Page 16 of Blood Moon

Viktor

I shouldn’t have kissed her. I knew it; she knew it. But I did it anyway, just to shut her up. And I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her upstairs. I needed to lock her up so she couldn’t be taken from me. I wasn’t about to let her go anywhere with Strain, no matter what he was promising. I had told him to apologize, but not like this. I knew he was up to something. I couldn’t lose her.

I wouldn’t put it past him to attempt kidnapping Delilah again. I had hoped that losing his hand would convince him to stay away. I’d have to keep a close eye on her. So much for staying away.

For the rest of the day I avoided going into the bar and taking a chance of running into her. I couldn’t face her after that kiss. I knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

The next morning, I gave up that thought and I tasked myself with finding reasons to be in the bar instead of my office. I had no idea when Strain would show up again, or how many more ‘gifts’ he would send to convince her to go out with him. I suspected that Delilah knew what I was doing, but she didn’t say anything.

After my third trip, she stopped me. “You’d be better off just getting your laptop and working out here. You’d get more done.” She turned and walked away without looking back. Delilah was right, I should have just brought the laptop out here in the first place. It would have been less noticeable. Being the boss gave me the freedom to work anywhere on the property that I chose.

“What are you talking about? I’m getting plenty of work done,” I tried desperately to cover, even though she had figured me out.

“Look, I get that you’re worried about that Strain guy. And I understand that you two have some sort of feud going on or whatever. You don’t have to hover. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself,” Delilah tried to act tough, but I got the impression that she liked me hanging out.

“You don’t know him the way I do. He’s dangerous,” I tried to explain, but she cut me off.

“I bet he’d tell me the same thing about you,” she quipped before walking away. I followed her, trying to reason with her stubborn ass.

“You don’t know all the things he’s done. Please, Delilah, just stop for a minute and listen to me.” I reached out and grabbed her arm without thinking. She winced as my fingers brushed the still bruised bicep that was covered by her uniform shirt. “I’m sorry.” I pulled my hand back, feeling guilty that I’d hurt her.

“It’s okay. I couldn’t stand to look at it anymore, so I thought covering it up would help. Not so much.” She gave me a small smile. Delilah pulled the sleeve of her shirt up to show that the mark was still there.

“But it’s not okay. This is just one small example of what he’s capable of. I’ve known him for a long time, and the only things he brings are death and destruction. Please promise me you won’t go out with him.” I hated how close I was to begging her, but if that’s what it took to keep her safe, I would do it.

“If you’re that hung up on it, then tell me why. I won’t just do what you tell me to because you say so. I haven’t known you long enough to give you that much control.” She stared at me expectantly.

I wanted to tell her; I just wasn’t sure how. Kat’s story wasn’t easy for me, and I didn’t want it to sour what we might have. Wow, I didn’t realize that I was actually considering a relationship with Delilah. I told myself I wouldn’t let that happen. Oh, the lies we tell ourselves.

“Delilah, I want to tell you, I do. I just don’t know where to begin. It’s not an easy story to tell. Can’t you just trust me?” I knew that I owed her more than that, if for no other reason than the fact that I didn’t tell her my wife was dead. I had hoped that keeping that from her would convince Delilah to stay away from me. It seems that Vinny had a big mouth, though. I’d have to take care of that later.

“Does it have something to do with your wife? I’m sorry; I know it’s none of my business. Uncle Vinny told me that something happened to her, and I felt awful about bringing it up the other night.” Her sympathy tore at my heart.

I nodded. “It’s his fault that she’s gone.” Tears started to form in my eyes, and I blinked to keep them from falling.

“It’s Uncle Vinny’s fault? No, that doesn’t make sense.” She paused before speaking again. “It’s Strain’s fault that she’s gone.” Her realization was a stab in the heart.

“I don’t think I can talk about it right now. Please, promise me you won’t go out with Strain, and I’ll tell you the whole story after we close up tonight.”

She looked at me as if she was trying to tell if I was lying to her or not. Just when I thought she was going to tell me to go to hell, she nodded. “Okay, it’s a deal. I won’t go anywhere with Strain, and you’ll tell me what happened.”

“Thank you. I promise that I will keep you safe. Nothing will happen to you while I’m here,” I vowed. I knew it was dangerous to make such promises, but I wanted to keep this one. I needed to be sure she would be safe. “We can have dinner in my apartment while we talk if you’d like.”

“That sounds good. I have to get back to work. My boss will be pissed that I’m talking instead of working,” she joked before turning and walking back to the bar. I laughed at her joke, but still felt as if something was going to happen with Strain.

“I’m certain your boss is a very handsome and understanding man,” I quipped back.

I grabbed my laptop from the office and took a seat in a booth near the door. I was in just the right spot to not be seen from the door, while being able to see everything.

I kept an eye on her as she worked, bussing tables, cleaning, and taking care of the handful of customers we had. As I opened my laptop, I brought up her plans for Midnight. Vinny had kept them even though he refused to consider any of them. She had good ideas. What she suggested could triple business, but he wasn’t interested just because she was a kid.

If we updated the decor and equipment, we could have live music three nights a week and still keep our karaoke status the other four nights. The whole karaoke schtick pained me, but I could tell that Delilah loved it. She was constantly dancing around and singing along with the music while she prepared to open or after the bar closed. I couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t ever on stage until Vinny had mentioned telling her to shut up. I told him to leave her alone. She was a far better singer than some of those who tried.

Fortunately for me, it was too early for the amateur singing crowd to be in today. There had only been a few people who showed interest in singing in the past week. Vinny assured me that the weekends were much busier, but I wasn’t sure I believed him.

Chapter 15

Delilah