“Better than I thought.”
“What is?”
“Watching you laugh.”
I sucked in a breath and officially could no longer overlook the chills his voice created.
Chapter 9
The shrill ring of my phone woke me. I rolled and tagged it off the coffee table and was immediately irritated when I saw the time.
“You realize it’s five in the morning, right?” I snapped.
“Am I interrupting something?” Zane asked.
“Yeah, sleep.”
“It’s been two days.”
He was correct. It had been two days since I’d pulled Delilah out of the house Tamir had left her in. But it hadn’t been two days since I’d last spoken with Zane—it had been less than twelve hours.
“And?”
“You need to push her.”
“No.”
“Don’t make me have Ivy email you the new handbook. It clearly states I’m in charge of all women until the mating ritual is complete. At such time, the male takes over all financial responsibly and then and only then may he start to make decisions on her behalf.”
“I hope to fuck you’re joking and you didn’t ask your wife to actually type that up.”
“Do I strike you as stupid? I had Garrett make the changes. I enjoy my testicles hanging where God put them and not on my mantel where my wife would likely display them.”
“First, you don’t have a mantel in your penthouse. Secondly, I’m gonna cut off the whole kit and caboodle—that’s cock and balls—unless there’s a point to this call.”
“Testy.” Zane chuckled.
“I made myself clear last night when we spoke. I’m not pumping her for information. The woman’s been through enough. She’ll tell you what she knows when she’s ready or she won’t. Cohen’s obviously got something planned. We let that play out then we move accordingly.”
“Your little vacation in Mexico’s taking up the Prophylactic Fund. You run it dry there’ll be nothing left when Kevin’s and Cooper’s turn rolls around.”
Sarcastic bastard.
“You know this is much more fun when I’m sitting on the sidelines listening to you give the other guys shit.”
“I’ll bet it is. Though, it’s always fun for me.”
“Right. Even though it’s technically Abrams’s money funding our stay in Mexico. Just so you stop bitching, send me a bill and I’ll pay for it personally.”
“So you’ve mated—”
“Seriously. The sun’s not even up and you’re pissing me off.”
“You know what would cure that?”
“Me hanging up on you?”
“No, you talking to Delilah.”
I’d been doing nothing but talking to Delilah over the last forty-eight hours. She’d told me about her mother’s first ten husbands, and I told her about the last two she hadn’t met. During that conversation, she seemed particularly detached. It was as if Delilah were telling me about someone else’s life. I’d told her about growing up in Colorado, my parents, and that I was an only child. We’d touched on my military service but she seemed to sense when she was skirting a line, and she’d artfully change the topic. She was easy to talk to, easy to listen to, easy on the eyes, just plain easy. And that was becoming worrisome seeing as it had taken about twenty-four hours before her smiles came fast. The more relaxed she became, the more she let her guard down and I figured I was close to the real her. So, we’d shared meals, we’d laughed, we’d watched horrible reality TV (her idea), and we’d talked a lot.
Just not about what Zane wanted me to talk to her about.
“You know I got nothing but love for you so I say this with respect, back the fuck off. She’s been through enough and I’m not just talking about Abrams and Tamir. Though she gave years of her life to that job and just to say, their employee loyalty program sucks ass if what you get is kidnapped and left for dead. She needs time to heal from that and she’s gonna get it. You don’t like it, bill me for our stay and put me on unpaid leave.”
“What kind of asshole do you take me for?” Zane’s tone had taken on a hard edge. “I want you to talk to her so we can fuckin’ end this for her, for Evette, for Gabe. Waiting for Tamir to make his play leaves you vulnerable. Either you talk to her, I send a team down there to watch your back, or you bring her back to the States. We have options; Abe already gave us the go-ahead to use his cabin. We have Fish or Rhode in Idaho—either of their places would work. Texas is an option, Ghost and his team are always in to help. Or we can send her to the Retreat. Chaos runs a tight operation and she’d be safe there.”
Fuck, he had a point. This had to end. Christopher “Abe” Powers was a former SEAL, his cabin had a top-of-the-line security system—courtesy of Zane after Olivia and Leo’s mishap while staying there years ago. I knew Keane "Ghost" Bryson and his Delta team from my time in the Army. They were all good, solid men, they’d take good care of Delilah. I didn’t personally know anyone who worked at The Retreat, but I’d heard about the man Chaos and his compound in New Mexico. Zane trusted him so that was enough for me.
During Evette’s ordeal, Zane made an arrangement with Aviv Abrams—Evette was off-limits. Zane had also squeezed Aviv for half a million dollars for what Zane had declared was reimbursement for endangering Gabe and Evette’s lives. But that deal didn’t extend to Delilah. As a matter of fact, Zane had agreed Delilah was none of his concern and Z Corps wouldn’t interfere in whatever Aviv had planned for her. Zane never had any intentions of honoring his part of the deal. Which meant Evette and Delilah were still in danger.
“I’ll ask her which she prefers.”
“Myles—”
“I told you I’ll ask her and I will. I warned you she didn’t trust me and she still doesn’t. But whatever headway I’ve made to get her to a place where she feels minutely safe isn’t gonna be torn down by me pushing her to talk to me.”
There was a few moments of silence and then a miracle to top all miracles happened. Zane Lewis gave in.
“Whatever you feel is best, I got your back.”
I blinked into the darkness and momentarily wondered if I was hallucinating. Then he opened his mouth and in true Zane fashion got in the last word.
“Don’t be a fool and forget to cover your tool.”
Immature bastard.
Zane disconnected and I tossed my phone on the table before I leaned back into the couch.
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“That bad?”
My head turned toward the bedroom door. Delilah was standing there leaning against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her, her clothes rumpled from sleep, looking absolutely adorable. Maybe a safehouse was the way to go. I was getting too close, way too fucking close.
“Sorry I woke you.”
“You didn’t, Zane did. That’s who you were talking to, right?”
“Yeah. It’s seven back in Maryland so he decided to spread his sunshine all the way down here in Mexico.”
She didn’t miss my sarcasm and replied with the same, “Well, that was nice of him.”