Page 151 of All That Glitters

“You already have a diner in Raven’s Nest.”

“So open something else. A bakery, or a coffee shop, whatever you want. You could also sell it, add it to whatever you get back on the insurance from the other place, and buy somewhere bigger. This way, you have options.”

“Does Hazel—I mean Legs—know about this?”

“No, but it’s the right thing to do. I’m keeping the shop open until the end of next week. If you want more time to figure shit out, I can extend that for another couple of weeks until you’re ready. You just gotta let me know.”

“Why are you doing this? I get you think you owe it to me for what happened to my diner, but throw that away, and you stillhate me. You all do. I cannot see Blade being okay with any of this.”

“Blade’s not the president anymore. Havoc is, and he doesn’t have the same prejudice the rest of us do. Havoc was pissed at me and Kruger, but not you. We don’t go after people without proof. But we had one club girl run off the road and another in hospital with organ failure after being poisoned, and all I could think about was it being Legs. I freaked out, and I was wrong.”

She glances around as if looking for a camera. “I don’t know what to think here, Midas.…thank you for this, but it doesn’t really change anything.”

“I know. For what it’s worth, though, Delphi, I’m sorry.”

I turn to leave, pausing on the step. “She loves you. Thinks of you as a sister and aunt to the baby. Please don’t be one more thing I ruin for her.”

I walk away, knowing she needs time and space. There is no quick fix for any of this, and as Legs said, she might just as likely leave us all in her dust and disappear.

I open the truck door and climb in.

“How was she?”

“Tired. Sad, nervous. Nothing like the Delphi I remember.”

He runs his hand through his hair as I pull away from the curb and head back.

“How did we get everything so wrong, Midas?”

“I don’t know. A lot was going on, and we dropped the ball. I don’t think any of us would have even noticed all these years later if Legs hadn’t said something.”

“She won’t talk to me at all.”

“You were her friend, closer to her than most, and turning your back on her hurt more than the rest. It’s going to take time, Kruger.”

He grunts but doesn’t say anything else.

“Wanna come help me build furniture?”

He looks over at me and nods. “She still doesn’t know?”

“What? That I bought us a house, and I’m moving us in? No. But we need more space with the baby coming, and that street can get noisy at night with the bar on the corner. I don’t think she’ll mind.”

“She seems happier and more settled. I know she misses Delphi, but there’s a closeness between you two that was missing before.”

“I know. I feel it, too. It’s more than I could have hoped for. That makes me sound like an idiot, I know.”

“No, I get it,” he replies before he turns away. I flip on the radio and give him space with his thoughts until we pull up. We grab our cuts from the back seat and slip them on before heading inside.

He whistles as he takes in the place. “Nice. I think she’ll love it here.”

“I fucking hope so, man. I can’t lose her. Not now.”

He slaps me on the back before walking into the large kitchen. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You just have to love her every day. You’re not going to lose her.”

I follow after him as he keeps walking.

“What do you need help with?”