Page 27 of Under Fire

Matt eased in front of Delilah. “Move, Holloway.”

“This don’t have nothing to do with you, boy.” He tried to shove Matt aside to confront Delilah.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Matt spun the man around and shoved him face first into the wall, wrenching Randy’s arm behind his back. “Delilah, wait for me in the hall.”

Pleased when she didn’t question his order, he waited until she was out of earshot before leaning close to the cursing man in his grip. “Shut up, Holloway,” he snapped. Matt changed the angle of his hold, eliciting a pained gasp from Randy.

“Don’t speak to Delilah that way again. You might have bullied her when she was a kid, but you won’t get away with it now. She won’t put up with that treatment.” He increased Randy’s pain level with another minute change in pressure. “And I won’t allow you or anyone else to treat her with anything less than respect. Am I making myself clear?”

“I can have you banned from this hospital.” The words came out as a high-pitched whine.

“You can try. You won’t succeed. I have more connections than you can possibly imagine. You’re wasting your time trying to intimidate me.” Another increase in the pressure brought a pained moan from Randy. “Do you understand how to treat my woman, Holloway?”

A short nod.

“You don’t want us to have this conversation again. I won’t be as pleasant the next time.” Matt released Randy and walked into the hall. Delilah left Sasha’s side and hurried to Matt. He caught her in a tight embrace and felt her shudder. “Everything is fine,” he murmured in her ear.

“I thought he would cause an ugly scene.”

“I would have handled it. Come on. I’m starving. We’ll come back after dinner and spend a few minutes with your mother.” He turned her toward the elevator. “What’s the best restaurant for you?”

“A place called Legacy. It’s the best steakhouse in town.”

And a place where she could choose food on her diet plan. “Sounds perfect.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were shown to a table at the back corner of the restaurant. Matt and Cade seated the girls in the corner and shifted their own chairs so their backs were to the walls.

When Delilah tried to limit her selection to a side salad, Matt sent her a pointed look. When she’d been a teenager, Delilah ate because of grief and stress. Now, she automatically cut back on her portions. Delilah’s depth of control was great unless she hurt her health.

Cheeks flushed, Delilah amended her order to add grilled chicken.

Cade and Sasha kept the dinner conversation topics light, including Cade’s promised stories of their sleeping arrangements while on missions.

“You really slept in a tree?” Delilah asked, her fork hovering near her mouth.

“It wasn’t safe to sleep on the ground. Bullet ants and snakes were everywhere. I’d rather be stiff from sleeping in a tree than deal with those critters.” Matt polished off the last of his steak.

Sasha frowned. “Why are the ants called bullet ants?”

“The pain of their bite hurts as bad as a bullet wound,” Cade said.

“How do you know?”

“Two of them bit me.” He grimaced. “Take my word for it. The pain was bad.”

The door to the restaurant swung open and a trio of men strolled in, loud and boisterous.

Delilah glanced up and froze.

Matt laid his hand over hers. “Delilah?”

“My brother and cousins just walked in.”

He studied the three men, zeroing in on the one most likely to be Zach. From his actions and speech, Delilah’s brother had been drinking already this evening. “Do you want to leave?”

“When everyone is ready, not before. No one will make me run again.”

Cade looked at her with approval before turning to look at his wife. “Dessert, Sassy?”

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