Delaney straightened, letting go of the table as she paced the narrow kitchen, the phone pressed tight against her ear. “I’m done running. I know that much.”
“Laney—”
“No,” she said, and there was more steel in her voice than she expected. “I am done. Matteo Serrano wants to use me to earn brownie points with his father. He wants to find me in the hopes he can get to you, make an example for his old man before Alberto walks free. Well, I intend to use that to put an end to him.”
As she said it, she stared at Elvis, who simply stood there, studying her, his face unreadable.
“Laney, that is not how this works,” her mother said.
“Well, it is now.”
Her mother protested, but Delaney kept walking, each step carving certainty into her bones. She ignored the marshal’s looks as she passed him, knowing he would fight her on this as well.
“If I can get him,” she said, “ if I can put Matteo behind bars, then this ends. Not just for me, but for you and Papa too. For Anna.”
“You think he will walk into a trap?”
She stopped walking when she stood in front of Bobby, staring at him. “I think I know men who know how to handle situations like this. Matteo doesn’t want money; he wants control. He believes he’s finishing something his father started, and that will earn him something in his father’s eyes, which, by my guess, means he’s done something he doesn’t want his father to know about when he gets out.”
Bobby cocked a brow at that last statement, pressing his lips into a thin line as he nodded.
The line went quiet for a moment, and then she heard her mother say, “You’re your father’s daughter, God help us.”
Delaney felt the tears before they blurred her vision.
“I’m tired of hiding, Mama. Tired of losing what’s dear to me.”
“I know, sweetie. And I’m proud of you. So very proud.”
The words landed in her chest with weight and warmth.
“Be careful,” her mother said. “And whatever you choose, just don’t lose yourself.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “To be honest, after all these years, I think I just found myself again.”
They ended the call with more quiet banter, nothing rushed or final as they caught up on what had happened in each other’s lives since they last talked.
When Delaney finally lowered the phone, handing it back to Donovan, her hands shook.
Bobby crossed the room in two strides, catching her before she realized she was swaying. He wrapped his arms around her waist, steady and warm.
“You all right?” he asked with a whisper.
She nodded, though tears slipped freely and tracked down her cheeks. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. “I’m done hiding, like I told her. I want to end this and get my life back.”
He looked at her like he had just seen something shift inside of her and simply nodded. “Then we figure it out. I’ll call Blaze and get him out here. He’ll know the best way to make this happen.”
She nodded as she leaned into him, pressing her forehead to his chest. A part of her wondered if this was the right move, but then she realized if she wanted Bobby back in her life, it was the only move she had.
Outside the kitchen window, the trees stood quiet and watchful, their branches lifting and lowering in the wind like slow applause. Bobby kissed the top of her head and then stepped outside, already pulling his phone from his pocket.
She didn’t need to hear the call to know he had it all under control. He always did.
As she glanced up, she noticed Deke watching Bobby slip out the door before he shifted his attention to her. He folded his arms, his jaw set and posture rigid in that way men adopted when they were trying to contain too many outcomes at once. By the look on his face, she could already tell there was a lecture coming.
“What you’re thinking about doing is reckless,” he told her.
She gave a slow bob of her head, moving back over to the fire. “What I’m thinking about doing is ending this.”
