Page 92 of Sinner's Storm

“I have an idea. But you’re not going to like it, Bane,” Montana stated, rubbing his hands down his face. “Sign over your house to Storm. The club will buy up the surrounding land and properties. We form a barricade around her. Tess has been on my ass about finding a home in the country, anyway. We create the most secure compound in the world. Bring in Harbor Security and let them do their thing. Then we hire the best security force on the fucking planet to watch over her and Harlow.”

“Consider it done,” Bane said, shocking the hell out of everyone. “Fury, draw up the papers and I’ll sign.”

“That was too fucking easy.” Montana narrowed his eyes at his former best friend. “What fucking game are you playing, asshole?”

“No games. I promised David and Donna that if anything happened to them, I would look after Delany. If that means giving up my home so she can live free of this fucked-up mess, then so be it. Storm, I will take your penthouse at Davenport Tower. It’s closer to the hospital anyway and I’m getting tired of the long drive.”

“We still have one fucking problem.” Payne yawned before saying, “We have an arsonist to find and kill.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Delany

The sun was setting as I watched the city come alive. It was a beautiful view. That was for sure. A million-dollar view that was worth every penny. Few people in this city could say they had the pleasure of standing in Stone House while looking out over Central Park. One of the oldest homes in the city, Stone House, wasn’t just a home, it was a landmark.

The house had been in the Stone family for generations, and to some that would seem remarkable enough, it was the history of the house that told the tale.

“So, he stole the house?” I asked.

Tessa laughed, throwing her head back. “Not just stole it, he killed her father, then married her with her father’s body bleeding out around them, then proceeded to raise a family here. They had five children. This house has seen some shit over the years. You know that saying, ‘if these walls could talk,’ well, they would speak like daytime talk shows. There is even a room upstairs that I destroyed with my bare hands because Montana refused to let me go. I think I even set the room on fire once or twice. Virginia, Montana’s mom, told me there was a Mexican standoff between her and George. I’m talking guns, knives, and a case of George’s favorite whiskey. According to Virginia, it lasted three days and took six months for crews to fix what they destroyed.”

“Why stay if you all felt so strongly against it?”

“Because deep down, we love the assholes. Look, Delany, I make no excuses for Montana. The man is stubborn, a hothead, and is prone to fits of childish behavior when he doesn’t get his way. You’d think I was raising two toddlers here, but at the end of the day, I still love him. That man will walk through fire to protect me and York. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do, and I literally mean anything. When the chips are down and you think all hope is lost, that’s when men like Storm and Montana show you what they are really made of. You may not like how they go about everything, but at the end of the day, they will love you like no other.”

Taking a seat in the soft chair, I looked around the beautiful sitting room and whispered, “That’s just it, Tess. I don’t know if he does love me. He’s never said.”

“Oh, he loves you. He just hasn’t figured it out yet. Sometimes it takes the stubborn ones a bit longer to figure out what they’ve always wanted has been right before them the entire time. Trust me. Storm loves you. The question you should be asking yourself is, do you love him? Can you willingly spend the rest of your life with a man who will keep secrets from you, but do everything in his power to protect you, even kill for you?”

That was the million-dollar question.

My life was so different from Jason’s. I preferred the quiet, peaceful side of life, where Jason thrived in the drama, the excitement of it all. From his business to his life with the club, everything Jason was, was wrapped up in intrigue, mergers, and death. I don’t think he could stand one hour in my life.

We were so different.

I was an only child. He had a sibling.

I preferred the quiet serenity of life, while he preferred the crazy drama of it all. We hardly had anything in common and what we did have wasn’t enough to base a long-term relationship on.

Well, at least I didn’t think so.

But there was another side to him. One I saw when he was with Harlow. A softer, gentler side. Seeing him interact with our daughter, I would never have known about his other life if I hadn’t seen it firsthand. He was patient with Harlow. When he was with her, she had his undivided attention. Nothing else mattered.

Only her.

From the moment he stormed back into our lives, nothing was the same again. One minute it was just me and Harlow, and the next, he was there, taking over everything.

And I let him.

Why did I let him?

I always considered myself an independent person. Someone capable of taking care of and protecting my own needs. Yet, the longer I thought about it, I wasn’t. Not in the literal sense. While I was smart and knew my own mind, from the moment Jason returned, I found myself deferring to him. Going along with whatever he suggested. From moving Harlow out of the hospital, to marrying him out of the blue. Even letting him back into my bed. And when I saw him with Stephanie at the Fireman’s Ball, I’d felt an unimaginable pain deep in my chest. Pain so severe it sucked the air from my lungs, making it impossible to breathe.

Through it all, he was patient with me. Explaining what he could and letting me come to my own decisions. He never forced my hand. He never lied to me. Well, not technically. Withholding information wasn’t technically lying, but now I understood. There would always be something he could not tell me. Things he would never be able to talk to me about, and it was with those things that I would have to trust that he knew what was best.

It was all a hard pill to swallow, considering that since the age of seventeen, I had been on my own, making my own decisions.

I guess it all boiled down to whether I wanted to live the rest of my life alone and let the chips fall where they may or trust a man I barely knew. The messed-up part was I already knew what I was going to choose.