Rocky and Delilah

Chapter 1

Delilah

I honestly didn't want to go to the gala with Mathew. But with just my luck, my brainless cousin's date bailed at the last minute, and my father took it upon himself to offer up my presence for the night.

At first, I flat out refused to attend. Then in turn, my father threatened to stop paying my tuition, and I knew I had no other option. I mean, I was lucky enough to attend college in the first place, I wasn't eager to push the envelope further.

And I knew why it was such a big deal to my father that I went tonight. For the last several months, he'd been urging me to get out more. Well, more specifically, urging me to think about marriage. Even though I was only twenty, that was the expectation for most women in the families.

First, you land yourself a man. Second, you become his wife. Then third, my personal least favorite, you birth his little spawn. And sure, having children was a dream of mine. I just didn't want to raise them with a strange man with whom I have no connection with. I wanted to love my husband, and wanted him to love me in return.

So while not only was I humiliated at the fact that I was attending a private event with my own cousin, I also knew very little about the whole family thing, and the people who ran it. I mean I knew the basics, I wasn't an idiot. I knew they dealt with drugs and other illegal stuff. But it's how my father and his family before him made a living. Besides, I was not going to concern myself over stuff that didn't involve me.

So here I was, standing in the massive ballroom with my cousin who was ignoring me like the plague. I hadn't been planning to invade his personal space all night, but my dad instructed me not to leave Mathew's side. He knew how the men in the families were. But more importantly, he warned me to stay away from the Don.

I didn't really know a whole lot about the Don. I mean, I knew he took over like, six or seven years ago, but I'd never actually seen him before. Over the years I'd heard some rumors that he was a ruthless man who didn't speak much. I also heard he didn't like to be touched, no matter the circumstance. Then I'd heard some real crazy stuff, like that he shot and killed one of his employees because he got annoyed when they got the hiccups.

But those were just rumors. I didn't even know the man's name. I mean, most people didn't know it, we weren't allowed to address him by it, so I guess it didn't matter what it was anyways, but my point still stood.

But none of that mattered. I wasn't going near the guy, and I wasn't leaving Mathew's side.

...

I had left Mathew's side.

It wasn't my fault. He kept wandering off with his work friends, leaving me behind to stand awkwardly. And then to make matters worse, people would come up and try to talk to me. I was as polite as I could be, but I was still a little unsocialized.

Then when I made a move to grab a glass of punch, I turned back around and Mathew was gone. I sat around at the table for a few minutes, waiting for him to notice I was missing, all while drinking two other glasses of juice. But unfortunately in that time alone, a few older men had approached me.

Some of them had asked me about my status with Mathew, others wanted to know my name, a few even built up the courage to ask me to dance. I tried to be nice to everyone, but still declined all advances. I didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea.

The one and only person I wasn't completely repulsed by, was a big man who I could feel staring at me from across the room. He was very tall, and more bulky than anyone I'd ever seen before. His arms and legs were straining against the fabric of his clothes, and his shoulders were very broad, like he could fit me on just one of his massive shoulders. He had a very profound frown, but he didn't look sad or anything like that, just irritated, almost like he was on edge.