“Have you heard?” Delilah sobs, wiping her face.
“No, what’s going on?”
“It’s my dad. There were...there were recordings of him. You were right. You were all right. He was involved the whole time. They’ve arrested him, there are going to be reports all over the news, it’s all crashing to pieces.”
Shit.
Oh shit.
This must be what the bikers have been doing and why we haven’t heard from them. How in the ever-loving hell did they manage to get this kind of information? They must have leaked it. It’s genius, all the money in the world won’t hide this one. Everyone is currently finding out what a monster Delilah’s father is and what he and his little minions have been up to all this time.
Still, it’s heartbreaking for her.
“We need to get you out of here, come on,” I say, tugging her.
“Delilah, did you know what your father was doing?”
“Delilah, were you involved?”
“Delilah, do you know where any of the missing girls are?”
People are shouting questions, it’s absolute hell and I can’t think, let alone deal with this. I’m already hurting just from shoving through the crowd. I need to get Delilah out of here, and I need to do it now.
“Come on,” I pull her again.
“My mother, I can’t leave her,” Delilah says, shaking her head, eyes wide and tears rolling down her cheeks.
“We’ll take her, let’s help her up.”
Delilah goes to help her mother up, but instead she throws her hands out. “No, I’m not leaving. I’m not.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” the police officer says, “we need your mother to remain here for questioning.”
Delilah looks frantic.
“It’s okay,” I say to her, squeezing her hand. “We’ll get Star out of here, and then we’ll go to the police station and find out what is happening. Being here isn’t helping, okay. We need to get out of here.”
Delilah nods and eventually, I get her out.
Once we’re in the car, she starts sobbing.
By the time we are halfway home, the radio is already going crazy with the news. I slam my hand on it, switching it off.
This is bad.
Yet, good.
These people, they had it coming.
They did what they did, and they couldn’t hide it forever.
Still, this is going to do a lot of damage to Delilah and for her, I didn’t want that.
But she has us now, and we’ve got her back.
We’ll always have her back.
“SHE’S ASLEEP,” GABBY says quietly, coming down the stairs. “Poor thing cried until she was exhausted. I feel so bad for her.”
I look over to Hugh, who is watching the television.
The club members got back a few hours after the news broke. Riggs told us what had happened. They had enough information to tip the police off, including footage that showed Delilah’s dad right in the act, plus confessions from those around him. Not even the cops who were covering it up could keep this one from blowing up. They tipped off every news reporter within a hundred-mile radius that it was going down, so there was no way it could be hidden.
It blew up.
They knew it would.
They were told by Bassel that it needed to look like they had nothing to do with it so they were purposefully seen out of town doing a charity ride. As far as anyone knows, the source is anonymous, and Delilah’s family is going to come crashing to the ground. The most powerful family around is now going to be taken out.
“She good?” Hugh asks when I approach him.
He puts an arm around my waist, pulling me close.
“No, she’s not, but she will be.”
“We knew it would end like this, didn’t want to hurt her but in the end, there really was no other choice. That family needed to be brought down for what they were doin,’ and this was the only way.”
“I know, but it’s so so hard to see her suffering like this. She honestly believed the best, she thought her father was a good man, this must be absolutely horrible for her.”
“Yeah, it is, but she’s got us, and we won’t let her down.”
I turn my attention to the television and watch as a reporter on the screen speaks. She talks about the video proof that was leaked, the allegations against the family and names the people involved. As it stands, Delilah’s father is in custody and will be held there until an investigation has been complete.
He won’t be getting out anytime soon.
Not when people are speaking out against him.
It’s over for them and their fortune.
I exhale and close my eyes. Hugh brings me close and presses a kiss to my forehead. I turn into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and breathing him in. I need his comfort right now, but I know Delilah needs us all a whole lot more. She’s asleep, so I’m going to take a second to let the shock of what just happened sink in.
It’s going to be a long, hard road for her family.
If they survive this, life going forward will be nothing like what they’ve lived so far.
Riggs gives us all the information we need and nothing more, and it’s only incase there is any link back to the club which there won’t be, because everyone’s focus is going to be on that family. Still, they’ve covered every angle. They’re smart and they’re not going to risk anything happening.
We all agree to tell the same story, if needed, and then they all leave.
Hugh and I check on Delilah before retreating to the spare bedroom.
She’s asleep, but she’s restless.
The look on her face, even during rest, is heartbreaking.
She’s worried for her mother, for her family, and no doubt, somewhere deep down, for her father.
It’s going to take a long time to process this.
“Do you think we’re safe?” I ask Hugh as we lay in bed, his arm around me, pulling me close.
“Anyone directly involved has been arrested, right now, we’re the least of their problems. You’re safe, I told you I’d make sure of that.”
“Delilah won’t get into trouble for any of this, will she?”
“No, we’ve made sure her name is protected. As far as anyone is concerned, she didn’t know. I know she didn’t, and by the sounds of it, neither did her mother. The two of them will be protected.”
“Maybe by the law, but not from the gossips, the hate, and the people who are going to look at them as outcasts. It’ll take an awfully long time for them to recover from this.”
“Her mother more so,” Hugh agrees. “She’s goin’ to go through a lot, but what that man was doin,’ it had to be stopped. It fuckin’ sucks others had to be hurt in the process, but there was no other way around it.”
“I know you’re right,” I agree. “I just feel so bad for them. Imagine finding out someone you loved and trusted, was a god damned monster. It would be the worst feeling in the world.”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be fuckin’ nice. Deep down, too, they know they’re goin’ to lose a lot, if not everything. The life they’ve been raised to be familiar with, will be no more. Delilah will recover, but someone like her mom might not. She doesn’t know what the normal world feels like, that’ll be tough for her.”