And she was right to think that way because Harlow was her life. Her entire life.
Not me.
Not the club. Nothing.
Just Harlow.
Watching them, I felt myself drawn to them. Part of me wanted to run out there and experience the joy surrounding Delany. She truly was a remarkable mother. There was so much love in her body, it spilled over to all those around her. It made sense to me now why Malice was drawn to her. Why Bane took her away from the darkness.
My wife was the light.
Without her, the world would be a darker place and that was something they couldn’t allow to happen.
I knew my life wasn’t for everyone. Only the strong survived. And while I wanted to protect Delany and Harlow from the darkness; the longer they were around me, the easier my life would find them.
“Whatever you are thinking don’t, brother,” Montana said, standing next to me as he, too, watched Delany with Harlow. “I see you wavering, but you can’t. You’ve come this far. All you can do now is see it through. You want to protect her, then do it. We will all help. Anything you need, you’ve got it, but you can’t walk away.”
“She will always be in danger because of me.”
“Yes, she will, but we can build a wall so fucking high around her that no one will ever be able to climb it. I’m not proud of my part in all of this, and I swear to you, brother, I will make amends if it’s the last thing I do. But right now, we need to secure her and your daughter until we remove every threat to them.”
He was right.
And the only place I knew that was secure enough to protect them was the clubhouse. Knowing how Delany felt, I knew trying to convince her to return to the clubhouse would be an impossible feat.
Still, I had to try.
Opening the back door, I walked out into the backyard.
Harlow saw me first and she giggled, running over to me. “Daddy!”
Picking her up, I held her close as Delany stopped and stared at me, not moving. God, she looked so beautiful in her pretty dress in the early morning light.
I didn’t deserve her.
“Daddy, Momma was chasing me!”
“I saw.” I smiled, taking my time to walk over to my wife. “It looked like you two were having a lot of fun.”
“Momma was tickling me.”
“I know,” I said, snuggling my little girl closer when I stopped a few feet from her mother.
“You found me.”
“August called.”
“I see,” she replied, looking everywhere but at me. I didn’t like it. It made me feel like a stranger to her. Maybe I was, and it was what I deserved, but she was still my wife. I needed her to understand that part. Even if it was the only thing she understood. “Why are you here?”
“Because you are.”
“Shouldn’t you be with Stephanie? I saw you two together last night.”
“She means nothing to me. She never did.”
“I bet she doesn’t think that.”
“She doesn’t matter, Delany. You and Harlow do.”