After dinner, Delilah, Dean and I laughed and talked about our childhood. Around 8:30 p.m. Delilah decided to call it a night. She looked tired, more so than usual. She told me she had gotten medication at the pharmacy and it had helped her. Now, Dean and I sat alone on the sofa as a basketball game played in the background on the television.
“Hey, now that Delilah is gone, I hoped we’d be able to talk,” he said.
“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”
“I just want to thank you for fake marrying Delilah and paying off the debt. I know things would’ve been a lot different if you hadn’t been in the picture.”
I inhaled deeply. “You’re welcome, but to me, this is no longer a fake marriage. Our agreement was to stay married for a while and then we’d get a divorce amicably. But I can’t see myself living without Delilah. I don’t want a divorce. I plan on staying married to your sister.”
Dean’s laugh was humorless. “You want to stay married to Delilah so she can cook, clean for you and maybe give you a few kids while you go out there and have fun? I know you Seb, you’ve never been a one-woman type of man. Hell, you’ll have as many women as you can in your bed all at once. Once this Hawthorne thing is over, divorce my sister so she can find a man who actually loves her.”
“Dean, even before Delilah and I reconnected, I hadn’t been with a woman in over a year. It sort of gets old picking up random women who are only interested in sleeping with you because of the name attached to your body. With Delilah, things are different.”
Disbelief lingered in Dean’s eyes. “How so?”
“She calls me out on my bullshit, even after everything she’s been through she’s still selfless and loyal, she’s hardworking, her event planning skills are out of this world. And she’s …”
Dean interrupted me, “Seb, wait. Do you love Delilah?”
“Yes.”
Dean was quiet. “Does she know that you love her?”
“No.”
“Why the fuck not?” He furrowed his eyebrows.
I sighed heavily. “Because I’m not sure if she feels the same.”
“Do you guys sleep together?”
I rolled my eyes. “Dean, you and I both know that because someone sleeps with you doesn't mean they love you.”
“You’ve got a point there, but I’ve seen how she looks at you. Like you’re a tall glass of lemonade on a hot ass day,” he smiled.
“The passion is there, but I don’t know…” My voice trailed off not knowing what else to say.
“I know what your problem is.”
“What?”
“You’re part of the Quantum playboy six. There’s not a woman you can’t get. All you guys have to do is walk into a room and the women are drawn to you. Why the fuck don’t you think I don’t bring my girlfriends around you anymore? At some point they ask for a threesome and I get excited until they mention your name.”
I laughed.
“But, to make my point. You’re afraid Delilah would reject you. I never thought I’d see the day that Sebastien Quantum was afraid to tell a girl how he felt about her. And not any girl, his wife!” Dean laughed.
I had to agree with Dean; I was scared.
“I guess you are right. Delilah is amazing and if she says she wants a divorce after we put Hawthorne away, she’ll be my first real heartbreak.”
“Wait, I thought Jenna Cummings was your first heartbreak?”
I grinned. “Nope, because her friend, Tina, came up with a solution at the back of her father’s truck, real quick.”
Dean laughed, then turned serious, “But, Seb, I know my sister. She loves you if she didn’t, you would’ve known. Delilah may try to build walls around her emotions but once she likes you those walls come tumbling down. And I’m sure you’ve seen them.”
I had, but I still wasn’t sure if telling Delilah that I loved her was a good plan.
“Look, if you’re worried about it, I can talk to her for you.”
I shook my head. “I’ll figure it out. But on another note, now that you’re out of rehab, what’s next for you?”
“I’ll find a nine to five job. I’ve tried being my own businessman, and it failed. So for now until I’m really sure about what I want to do in the future I’ll just send out a few resumes and hope for the best.”
“I can help you with that. Send me your CV.”
But Dean shook his head. “This is my redemption stage. I have to make things up to Delilah. I want her to be proud of me.”
