Thank you for celticturtle for editing my story for me! Sorry it took me awhile to post this chapter. I had to switch editors and I was busy with the holidays that were near. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I will probably make this a 8-10 part series.
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After Luke agreed to her condition, he showed her around the building. She was surprised by the spaciousness of the building. There was a huge open space with rooms along the outside edges. There were rooms for many different types of activities. There was a room for his men to train using firearms and targeting sheets. There was a sparing room used for close combat training. Another room was a relaxing type of room where they can unwind after a long workday. He escorted her to an elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. He explained that the second floor was filled with bedrooms for his men.
As they stepped off the elevator on the third floor, he led her to the last room which was his room. They walked in and she looked around. She saw that there was a huge bed on one side of the room with a couch on the opposite end. She walked around and saw a French door leading to a balcony.
She walked out to look at the view. As she looked out, she held onto the balcony railing. She noticed that there was a three-story drop. She became uneasy about the height and backed her way into his room.
Luke was sitting on his bed watching her. He admired how she looked when she explored his room. He found it attractive and somewhat charming. He noticed himself smiling and immediately stopped himself. He softly cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked over at him and raised her eyebrows.
"Yes?" She asked.
"You'll be staying in this room." He said while motioning to the bed.
"I get this whole room to myself?" She said unable to believe her luck.
"No, you'll be sharing the room with me," He sneered. "Like I said you'll be by my side at all times until I know that I can trust you."
"I don't want to stay with you. I told you about my condition and you've agreed. Why do I have to stay in the same room as you? Are you a pervert?" She covered herself with her arms.
"I have a limited number of rooms. Your choices are either to stay with me in here or to stay with one of my men, who may or may not agree to your condition of no sex."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine, but we're not sharing the same bed."
"I wasn't going to force you to share a bed with me. You can sleep in the bed, I'll take the couch for now"
"Oh...okay..." She said hesitantly.
She nodded as he rose from his bed to move towards her. He put his hand on her head, impulsively rubbing her hair. He would never do this to anyone else, so why was he so compelled to do this to her. He didn't understand why or why he even wanted to stay by his side. All he knew was that he needed her by his side for as long as he could convince her to stay.
She looked at him wondering why he petted her head. She softly touched his hand and gently moved it away.
He looked into her blue-green orbs longingly.
He broke the silence, "You have beautiful eyes. You know that?"
"No, I don't..." She quickly looked down avoiding eye contact.
He lifted her chin back up forcing her to look at him. She watched as his facial expression softened. She wondered if it was because she helped him relax or calm him. Is that why he wanted her to stay by his side? He noticed the curiosity in her eyes and moved his hand away stepping back from her.
"Stay here. I need to get back to work, but if you need anything or want something..." He turns and points to the walkie-talkie on the side table beside the bed. "Contact me by using that." He looked back at her.
"Okay. I'll only use it if it's an emergency. I don't want to bother you while you're working."
He nodded and took his leave. After he closed the door, she looked around the room more closely. She opened the huge walk-in closet jam-packed with mainly black clothing and different types of shoes that filled the rack below. She looked around the closet and found a dresser with a gun on top.
She let her curiosity get the best of her and opened the dresser. She found lots of different weapons in the dresser including 8 daggers, 5 guns, and a wide variety of protective gear. She nervously closed the dresser and walked out of the closet.
She left the room with the intent of exploring the building on her own. She took the stairs down to the first floor. She walked through the wide, empty space filled most of the first floor to take a closer look inside the different rooms. She peered through the window of the sparring room to find men teaching the boys that were in the room with her when she first arrived with Luke. After watching for a few seconds, she walked to the next room. She looked in to discover a firing range. Most of hitting the paper target cutouts in the head and the center of the chest. She became anxious and decided that it was best if she moved along.
She finally reached the last room that was visible to her. She entered the room to get back look inside. She noticed a few men relaxing, playing games, and having conversations with each other.
One of the men noticed her. His stare made her feel very out of place, so she began to walk out of the room. Before she was able to leave, he caught her and tugged her towards him.
She gasped loudly and looked at him. He was ruggedly handsome but nowhere close to the good looks of Luke.
"Can I help you, sir?" she tried to pull her arm free.
