Page 22 of Bear (Rebel Saints MC 6)

Her eyes shifted to her hands as she ran her fingers over her thumbs. “I feel good that I can.”

“You know you can talk to me. I’ve seen a lot in my life, Delphia. Nothing is off limits,” I assured her. Comfort was what I had to provide her with to open up to me. She paused a bit, and I read her body language. I sensed she wanted to speak but didn’t know how.

The menus came and she tried to distract herself with it. Even if she was a little more vibrant than most days, she was still hiding what she wanted to tell me. “I have to tell you something.” Her nose was buried in the menu as she spoke.

My brow furrowed. “I know.” I tried to comfort her by showing her how well I knew her.

Her head rose as she looked into my eyes and searched for the trust there.

I held her gaze, waiting.

“I know something…” She continued. The whites of her eyes were more prominent now as her fingers trembled on the menu.

I slowly pushed the menu down and put my hand over hers. “Go ahead.”

“My brother knew Rocky was going to kill him. He told me, and he gave me recordings. I was going to give them to the police, but I didn’t. Not after—not after what they did to the case…” She didn’t break when she stumbled, but she was strong.

“Talk to Angie. She’s one of the best. She’s going to help you. Trust me, she can help.” I promised.

“Really? I don’t even know her… she’s just some greedy reporter who wants a story,” Delphia added with enough bitterness to let me know how she truly felt.

“I know you think that. She can be intimidating, but she has your best interests at heart when it comes to stories. She just has her way. She’s been working on this case for a while. She can get it reopened. Rocky came after her too.”

Delphia gasped. “He did? What? Why?”

“Because she had the courage to challenge the police’s verdict. She won’t let you down. Speak to her.”

Delphia picked up the menu again, as she blinked rapidly. “Okay.” A mild reply but enough.

“Okay, it is. Let’s eat.”

Delphia’s expression returned to a smile. “You make things better for me… easier. I feel like I can laugh again.”

“That’s because you should be laughing. I know you think I’m brave, but you’re the courageous one.”

“Thanks, but I don’t feel like I am.” She sighed.

I winked at her and told her a funny story, “Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes. Once I knew a skinny and very lean soldier. I mean he had arms like string beans. And everyone teased the hell out of him, called him Slim Dandy and shit like that. Then one day, our unit was pinned down. When suddenly, he shot up, and drew their fire, so we could shoot back. I’d never seen anyone run such a zig zag in my life. Then he hid behind some metal pole on that street and the bullets hit it, instead of him. Just like some cartoon.”

Her eyes were round in her face. “Did he… make it out alive?”

“Hell, yeah. He was even rewarded the Medal of Valor. After that, we all called him Mr. Valor.”

Delphia laughed. A melodic sound that caressed my skin like pure silk.

We sat talking and sharing stories about our lives for the next hour. As we finished up, our bellies were full and the conversation flowed freely between us. We walked back to my bike stuffed to the gills and smiling.

The fire between us was burning and before my mind could pull me back, I locked my fingers through Delphia’s, just steps from my bike. She didn’t pull away, she just linked her fingers deeper with mine. Then she turned herself around and perched against the bike as I rested both my palms on either side of her. Her rose-stained lips were waiting for my kiss. I leaned in ever so slowly, feeling the delicate start of what was going on between us. I grazed her plump lips with mine as she responded with surprising passion, linking her fingers around my neck.

As I stood up from her, we both looked hard at one another.

“Well, that was incredible,” she breathed the words out.

“You are incredible,” I replied. “Maybe, with everything going on, we should keep this between us. See where it goes.”

“I agree. I want it to be between us as well.” She bit at her bottom lip.

So, I dove in one more time to savor the sweetness of her lips.

If me and Delphia were wrong, then I wanted to be all the way wrong… I was getting a second chance at redemption.

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