Page 144 of All That Glitters

“What’s happening Midas? Why do you look like that?”

“I went to see your boss,” he admits, making me curse.

“You promised you wouldn’t. She hates MCs?—”

“I know, Legs. And I know why. She came on the scene around the time things started happening, and you got close enough that you moved in with her. Of course, I was going to check her out.”

“You might have just cost me my friend,” I snap, scrolling through my phone for her number but not finding her. I narrow my eyes at the man in front of me. “Did you remove her number from my phone?”

“I blocked it, and with good reason. Del isn’t your friend, Legs. She’s using you.”

“No, she’s not. She’s done everything for me and asked for nothing in return.”

“Perhaps not, but she will.”

“You don’t know her.”

“Actually, I do,” he says, making my mouth snap closed. “Her name is Delphi, and she’s Snake’s widow. And trust me, she has more reason to hate Raven Souls than most. I think she took you on to get close to us, so she can get her revenge. We took her old man from her. Now she’s trying to level the playing field.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Midas

The woundedlook on her face makes my gut churn. I want to rip Delphi’s head off for hurting her like this. For fuck sake, she’s been through enough.

She carefully crosses her arms over her chest and looks away, trying to hide her tears from me.

“I didn’t want to tell you yet. I wanted nothing to taint our first official date, but I couldn’t hide the truth from you either. Not when I promised to be honest with you.”

“I don’t understand, Midas. I know there’s more to it. There has to be because even knowing all this, I trust her. She had a million reasons and chances to hurt me, but she hasn’t.”

I don’t say anything, not having the same faith in the woman she does.

“She told me a little about her history without giving away names or places.” She reaches down and rubs her Ravens tattoo and swallows. “You guys hurt her. No, you guys broke her. And though I understand why you did what you did, I think you were wrong. I think she was as much a victim in all this as the rest of you were?—”

“I can’t, Legs. I’m not trying to be a dick here when I say this, but you weren’t there. What happened almost destroyed us all. She wasn’t there when it went down, but she was supposed to be. Seems pretty damn convenient if you ask me.”

“I’m not dismissing that. Not at all. And it doesn’t matter what I think because you get to feel what you feel, no judgement from me. I’m just asking you to twist the view you’re looking from. Before Snake turned on you all, did you ever have any doubt about him?”

I take a deep breath instead of snapping at her with a knee-jerk reaction. I think back to Snake, whom I once considered one of the brothers I was closest to, and shake my head.

“I’ve thought about it a million times. I can pinpoint a dozen red flags with the others, Bear especially. Even Pip, the prospect. But I never saw any warning signs with Snake. I’d have picked a dozen other brothers to turn on us before I’d ever consider him.”

She swallows and nods as if that’s what she expected me to say. “And how did he treat Del?”

“Like a goddess,” I answer without thought. “He worshipped the ground she walked on. That’s why what he did to Lil is?—”

I blow out a harsh breath. Even after all this time, the wound is still raw because we expect our enemies to attack us, but nobody is ready for a friend to betray them.

“I’m saying this as an outsider, detached from the situation,” she starts as I reach for her and tug her into my lap, needing her closer.

“If it wasn’t for Del, I’d think Snake would be a classic psychopath. It sounds like he could mimic people’s feelings and emotions and blend in seamlessly. I bet he made it so he never seemed like the most dangerous person in the room when he most likely always was. Maybe life was a game to him, and everyone was just pawns on a board he could move around and study. But Del was different. Something in her musthave tethered him. It wasn’t enough to change his psychopathy, obviously, but I bet she was the reason he didn’t fracture sooner. Part of me wonders if him taking Bear’s side in all this wasn’t a deliberate act, knowing the outcome.”

“You think he did this on purpose so we’d kill him?” I scoff.

She grips my jaw and forces me to stare into her eyes. “I didn’t know him. But what if he did it to set Del free? What if he knew he was slipping, and the one person he never wanted to hurt was suddenly in danger from him.”

I shake my head. “That’s not something we can prove. Not now. Besides, look at Hannibal. He’s a fucking psycho, but he’d never?—”