“I can do that.” Désirée nods, drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth.
“Good.” Moving to her, I lean in and kiss her, “I’m gonna take care of all this shit, and you will not have to worry about it.”
Désirée lip’s part, and she releases a ragged breath.
I know she’s scared. There’s no hiding it. Not from me.
All my frustration from earlier vanishes. Shit, it vanished when I walked into the house. Désirée’s been on yet another trip to hell. This time she’s left with a mark on her soul for killing a man. Doesn’t matter that man had it coming. You take a man’s life, it’s going to sear its way into you somehow.
Désirée and I make our way downstairs only to come to a stop just at the bottom of the stairs.
Staring at us is four sets of eyes. All four DeLancy brothers.
“Forget to call?” Félix asks, crossing his arms, brows furrowed.
I sigh, shake my head and urge Désirée toward the living room. She slowly does but not before looking at her brothers again without saying a word. I make my way toward them but keep going until I get to the trash can. Tapping the button at the bottom of the can, I lift the lid and toss the clothes.
Only when the bloody clothes are out of my hands, do I let out a breath and look to my boss/best friend and his brothers. “Didn’t forget to call. My focus was making sure my woman, your sister, was good after what the hell happened.”
“Let’s talk about what the fuck happened,” Rémy growls, grinding his teeth.
“You were supposed to meet us at the offices.” This comes from Tristan, who’s looking toward where his twin is sitting by the bunny hutch. Désirée’s got the door open and her hand inside touching one of the damn things.
She loves those rabbits, and I’m happy to have given them to her. Désirée deserves the best of everything.
Reaching up, I rub a hand over my face before planting both hands on my hips. “Notification on my phone went off while I was driving. Pulled up the cams saw she was here. Saw who was with her,” I mutter, nodding toward Gaylord’s dead body. “All thoughts left my mind but getting here. When I did, I walked into Désirée holding a gun toward me, hands shaking, face not hiding the fear consuming her.”
“Shit,” Félix snarls, uncrossing his arms, to run a hand through his hair and plant the other on his hip. “She killed him?”
“Yeah, and she’s scared someone will come here to arrest her,” I inform him.
“That isnotgoingtohappen,” he declares, narrowing his eyes.
“Told her that.” I intend to make sure no one ever finds his body. “She knows I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
“Right, we need to get this taken care of,” Nicholas speaks up, rounding me into the kitchen. “Need to get the shit for this.”
“Mind handling it, so I can take Désirée somewhere else for the night?” I don’t want her to have to be here any longer than she needs to. Not with Gaylord’s body on the floor staining the tile.
“We got it,” Félix mutters. “Not the first time we’ve all gotten our hands bloody, won’t be the last. You get Désirée out of here and let us take care of it. I’ll call Léon, have him get the clean-up crew in here. Make it look like nothing ever happened.”
“Thanks, boss,” I say, looking from him to Désirée, who’s now standing, closing the hutch.
Désirée makes her way toward us and moves into my embrace, curling into me. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. Not tonight. Not ever. I don’t want to be afraid.”
Fuck me.
“Then we’ll stay,mon trésor, but stay either upstairs or in the living room. I don’t want you seeing this shit,” I state, giving her what she wants.
“Thank you, Malcolm,” she whispers and looks to her brothers. “I’m a DeLancy as well, and I’m done with this mess. I’m tired of being scared.”
Pride fills my chest at her words. With all the pain and hurt Désirée’s been through, she shows me once again why I love her. She doesn’t deny who she is and comes out strong on the other side. And I intend to be on that side with her keeping her strong.