Page 32 of The Perfect Kiss
Axe took the lead as we quietly walked down the narrow hallway. There were six cabins on this floor, and as we passed each one, Mitch and Zach tried the doorknobs. When they pushed open the unlocked doors, they found no one inside. We reached the cabin at the end of the hall and saw the door slightly open. Axe held out his hand, advising us to stop. He placed his index finger across his lips before moving to the open crack of the door. From where I stood, I couldn’t hear anything. That wasn’t to say that Axe could hear anything either. When he turned our way and shook his head back and forth, I knew he didn’t hear any voices.
Everything pointed to the room being empty, but given the experience of my team, Axe had his weapon drawn just in case there was a surprise waiting for us on the other side. When I looked behind me, Zach and Mitch also had their guns drawn. Only Axe’s fingertips were against the door as he slowly pushed the door open.
With the door wide open and a perfect view of the cabin, we could see no one was inside. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised to come up empty. Instead of heading down, I pointed to the ceiling to let the guys know to move up a floor. Something in my gut told me that we would find Crosby and Delilah relaxing in the lounge area of the yacht.
A wall covered in polished cedar planks blocked the steps leading to the lounge area. As we quietly ascended the steps, we could hear voices above us. I recognized them right off the bat as Crosby and Delilah’s. They were the only two voices I could hear.
“You ruined everything. You took everything from me.” I heard Delilah cry; her voice laced with anger.
“Delilah, sweetheart. Please put the gun down. We can talk about this.” Crosby pleaded with her to no end. “Everything I did was for us. For our future.”
“Stop, Crosby. I’m tired of hearing all your lies. You took Gwen and Reyna from me. You and your brother. What made you decide to kill him? Was it greed? Because it certainly wasn’t for me!”
Crosby pleaded once again, “Please, Delilah.”
Before he could say another word, Delilah fired off a shot. I had it all wrong. As we hurried up the steps, Delilah was standing frozen with the gun still in her hand. Even when she saw us, she kept the gun aimed at Crosby. “I’m sorry, Davian. But I couldn’t let him live after what he did to my daughters.”
She had nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry, it was me for telling her the truth about her husband. “It’s okay, Delilah. It’s over. Gwen and Reyna are safe.”
Delilah’s eyes met mine, and for a moment, I thought she understood what I said. Crosby should have laid still. Delilah fired another round before I could reach her. This time it was in Crosby’s shoulder. It was a good thing she was a horrible shot. I place my hand over her hands where she had a death grip on the gun. Delilah’s eyes met mine, and she relaxed the finger that was on the trigger. I pulled the gun from her grasp and passed over to Axe, who was the closest to where we stood. Crosby was rolling around on the floor in severe pain, having two bullets in him. He deserved what Delilah did to him. He’d be lucky if he would ever be able to walk again.
∞
The Savannah police department arrived at the docks in recorded time. I had a hard time explaining what happened, doing everything I could to keep Delilah out of this. Thankfully, after my explanation, Elliott and Maverick were arrested while Crosby was loaded up in an ambulance with police supervision. I left it to Patton to contact his buddy at the Atlanta police department and let him know about what was going down in Savannah. As luck would have it, it turned out Elliott and Maverick were both on parole, and leaving Atlanta broke their parole agreement. In addition, aiding a wanted felon granted them more time in prison. And just as I thought, the crew scrambled off the yacht when they heard the first gun shot. Lord only knew where they went.
Life couldn’t be any better. Everyone was safe and either heading back to the hotel or back to the plane. It was finally over, and things could get back to normal. Delilah rode with Axe and me to the hotel to pick up Reyna and Tyler. Delilah’s face lit up like a Christmas tree when I told her that Reyna was in Savannah. They’d been separated long enough, and it was time to bring them together. Even though I hadn’t found Reyna’s birth mom, Louise Braxton, and didn’t even know if she was still alive, reuniting Reyna with Delilah would make her happy.
When we got to the Bohemian hotel, Axe waited in the rental car while Delilah and I went inside. I could tell that she was nervous. Grabbing hold of my arm, she pulled me back, which made me skip a step. Concern painted her face when I turned to look at her. “Davian, do you think Reyna even wants to see me?”
“Delilah… Reyna is going to be so excited to see you. Once I explain the situation to her, she will welcome you with open arms.” I tried calling Tyler earlier after we finished up with the Savannah police to tell him what happened and that we were wrong about Delilah, but there was no answer. So, I had to text him instead.
“I hope you’re right.” Delilah took a deep breath before letting it out.
When we got to Reyna’s room, I had no reason to knock since I had a key. She must have heard the lock to the door click because she was standing on the other side with open arms when I pushed the door open. “Davian, thank God you’re okay. Tyler told me everything.”
Delilah stood behind me without saying a word. It was only after Reyna released me from our embrace that she noticed her.
“Reyna…” Delilah cried as her emotions let loose.
~27~
Reyna
I didn’t know what came over me. It might have been that I was in shock seeing Delilah standing behind Davian. The longer I stood staring at her, the more the shock of seeing her overwhelmed me with emotions from missing her so much. Side-stepping Davian, I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her in for a hug. At that moment, feeling her arms wrapped around me, I was thankful that what Davian had suspected about her was wrong.
“Reyna, my sweet baby girl. I’ve missed you so much.” Delilah said, overjoyed, which sent tears of happiness down my face.
“I’m sorry Crosby turned out to be a monster.” I released my hold on Delilah and took hold of her hands. “At least now he will get everything he deserves.”
We embraced each other again, our tears falling uncontrollably. With Delilah back in my life, I could finally have the mom I so desperately wanted. As we continued to comfort each other, Davian placed his hand gently on my shoulder. “I know you guys have a lot of catching up to do, but we should really get going. The other men are already at the airport waiting for us.”
I wanted nothing more than to get back to Atlanta. Nodding my head, I stepped past Davian to get my things from the bedroom. I had packed a small bag in case I had to stay in Savannah longer than a day. Davian had suggested it, but I was so glad that things worked out the way they did. It would have been better if Delilah hadn’t shot Crosby, but I didn’t blame her. If anything, he was lucky that he was still alive, and she had terrible aim.
When I rejoined Davian, Tyler, and Delilah, they were still standing near the hotel room door. Davian took my bag from me, and we headed out of the room. I couldn’t wait until we were on the plane flying back to Atlanta. Even though it was a short flight, at least Delilah and I would have a chance to talk. More than anything, I wanted to tell her about everything that happened to me. I wasn’t sure what information Davian had shared with her, but I had to let her know that I had thought about her during my entire ordeal.
I was the first to board the plane, with Delilah behind me and Davian and Tyler behind her. The rest of the guys fromThe Societywere standing in the main cabin talking amongst themselves. All the men went to the conference room and left Delilah and me alone. For the first time. I didn’t mind. There was so much I needed to tell her. I was sure there were things she needed to say to me as well.
While we were settling into our seats, Jeannie appeared from behind the partition. As always, she had a big smile on her face. “Can I get you ladies anything before we take off?”
