrupted them, he apparently decided he didn’t need to give Ryu a talk about Delilah because they settled into work without so much as a hiccup. Luca went over the information they had on Esther and started putting together an extraction plan. Ryu started the slow process of combing over their security system.
There were so many moving parts that finding an intruder on the first pass was next to impossible unless they were an idiot. They’d managed to hack his system, so they weren’t idiots.
Three hours later, he had a headache starting behind his right eye and a kink between his shoulder blades. And he hit pay dirt. “There you are, you son of a bitch.”
“Tell me.” He didn’t jump when Amarante spoke at his shoulder. He’d felt her come up fifteen minutes ago. His sister liked to watch him work sometimes. She said the boredom of it relaxed her.
“They snuck in right after I changed the passwords last month. The reason I hadn’t noticed was because they haven’t actually touched anything yet. They’re just piggybacking on our system.” It meant they could see everything the Horsemen could on the island.
“Don’t kick them out. It will tip them off that we’re aware of their presence.”
He barely resisted rolling his eyes. No shit, that would tip them off. “Given enough time, I can trace this back to its source.”
“Don’t bother.”
He finally dragged his attention from the monitor to look at her. “What?”
