Page 54 of Frank's Felon
Amazingly clear eyes bore through him. The strength and determination he read in her face finally enabled him to release her. As she rose, she held her hand down to him. Frank took her hand and let her lead him to the very edge he’d just pulled her away from.
His wolf was circling inside, anxious, but there were times to trust your wolf and times to trust your female. The need he saw in Delilah’s face said this was the time to trust her, for her sake as much as his own.
With every inch she stepped closer to the edge, her grip on his hand tightened and her steps grew smaller. Her feet no longer lifted but instead dragged forward. He was starting to understand. Delilah was trying to conquer her fear, and she was asking for his help.
Frank placed a steady arm around her waist to give her the reassurance she needed. Even as her breathing changed to rapid pants and her skin grew clammy, her feet lifted slightly, with more confidence.
“I’ve got you,” he said as they reached the edge together. Delilah peered down into the canyon below. Her free hand reached backward, clutching at him until she found his arm. Her fingers dug in to his skin, but he said nothing. She could cut and bruise the hell out of him for all he cared, as long as it helped her.
After a minute of holding her breath, Delilah backed away from the edge and exhaled long and slow. “That was a little better,” she said, sporting a weak but genuine smile.
Frank and his wolf both relaxed. She really hadn’t been trying to kill herself.
“Talk to me, Del. Tell me what’s going on. What happened in prison?”
“You mean why I killed aninnocentman?”
His hackles rose at the way she ground out the word innocent. “I’m on your side.”
“That doesn’t mean you’ll believe me.”
That, he deserved. He had read the report, seen the photos, heard her confess to murder, but he had never asked her for her side. “I’ll believe you. Always.”
She glanced over the edge again. “Heights never bothered me before prison. Ask Tess. I used to climb trees as a kid. Hang out on the roof drinking beer as a teen. Used to love those rides at amusement parks. You know the ones where you go up a few stories and swing on a harness. I felt like I was flying.”
“What happened in prison, Delilah?”
“The warden expected favors from certain prisoners.” She shrugged. “I refused. Left him with a broken nose one time, kneed him another when he tried to force me. The third time didn’t go any better for him. After that, he had guards take me up to the roof.”
She stopped talking. Too many images ran though his head. Frank pulled her in against his chest and ran his hand up and down her back. Usually that helped her relax, but not now. She was stiff as a board. “You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“The guards didn’t assault me. The warden wanted me to cooperate. That was his word.Cooperate.”
“What happened on that roof?”
“They dangled me over the edge,” she said, her voice catching. “Ten stories. Every few days. Sometimes by my hands or my legs. Once just by my pants.” She swallowed hard. “The pants ripped, and they had trouble hauling me back up. I felt myself falling, Frank. I couldn’t even scream, at least I don’t think I did. I’ve never been so afraid. Never in my—”
She stared shaking in his arms and buried her head in his chest. Her next words were muffled, half covered in sobs. They sat like that, him simply holding her for several minutes until she stopped shaking. Frank kissed the top of her head and whispered, “You’re safe now, baby. I’ve got you.”
She broke his hold and wiped the last of her tears away but still didn’t face him. She didn’t like to be seen as weak, his Del, which is why her telling him this amazed him.
“That last time on the roof is what broke me. I couldn’t talk or even walk. They carried me down to the warden’s office and left me there, knowing they’d finally broken me, and I was no longer a danger. The warden started stripping me. I couldn’t move. And then he grinned at me. That arrogant grin somehow pushed me too far.
“I don’t even remember killing him. I was suddenly sitting in a corner, naked, covered in blood, with my clothes in shreds, and the warden laying crumpled on the floor with a broken neck. I knew I had killed him. I mean, no one else was there, and the room was locked.”
Delilah’s eyes found his. His girl looked scared.
“I knew they’d kill me this time. I already had a life sentence, so nothing else was left. I put on his jacket and my shoes and waited until the corridor was clear. Then I made my way out of the prison, using his keys and ID card. I can’t go back there, Frank.”
Frank pulled her back into his arms. “If it’s the last thing I do, Delilah, I’ll see to it that you never go back to prison.”
* * *
DELILAH
Delilah didn’t know how long they stayed by the cliff, but she was thoroughly drained. Facing her fears, not just of standing by the edge of the cliff, but telling Frank everything, had taken the last of her energy.
He had listened and seemed to support her. She’d never known him to lie or make false promises, but still, promising to leave with her, to forsake his alpha, his pack—this treaty that shifters needed—all for her. . . it was hard believing he’d do all that for her.
