Rocky and Delilah

Chapter 13

Delilah

A few days after running into Cole at the coffee shop, there was another skinned animal left on my porch. This time, it was bigger.

I did not even want to imagine the poor fate of this innocent animal, and I held my chest as I walked closer. It was only then that I realized there was a picture stapled to it. A picture of me.

I grabbed the picture and flipped it over, but there was nothing on the back.

Ok, it's official. I'm freaked.

I quickly opened my door, instantly worried about Janet. If someone could hurt this poor animal on my porch, they could hurt Janet just as well, and from that, I'd never recover.

"Janet!" I shouted once I opened the door, quickly locking it behind me. I heard her nails clacking on the hardwood floors from her pin, and I took a deep breath in relief. I instantly pulled my phone out of my bag, and clicked on Rocky's contact. "Hi baby." I heard his deep voice murmur into the phone, and I smiled at his greeting for me, "Hi." I responded, "You're going to be upset."

"Lilah, I know you think it helps when you preface things with me, but it doesn't." He grouched, and I rolled my bottom lip into my mouth, "You're right, and I'm sorry. It's just, someone left another dead animal on my porch." I told him, "It was bigger this time. A dog, I think. And..." I trailed off, not wanting to say the words.

"And?" He asked.

"There was a picture of me, too. Walking out of class the other day." I admitted, looking down at the picture of me walking out of anatomy. I could hear his stress through the phone, and I instantly felt guilty.

"Fucking shit, Lilah." I could hear him say something to someone around him, but I wasn't sure what it was. "Stay right where you are, baby. I'm on my way." He told me, and I nodded even though he couldn't see me, "Okay."

It wasn't long after when Rocky's familiar car pulled into the drive way. There was a second car right behind him, and I stepped onto the porch. As soon as Rocky saw me, he pulled me into his chest. I motioned toward the animal a few feet away from us, "Creepy right?"

He barely looked at the thing, but motioned for the men who got out of the car behind him to grab the animal. They picked it up and placed it in their trunk, and I furrowed my brows, "Why do you not think this is as creepy as I do?" I asked, and then I remembered this probably wasn't the weirdest thing to ever happen to him.

I mean, he was a Don. He's dealt with some major shit, I'm sure. But that didn't help me feel much better. I kept staring at Rocky who wasn't making eye contact, until he ran his hand over his jaw, shocking me with his words.

Rocky

"You're going to have to come stay with me until we can get this under control." I told Lilah, who looked up at me with the most trusting eyes I've ever seen. She rolled her bottom lip in her mouth as if to contemplate what this all meant, "What if we just put up cameras? Or like an alarm system?" She asked, and I shook my head, "Cameras are a deterrent, but they don't help when someone is breaking in, or hiding their face. Alarms are fine, but if someone is confident enough to break in once, they can do it again. Alarm be damned."

An overwhelming wave of emotion crossed her face, and I instantly took her jaw into the palm of my hand. "Tell me what's wrong." I demanded, "And I'll fix it." I promised.

I could tell her mind was going a mile a minute as she bit her lip, "I don't want to inconvenience you."

I answered her immediately, pulling her lip out from between her teeth, "You won't."

"You say that now, but Janet has to come along too, and I know you guys have weird beef and I don't want to escalate that." Her pretty eyes filled with tears, and I pulled her closer toward me, "Delilah baby." I told her, "I know Janet will have to come as well. It's fine." I reassured her, but she still looked unsure. "That isn't the reason you're upset. What's wrong?" I asked again.

Lilah hesitated for a second, before taking a deep breath. "I know this sounds silly, but I figured the man I'd move out with would be my husband. This is just, I don't know, fast and I know I'm just emotional because of the poor animal, and I'm on my period right now and I figured I'd move out with the man I loved and I-"

I interrupted her words by saying the words I'd never once said before in my life. "I love you."

Lilah looked like her heart stopped working for a second, as she was seemingly was stunned into silence. Tears gathered in her eyes, "You do?" She questioned, "What? When? Why?" She asked her questions all at once, and I took a deep breath, "I've loved you since I met you, Delilah."

I could tell a million thoughts were in her head, but the only thing she said was, "Okay, Rocky. I trust you."

She lowered her eyes to the ground while nodding her head, seemingly taking all of this information in.

"I don't know what to tell my dad." She laughed more to herself, "And, we're going to have to move all of my stuff, which I have a lot of." She smiled at me.

"I have a big house," I reassured her. "And I'll tell your dad."

"Rocky?" She spoke softly this time, and I pulled her closer toward me. "Yeah?"

"Promise me it will all be okay?" She asked, and I frowned. "Everything will be fine, Lilah girl."

God how I wished I was right.

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