“And you think she isn’t? She’s damn proud of you! Not many people in your position would’ve immediately gone to rehab and stuck it out. And I’m proud of you, too.”
“Thanks, it means a lot.”
“But, if you need any help with anything, let me know.”
“Actually, I do. I’ll need a place to stay until…” His voice trailed off and he looked at me uncertainty in his eyes.
“Done,” I cut Dean off. “I have enough room, and you can stay as long as you want.”
“Thanks.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. I walked to open it. It was my brothers.
“Why are you guys here? Is something wrong?”
“Everything is great, but Obsidian and Hawthorne are about to get fucked without the lube.” Axel grinned.
“That was a picture I didn’t need to be formed in my mind," Nate said as he walked past Axel and into the living room.
Leo chuckled. “How’s Delilah? Did she hit you when you told her everything? There’s a fresh bruise on your cheek.”
I swatted Leonardo’s hand away from my cheek.
“Nope, it wasn’t Delilah, that was courtesy the asshole waiting in the living room. And as for how she’s doing, she’s a lot better.”
I closed the door and we walked to the living room.
“Dean!”
My brothers greeted him heartily.
“It’s nice seeing you, man. When did you get out?”
“I got out this morning,” Dean said as the guys found places to sit. “And when I went on social media and saw Delilah was married to this player and the videos, I was pissed. As soon as Sebastien came through the front door, I sucker punched him.”
“Seb, you’re getting old, bro. You should’ve seen that one coming,” Axel chuckled, and I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
“Okay guys, what’s the plan,” I asked, looking around.
“We’ve got a few, and if they pan out, we never have to worry about those assholes again,” Dominic said.
“First,” Vincent said, “Dominic and Victor are going to talk to the…” Vincent cleared his throat. “The leaders of the organization, see if we can convince them that Hawthorne and Obsidian are rouge players and they’ll cause more harm than good. We want them to get kicked out.”
Nate continued, “And if they are kicked out, they wouldn’t be able to hide. We’ll be able to get them arrested and jailed for life.”
“I’d like to come and talk to the leaders of the organization and let them know how everything played out on my end,” Dean said.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Dominic said.
Leonardo added, “I’ll take up that case personally.”
“What’s the other part of the plan?” I asked.
“Someone’s going to have to talk to Hawthorne, to get him to spill the beans on exactly what he and Obsidian did to Dean, Delilah and Eso,” Dominic said.
“I’ll do it.” Everyone’s head turned to see Delilah walking down the stairs.
I jumped up to meet her by the stairs. “I don’t want you around Hawthorne.”
Delilah ignored me. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey,” they said in unison.
The muscles in my jaw tightened. “Delilah, I’m serious, I think it’s a bad idea. Maybe I can go in.”
“So that you and Hawthorne can kill each other? I’m not ready to be a widow yet.” She looked at Dominic. “What would I have to do, and would you guys be there to protect me if anything goes down?”
Dominic looked at me. I was grateful that he looked at me to seek my approval. I gave him a nod.
“We’ll need you to get Hawthorne to admit to having used you and Dean. We’ll also need the name of the hotel he has the other girls in. We also need him to drop Obsidian’s name and his part of the plan and how they worked together. Anything else is just icing on the cake.”
“And what about Dean, would he get into trouble for smuggling, selling and using drugs?” Delilah asked looking at her brother.
“If it does come down to that, we’ll get a plea bargain, and I’ll push for no jail time.”
“But if—”
Dean stood up and walked over to Delilah. “Delilah, we have a chance to get rid of these men. I don’t want them coming after you. We have a chance to make them go away, for good. I did what I thought was best at the moment. It was a mistake, but if I have to do jail time to rectify it, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Delilah sniffled and Dean wiped the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“Delilah, please, don’t cry. You have to let me do this, okay?”
She nodded, and he continued, “No matter what?”
“No matter what.”
“Good. Let’s get to planning,” Dean asserted.