Page 32 of Without Warning
She takes my phone.
Me
This is Daphne.No, you are not being fired.He just needs to give you time off once in a while.
Jethro
Thank you, ma’am.But he’s paying for me to go to Greece next month for two weeks.
Me
Good for you.
She hands me back my phone, and I realize I better make sure he has a good person stepping in for him while he’s gone.I will go crazy without him.
“You better really give him those two weeks off,” she says, full of sass, and I pull her into me before she puts on her helmet.
“Baby, are you going to come take care of me while he’s gone?”
“You can’t afford me.”She teases, then kisses me quickly before climbing onto her bike.“Let’s go.Last one back here buys dinner.”
We take off, having fun and biking through the park.We stop for a break at the top.I love seeing Daphne so free and happy.She’s got mud all over her, but she doesn’t care.She’s just happy.
Delphi is the same, but she’s complaining a bit about the mud in her hair.
We stop for a group photo at one point.We’re at the top of the mountain, looking over the valley, with Chattanooga in the distance.I wrap my arms around Daphne and snap a selfie of the two of us before Delphi takes the phone from my hand and takes a few more pictures.
“I’m sending that one to Mom and Dad.”Delphi teases.“I won’t post them online, though, not that I can right now.But I don’t want to cause any issues with the paparazzi for you, Darrell.”
“Don’t worry about it.Titan should have you back online soon.As for posting pictures, I don’t really care, unless you only want your family and friends to see them.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m not going to hide what I have with your sister.”I lean in and kiss Daphne’s nose.“Okay, gear up.Let’s get back to the truck.”
I make sure I’m the last one to pull into the parking lot because I’m buying dinner, but also, I want to keep an eye on both of them.
Acouple of hours later, we’re all showered, dressed in nice clothes, and climbing into the Range Rover.Delphi sits up front next to Totten, turned around in her seat talking to us.She’s been looking at some of the properties Poseidon forwarded to me.His construction company usually handles specialty construction, but they recently finished a couple of fully loaded luxury homes.
When we pull up to the restaurant, I get out and help both women from the SUV, taking Daphne’s arm as we head inside.My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it for a moment while we get seated in the booth.Finally, I pull it out and look at the text message.
Hades
What the fuck, dude?She’s off limits.
Me
WTF are you talking about?
“How the hell are there two of them?”
Judson’s deep voice pulls me away from watching the bubbles appear and disappear on my screen.He must be typing one hell of a message.
“I get one of them.”
“As long as it isn’t mine.”I pull Daphne toward me.
“Hello, I’m Delphi.”She holds her hand out to Judson.“I’m a huge fan.I can’t wait to taste your creations in person.”
