“My mom makes the best meatloaf in the world,” I signed as I spoke. “It’s my favorite.”
Her eyes brightened. “My mom made the best enchiladas. It’s one of a million things I miss the most about her.”
“She’s gone?”
Delaney gave a tiny nod. “She and my dad died in an explosion. When I lost my hearing.” She shuddered, and I was quick to wrap an arm around her shoulders in case she was cold. “I was sent to live with my dad’s sister and her husband when I was ten.”
“I’m sorry you lost them.” I tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, wishing I could offer more comfort than just words, but suddenly, I needed to know how old she was. At first glance, I thought maybe she was at least twenty, but the longer I looked at her, the younger she seemed. “How long did you live with your aunt and uncle?”
“Eight years. I left…” Her hands paused before continuing. “I left the night before I turned eighteen. That was about ten weeks ago.”
Relief washed over me that she was legal. Not that I was all that confident I would have been able to keep my hands to myself if she weren’t. This little treasure was filling me with emotions I didn’t even have a name for, but I knew I would kill anyone who tried to take her away from me.
When Ben and Lexa started dating, I’d scoffed when my sister told me their love had been instant. One look and she knew she wanted to be with him. That he was the sheriff had been the only thing that had stopped her. With our dad the Angel’s Halo MC president, Lexa hooking up with the law hadn’t been the smartest decision she’d ever made.
But Dad eventually realized having Ben in the family was a good thing. My brother-in-law would break every law known to man if it meant protecting Lexa and making her happy. He’d covered up shit left and right since she’d told him she loved him. For her, Mom, the MC.
Me.
Killing a man and having the sheriff cover it up was one thing, especially when that man had been Carlo Santino.
Ben finding out I had an underage girl in my apartment? Probably not so much.
Fuck, who was I kidding? If Mom or Lexa found out I had an underage girl in my apartment, they would murder me.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about that. Delaney was eighteen. No one would come after me with a sawed-off shotgun.
I pushed my plate away and gave her my undivided attention. “You’ve been on the streets for ten weeks?”
She shrugged, using her fork to pick at her lasagna.
Grasping her chin, I tipped her head back so she had to look at me. “Did your aunt and uncle do anything to hurt you?” I asked between clenched teeth as I signed.
She was quick to shake her head, but there was something in her pretty eyes that told me different.
“Then why did you run?” I demanded.
Tears filled her eyes. I felt like an asshole for making her cry, but I needed answers. If someone had harmed her, they would be meeting the angel of death very, very soon. There was no fucking way I would let anyone who hurt her breathe another day.
“Marta, their housekeeper…she told me to run,” she responded after a moment. “She didn’t tell me why. But I knew. Uncle Tony isn’t a good person. The people who came to the house…” She shuddered again. “I don’t know who they were. They always kept me in my room when I wasn’t at school. But I could just tell…you know?”
I tilted my head to the side as I studied her. “You were scared of your uncle, but not of me?”
She shook her head. “You won’t hurt me. I can feel it. Here.” She touched her hand to the center of her chest.
I wanted to laugh, but I stopped myself before the sound could leave me. She couldn’t hear it if I did, but that was beside the point. She could feel me in her chest just as I could feel her in my own.
Anyone who didn’t know me usually cowered when they first saw me. When they found out who I was, they damn near pissed themselves. I’d been patched into the MC the same day I turned eighteen. No need to prospect, because I’d already proven myself to my dad and his brothers. I’d already spilled blood for them and my family. Killing Carlo Santino had given me instant respect within the club.
That respect only caused others to fear me. If I’d been patched in so easily, then I must be a dangerous motherfucker.
And they were right. I would put a bullet in anyone without so much as a blink if I thought they were a danger to those I cared about.
Yet Delaney felt none of that fear when she looked at me. But she was right, too. I would gut anyone who harmed her, including myself. There was nowhere safer for this girl than with me.
3
Delaney
With my stomach full and my body relaxed after the heat of the shower, it was hard to keep my eyes open after eating the last bite of the yummy lemon cake Max said his aunt had made for him. The woman had some amazing baking skills, and I now had a new favorite dessert.
My eyes began to drift closed without my permission, and suddenly I was being lifted. Looking up at Max, I willed my heart not to jump out of my chest as I met his intense metallic gaze. “I got you, little one,” I read his lips. “You’re safe here. Sleep.”
Closing my eyes again, I let my head rest on his chest as he carried me through the apartment. Moments later, I felt the coolness of sheets and a plush pillow under my head. My lashes flickered up to take in my surroundings. A lamp had been switched on beside the bed, casting a soft glow across the room.
The bed was a queen with a dark wooden frame. The sheets, pillowcases, and comforter were a deep crimson color. A digital clock on the nightstand beside the lamp told me it was one o’clock. Max’s scent enveloped me as he tucked the comforter up around me, and I snuggled deeper into the pillow.
Before he straightened, he brushed his lips over my forehead. The sweet, innocent touch of his lips to my brow made my heart skip a beat even as tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had tucked me in. By the time my parents died, I’d been putting myself to bed for a few years.
When he straightened, I was scared he was going to leave me, and I quickly caught his hand. His brows pulled together as he looked down at me. “Don’t be scared,” he signed.
I shook my head. “I’m not. I…” I hesitated. How did I tell him I wanted him to sleep beside me all night? I felt the safest when he was right next to me. The fear that Uncle Tony would find me had vanished, and all I felt was the kind of peace that had been missing from my life for the past eight years.
Max brushed my hair away from my face, something he’d done several times earlier. The soft sweep of his fingers across my cheek made my entire body heat as an ache throbbed between my legs. It was uncomfortable, and I pressed my legs together, trying to relieve it, only to feel a dampness on my inner thighs.
He lowered his eyes to where I was squirming, and his nostrils flared. One of his hands rubbed over his mouth as hunger filled his gaze. That only made the throb intensify, which caused me to squirm even more.
Dropping to his knees beside the bed, he cupped the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip for several excruciating moments. “Do you ache, little one?” he signed, and I quickly nodded. “Me too, baby. But I don’t think you are ready for that. I want nothing more than to crawl into this bed beside you and kiss every inch of your sweet body. I would spend the entire night easing that ache deep between your legs. And one day, I pray you’ll let me. When you’re ready.”