Delilah glanced at him and found his gaze hard and unreadable.
“What?”Her stomach churned as she wondered what he would ask and how much trouble it would cause when she answered.
“How long were you married?”
“Six years.”She watched as his eyes went wide then his jaw flexed.She looked away.She didn’t want to see it coming when he hit her.But the blow she waited for never came.Instead, he climbed onto the motorcycle in front of her, then with both hands hooked behind her knees, pulled her close again before he picked up the kick stand and started the engine.
Realizing they were about to be moving, she wrapped her arms tight around his middle and held on.Being on the back of his motorcycle made her feel free in a way she’d never felt before, but it also terrified her.Once they’d been on the road for a few minutes and she had a chance to relax she had enjoyed the wind, the feeling of freedom, and being able to hold on to the man in front of her without any expectations that he would want more.
Or at least he hadn’t acted like he would want more.Did he?
Chapter Eleven
Six years.
Hawkeye clenched his jaw and fought his need to pull Delilah into his arms and comfort her.Only two things stopped him.Number one, they had to get out of there.They had to get to the safe house, and out of Crows territory or they would be in more danger than he wanted to think about.Number two, he didn’t know how she would react and the last thing he wanted was to frighten her.
Six years.
She had been married for six years before she’d been ‘set aside.’He couldn’t forget that she’d told him she was nineteen.That wasn’t quite how she’d put it, but it meant the same.
Six years.
That meant she’d been married at thirteen.
Her husband ‘set her aside’ because she was barren.The fucker was a pedophile who took a child to his bed and gotten rid of her when she was older than he preferred.
Hawkeye clenched his jaw and made a decision.He would find out who her ex was, every detail he could get.Then he would find a way to take him down.Since her parents hadn’t gone to the law about her being married at such a tender age, he had to assume they’d been part of it, so he added them to his mental list of those he would be going after.
Something about the quiet woman who held on so tight stirred something deep inside.Something he’d thought was dead or missing.He wouldn’t force her to stay with him.It seemed that Delilah had far too little choice in her life already but if he could convince her, he’d like to get to know her better.To see if it was more than just his outrage at what little she’d told him or if maybe there was more.
As they rode, the four bikes ate up the distance and Hawkeye tried to focus on the road and his brothers around them.He needed to let go of his rage at what his little dove had told him.
Thirteen.She’d been raped at thirteen.Because in his mind, there was nothing else to call it.She hadn’t been old enough to consent, even if she’d been brainwashed or indoctrinated to think it was normal.Hell, he’d bet that her ‘husband’ and he used that term loosely, was at least twice her age, if not even older.
His hands clenched around the grips until they cramped.He had to force himself to relax, flexing each finger in turn, which helped but only so much.As he rode, he made a mental list of things he needed to ask her.
