Page 75 of Delirium
“I know, I know,” I mumbled. “You’re not an object to be owned, I know that. But my heart doesn’t. My soul doesn’t. I can’t even try to explain how all of this works to them, and that’s why I can’t move on from the fact that he pisses me off with his attitude.”
“He just offered to help, you know,” she said, placing her hand over my fisted one. “I know you don’t like him, I get it, but he really isn’t trying to get into my pants.”
“Phee,” I growled and looked at her. “If you want that man to live, don’t ever put his name and your pants in the same sentence.”
She bit into her cheeseburger, her eyes crinkling at the corners, laughing at me.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I said.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re amused because I’m jealous of him.”
“Because I am.” She laughed. “It’s good to know.”
“Ophelia,” I warned. “Don’t. Please, don’t.”
“Okay, okay.” She grinned. “I’m not trying to make you jealous. I’m trying to tell you that I called him and…” she trailed off, closing her eyes.
“Sunshine?”
“He’s with Maya, Storm,” she said, opening her bright, cerulean eyes, filled with so much emotion. “He found my sister.”
“Holy shit.”
“And by the sound of the things, they’re in danger. When I spoke to him, it was obvious that they’re in trouble, but I can’t just go to Mexico to help them. Not right now.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” I growled.
“No, I’m not.” She shook her head. “That’s why I need your help. I don’t know if you guys have any chapters in Mexico or if you know anyone who can help, but I want her back and I want her safe. Hell, I want both of them to be safe and home. But I don’t know what to do.”
I could see that this was bothering her more than she was letting on. She was a master at keeping her pretty mask on her face, but the cracks were showing, and her worry for her sister was at the forefront of her mind.
“I don’t want her to be harmed. Can you do something? Anything,” she whispered, pleading with her eyes. “I know you don’t like him, but he doesn’t deserve to die. Not like this, not while he’s doing me a favor.”
“Sunshine,” I murmured, pulling her chair closer to mine. “I’ll do whatever I can to find them and to help them if they need help. I’ll talk with my contacts in Mexico. I’m sure they can help.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I came to you, because… Because I trust that you’re the only person who can help me right now. I don’t want to involve Lazar because I have a feeling that would only make things worse. Kieran said not to send anyone, that they could handle it, but they were in the middle of something when the phone call cut off. I can’t shake this feeling that something horrible is about to happen.”
“Phee, hey,” I crooned. “Nothing is going to happen. We’ll help them and they’ll come home. We’ll also find this bitch who wants to harm you. Trust me, okay?”
“I do trust you,” she said. “Maybe I shouldn’t, considering everything we’ve gone through, but I do trust you. I’m just worried that even you, that even I, won’t be able to stop Belladonna and that she’ll get to our kids once they’re born, unless we find her before.”
“We will. We will find her. We will find Kieran and Maya, and we will have an amazing life. All of us together.”
She looked up, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Promise?” she asked. “Promise that once all of this is over, we will have a better life than before?”
“I promise, Sunshine,” I answered. “I promise I will do everything I can to protect you guys. I swear to you, you are my priority. You are my family, no matter what. We might be on a break right now. I might give you the space you asked for, but I promise—you’re the only thing that matters. You and these kids,” I said, placing my hand on her stomach. “I will burn down the world to keep you safe.”
And I meant it.
I would destroy every single person who stood in our way or who wanted to harm my family.
That was a motherfucking promise.
16
OPHELIA
