Page 55 of Frank's Felon
No one had ever risked so much for her.
She was so confused and didn’t know what to do or say. Frank was a straightforward guy though, and he made everything sound so simple, so clear, but the whole situation was so incredibly fucked up. Her sweet Frank just couldn’t see it.
Each time Delilah tried to pull her hand away from Frank, he held it tighter. He meant what he’d said; he wouldn’t let Damien turn her over to the DSA. That’s what worried her.
This was his alpha he was defying. That couldn’t end well. The one time she had stood up to William, she had paid for it with a severe beating. She had stayed away from home for three days until all the bruises and cuts had healed just so Tess wouldn’t see the condition she was in.
There were three possible outcomes that resulted from defying one’s alpha. Severe beating, death, or exile. Frank wouldn’t survive exile, not emotionally at least. Frank needed his pack as much as he needed air to breathe. She suspected the only reason he’d made it through five years of prison with his sanity intact was because he knew he had a pack to return to.
From what she could see, Frank’s anger was rooted solely in Damien’s failure to rescue him from prison. Frank adored the rest of the pack; they were indeed very much a part of who Frank was. Frankie, Blade, Tess, Mason. . . dozens of guards she had only seen in passing. They always greeted Frank with a smile or a head nod and gladly stopped to talk to him more often than not. Despite his outward brooding appearance, Frank was respected here. Valued.
Delilah came with a past. Agents on her tail. Warrants.
Running was her future. She had been fooling herself to think she could stay here and build a life with Frank.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” Frank said as they approached a path she recognized all too well. The path led toward camp.
“If I go back, Damien will hand me over. He has no choice. That treaty seems really important to him, and I’m the keystone that will either hold it together or break it if he doesn’t hand me over.”
“Then let it fail.”
“That’s not your decision. Or mine.”
“I meant what I said earlier. No one will take you.”
“This is youralphawe’re talking about, Frank.”
“And you don’t think I can beat my alpha?”
Could he? Maybe, maybe not. But if the two fought, no one won. If Frank killed Damien, it would destroy Tess. And Delilah couldn’t bear to see Frank hurt, or worse, die.
Delilah ground to a stop. “I’m not going back. And I swear Frank, if you try to carry me back or force me in any way, I will never forgive you no matter how this all turns out.”
She never thought that frown he wore could deepen, but it did.
“We have to go back. I don’t know what the solution is, Del, but Damien won’t hand you over.”
“How do you know that?”
Frank ran his hand through his short hair as he released a sigh. “I don’t know for sure. But I have faith. And if Damien tries to hand you over, I won’t let him.”
“You’d fight him? Over me?”
Without any hesitation, Frank said, “Yes.” Then he drew her fingertips of her left hand to his mouth and kissed them. “You asked me to trust you earlier, Del. Now I’m asking you to trust me.”
* * *
FRANK
She didn’t hesitate to put her hand in his and continue on toward camp when he asked her to trust him. Hands down, it was the happiest moment of his life. His Delilah finally trusted him. Her future—her life—was on the line, and she trustedhim, Frank Connelly, to protect her.
He wouldn’t fail her.
It was close to midnight by the time they arrived back in camp. They stopped briefly at Aloe’s house to get some clothes. Frank threw on jeans and a t-shirt. Delilah came downstairs in a pleated skirt that hit her mid-thigh, showing off those deliciously long legs of hers. Even dressed as casual as she was, she was a knockout. He envisioned bending her over the sofa, flipping up that flimsy skirt and driving into her.
“I know that look of yours, Frank,” she said, as she unbuttoned the top two buttons and parted the blouse enough to give him a glimpse of two perfectly rounded breasts. “We don’t have to go back to Damien’s house. We can stay here.” She drew a finger down her blouse between her breasts, parting the blouse further. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Hell.
“Damien expects me to return with you.”
