They lived their lives free.
They were also big eaters.
The platters of food and bowls of rice were nearly decimated before Hooker turned his eyes to his daughter and stated, “Right. Good beer, great food, excellent company. Hate to do it, but”—his gaze shifted to Abel—“we gotta get down to business.”
Everyone came alert, including Hooker’s boys, all their attention shifting to Abel.
But it was Delilah who spoke and Abel was surprised at how honestly she did it. She didn’t hold back, even when she spoke of being attacked, and this was surprising because her father and all his men became visibly restless as she described the incident.
She also told them about Abel being the one she was searching for, including the unknown-to-him-at-that-point knowledge that she’d somehow felt his presence in Serpentine Bay the moment he’d moved there, this being why she came there on her vacation.
Abel liked this, but he was mildly pissed she hadn’t shared it. After she said it, he knew it was what was on her mind the day before, when she learned he’d moved there and when, but she hadn’t let him in on that.
Then again, he hadn’t given her much opportunity. He’d been avoiding her and then he’d been fucking her.
So he settled in to simply liking it and listened to her explain about when Abel was attacked and his brothers’ participation.
She was thorough yet succinct.
Except for the fact that she didn’t share he was a werewolf vampire and their attackers were also supernatural.
He was not surprised that not only did her father and his boys take all she said in stride, including the lethal way Abel and his brothers dealt with it, he also wasn’t surprised that natural camaraderie turned respectful to him, Xun, Wei, and Chen when they heard it. This meant they would have dealt with it the same way.
Finally, she stopped talking.
He didn’t know if she intended to get into the supernatural shit. All he knew was that was hers to share when and if she was ready and he’d move with her flow.
When she quit speaking, Hooker looked to Abel and asked, “You got a clue?”
“Nope,” he replied.
“Hate to ask this, son, but the question’s gotta be asked, seein’ as you got no problem takin’ care of business in a way that makes you a bona fide outlaw. So, is any of your other business leakin’ to my little girl, puttin’ her in danger?”
“My family’s business is a Chinese restaurant,” Abel replied, and for the first time, he saw Hooker’s mouth tighten with irritation, likely because he thought Abel was lying to him. However, Abel wasn’t done. “Our other business we don’t do messy,” he continued. “We do favors, but we do not get involved. So the answer is no. We do what we do and we do it in a way where Jian-Li, her restaurant, and our lives are clean.”
He knew what he said surprised Delilah and it occurred to him that even if a fuckload of shit had gone down since they met, they had not shared hardly anything.
But his answer made the tightness leave Hooker’s mouth and he nodded.
“Though, I’ll point out, they came after Delilah before I’d laid eyes on her. So no one could know who she was to me,” Abel finished.
“This is a worry,” Hooker muttered.
“We’re connected, Abel and I, Daddy, in a way that’s really awesome, but it’s also not exactly…” Delilah paused. “Normal.”
“I get that, precious girl. Spent a lifetime worried you wouldn’t fill that pit in your belly, so I’m glad you finally got what you need. But you both bein’ targeted the way you have and when is makin’ me all kinds of uneasy,” Hooker replied.
“There’s something we haven’t shared,” Delilah said softly, her hand moving out and curling around Abel’s thigh.
Here we go, he thought.
His eyes pinned to Hooker, he moved his body closer to Delilah, draping an arm on the back of her chair, and he felt his family tense in preparation.
“What?” Hooker asked.
“Well, like I said, like you get, Abel and I are connected. While I was yearning for him my whole life, he was doing the same for me,” Delilah stated. “And as I mentioned, it’s not exactly normal. But what I’ve found out is that it’s actually, um…” Another pause. “Supernatural.”
Hooker shocked the shit out of Abel when he returned easily, “I could get that too, Lilah.”
“Well, the way it’s supernatural is that the, um…people who attacked me were vampires and werewolves,” she announced.
Abel and his family tensed further, and Jabber muttered, “What the fuck?”
Hooker just blinked.
Then he asked, “Uh…what?”
Delilah’s fingers curled tighter into the muscles of his thigh when she leaned forward and gave it to them.
“And Abel is a werewolf vampire.”
Hooker leaned back, the room going wired, his eyes slicing to Abel and narrowing.
His tone was a threat when he asked, “You playin’ mind games with my little girl?”
In response, Abel bared his teeth and extended his fangs.
The second he did, Snake and Jabber shot back in their chairs and up to their feet, both men yanking the knives from the sheathes on their belts. Moose scraped his chair back and leaned forward like he was preparing to launch himself across the table. Wei, Chen, and Xun also gained their feet and positioned behind Abel and Delilah.
Abel didn’t move, but Delilah tightened her hold on his thigh.
“Jesus, shit,” Hooker murmured, staring at Abel’s fangs.