“Your ass in these jeans is a thing of beauty,” he murmurs in my ear as Theo jumps out.
“You trying to distract me?”
“Depends. Is it working?”
I grin. “Maybe a little.”
“Good.” He kisses me before pulling back and looking at Theo. “You ready for this? They’re good guys, but they can be rowdy assholes.”
“I can handle it.” He looks at me, and I know he’s thinking if I can handle it, so can he.
I link my arm through his as Kruger takes my free hand and leads us out of the warehouse up to the saloon. I can hear the music and feel my pulse quicken. I picture the frantic state I wasin the last time, and the reception I was met with. I trust Kruger when he says he’ll get me out of here if I need him to, but I’d be lying if I said my anxiety wasn’t through the roof right now.
“You’ve got this, Delphi,” Theo tells me.
“I’m supposed to be the one supporting you.”
“You are. The fact you’re here when you’d rather be anywhere else only proves how much you care.”
I lean my head on his shoulder as Kruger pulls the door open. We walk into the busy room, and I immediately feel eyes coming our way. The noise dies down almost immediately until only the music is playing. I fight the urge to squirm. I straighten my spine, pull my shoulders back, and search the crowd of familiar faces until I see the one I’m looking for.
Lola is sitting on one of the sofas with a teenage girl beside her. Hannibal is standing just off to the side, talking to someone else, but his eyes keep drifting back to Lola. She feels the change in the room and looks over. Her eyes land on mine. I smile and let go of Kruger’s hand so I can give her a small wave.
She gets to her feet. She says something to the girl beside her, who gets up too, and heads our way.
“Delphi. It’s so good to see you.” She steps forward as I let go of Theo’s arm and wraps her arms around me. I hug her back and feel myself relax a little.
“You freaked out to be here as much as me?” she murmurs into my hair.
I huff out a laugh. “There’s a good chance I’ll throw up before the night is over.”
“Aim for Havoc. He deserves it.”
“I heard that,” the man himself says as he walks over with Neveah under his arm.
Lola winks at me. “Us black sheep gotta stick together.”
I grin, feeling more stable now. I look at the girl next to her and feel my mouth open in surprise. “Wow, you are seriously gorgeous.”
The girl flushes, ducking her head.
“Delphi, meet Millie, our daughter. Millie, this is Delphi and Kruger. I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are,” she says, looking at Theo, who is staring at Millie like he’s seeing a real-life angel. Oh boy. Millie waves at me before her expression moves to Theo.
“This is Theo. He’s…” I glance at Theo, who must sense my eyes on him because he looks up. “He’s mine.”
I hear murmurs of surprise around the room but ignore them. I lean down so I can whisper in Theo’s ear. “She’s stunning, but you see that guy over there?” I point out Hannibal, who has his eyes focused on Theo. “That’s Millie’s father. If you touch her, he’ll rip out your liver and feed it to Kruger while making you watch.”
“Got it,” he mumbles back.
“Nice to meet you, Theo,” Millie says with stars in her eyes.
Theo looks from me to Hannibal, then to Millie, before I see him chuckle and hold out his hand for her. “Fuck it. Go big or go home, right? That’s what you said.” He looks at me quickly with a cheeky grin as I groan. Millie puts her hand in his, and we all watch as he lifts it and kisses the back of it.
I swear to god, Millie swoons. Honestly, I think Lola and I do a little too. I wince when I see Hannibal barreling down on us and move to take a protective stance in front of Theo.
Lola is already deflecting his attention. “Shit, shit, shit,” she curses, covering her chest.
He whips around and grabs hold of her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