"I'm just curious as to why there is a beautiful lady wondering around here." He smirked and lust filled his eyes as they wandered over her body.
"I'm wondering the same thing. Can you please let go of my arm? You're hurting me."
"Why would I do that when you're just going to run from me? Plus, maybe I could have some fun with you."
Flashbacks of her abusing father filled her mind. Her breath started to quicken as she remembered the horrible things her father had done to her throughout her life. She tried to pull free from his grip while also trying to avoid the panic attack that was quickly rising inside of her.
The man noticed her quickened breath and the panic that filled her eyes. He released her arm and rejoined the others in the room. She rushed from the room as soon as he released her, falling to the ground just outside the door. She could feel the panic attack building up, trying to make its way free. She gripped her shirt above her heart, and she tried to steady her breathing. Her mind was running a million miles per hour as she tried to focus on something happy to prevent the inevitable panic attack.
Luke came out of his office and found it odd that someone was sitting in the middle of the floor. He approached the person only to realize that it was Delilah. Initially he felt sad to find her like this, but that quickly changed to anger as he grasped that one of his men must have upset her.
He knelt down beside her and pulled her close to his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair with one hand while tenderly rubbing her back with the other hand. She wrestled to free herself, startled that someone was holding her.
Luke held her in a firm embrace, softly whispering, "Shh, it's me, Delilah. I'm not going to hurt you."
"L...Luke...?" She stuttered looking up to meet his striking blue eyes.
"Yes, it's me. Let me take you back to our room. I apologize for whoever made you feel like this. I promise you that he will be dealt with and this will not happen again." He wrapped his arm beneath her legs and carried her bridal style to the elevator. She held onto his shoulders and nuzzled close to his chest as he carried her back to his room.
Gently, he sat her on the bed. He tried to let go but she held him tightly. He was eager to return to his men to find out the cause of her distress. It had taken a great amount of effort to not immediately tear into the rec room and start banging heads together when he found her in tears. The only thing that stopped him was the fear of terrifying her even more. He let her cry as he rubbed her back softly. After a few minutes of silently holding each other, her breathing steadied and she stopped crying. Slowly, she pulled back to look at him. He was relieved to see that the panic was gone from her eyes.
"I'm sorry you have to deal with me." She softly sighed as her gaze fell to her lap.
"You don't have to be sorry. It's okay to not be okay. I can tell you've been through a lot, so it's understandable." He reassured her.
"Are you sure you want to keep you company? There's probably going to be a lot more moments like this."
"I'm very sure. There's something about you that makes me want to take care of you. I don't know exactly why, but I'll try my best to take care of you and keep you safe."
"You want to take care of me? Why?"
"I'm not sure really. I just have this feeling that I want and need to take care of you. I can't really explain it."
"If you want to then I guess it's okay. As long as you don't hurt me."
"I want to take care of you, hurting you would be counterproductive."
"You're the boss around here aren't you supposed to be ruthless, rude, and uncaring."
Chuckling, he said, "I might be those things, but I would never hurt a woman. Especially you."
She was surprised by his words. She thought he wouldn't care about the gender of someone. She simply thought if a person crossed him then he would get his revenge on them. She looked at him and tried to read his eyes, but she didn't see anything that would explain is duplicity.
After a few seconds, he broke the silence. "You should probably get some rest. This hs been a lot for you to take in." He softly rubbed her head.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Are you going back to your office? Or are you going to get some rest as well?"
"I'll stay here for a little while. I was finished when I saw you out in the hallway. Don't worry, I'll take the couch. The bed is yours."
"Are you sure? I don't mind sleeping on the couch." She didn't know how to feel about someone caring enough for her to make even a small sacrifice. For a powerful man to give up his bed, she just didn't know how to process that.
"No, you stay on the bed. I wouldn't want it any other way." He nodded trying to reassure her.
She nodded as she moved to lay down. After she laid down, he gently put a blanket over her. She smiled softly at him as he walked over to the couch. He stretched himself out on the couch, he sighed softly trying to relax. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep to the silence in the room.
He laid there not sleeping. He tried to relax. He had a long difficult day. As usual, paperwork along with dealing with idiots who messed up simple tasks he asked of them left him frustrated and empty.
