My Run Away Ch 03

Thank you to celticturtle for editing my story for me! I'm glad to see that people are interested in my story. Thank you to everyone who likes and comments. It means a lot to me. Chapter 4 is going to be in the writing process soon! I will keep you guys updated in my bio so be sure to check there!

***

Delilah and Luke fell asleep cuddled up together. Nightmares woke Delilah a couple of times, but Luke was there to comfort her. She didn't mind sharing the bed with him because it was a relief having someone there to protect her. After the second nightmare, she slept soundly in Luke's arms.

Morning came and Delilah's head was laying on his chest while his arm was securely wrapped around her waist. He usually didn't sleep well, since most nights work related issues caused one of his men to seek him out. She woke up before him and tilted her head to glance over at the clock on the nightstand. The clock read 9:00 am, so she put her head back on Luke's chest and quickly fell back to sleep. Luke was usually up by 6:00 am, so he could get started on the tasks at hand for the day. Since he had Delilah's warm body snuggled up to him, he slept in. It was unusual for him to forget about shipment day, but he forgot about this one. There was an abrupt knock on the door. Luke flinched awake when he heard the noise. He tensed up wondering where the noise came from. Hearing the knock again, he relaxed as he came to the realization that someone was at the door. He got up slowly not wanting to wake Delilah, but she woke as soon as his body was away from hers. He walked over to the door and opened it.

Michael was at the door. "Sir, the shipment came in—"

Cutting him off immediately, "Shit! I overslept. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Michael nodded and left to return to the shipment. Luke shut the door and swiftly made his way to his closet. He changed out of his old clothes and put on tight black jeans with a stripped black and red button-up shirt leaving the top three holes unbuttoned.

As he finished getting ready, Delilah walked over and leaned against the closet door frame. She watched him fix his sleeves. He turned to leave but stopped when he saw her. He approached her slowly.

"How did you sleep?" He asked as he moved her hair out of her face.

"I slept okay. What about you?" She gave him a tired smile.

"Surprisingly good, for once."

"That's good. I'm glad." She wondered if she was holding him from his duty.

"Am I keeping you from going somewhere?"

"No, I just have to check a shipment that came in. I woke up late but everything's fine."

She softly nodded. She couldn't help but think it was her fault that he was late. He saw the guilt in her eyes and softly rubbed her cheek.

"Don't worry. I promise it's fine." He smiled trying to soothe her guilt. "I do have to go now, but I'll be back to check in on you. If you leave the room, be careful and try to avoid contact with anyone."

"You don't have to check in on me. I promise I'll be careful. Don't worry. Now go do your job, busy man." She softly giggled.

He smiled and they walked out of the closet. After he left the room, she went over to her bag and removed some clothes. Stepping into the closet to change, she put on blue jeans and a plain grey shirt.

She sat on the couch, but after a while her stomach grumbled for food. She wondered where she could find some food. She put her sneakers on then made her way to the first floor in search of a kitchen.

She found a door that she hadn't explored the night before and decided to open it just as one of Luke's men came out of it. Startled she stepped back. She looked up at the man and recognized him as the man who brought her here. Scared, she stepped back more. He watched her move away from him.

"I'm sorry about our first encounter. I didn't mean to hurt you. My name is Michael by the way. I'm Luke's second in command."

"Hi, Michael. I guess that means he probably trusts you the most, here right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well, I guess that means I can learn to trust you as well in time."

"I hope you can." He nodded as he turned to walk away.

Before he had the chance to leave, she asked him, "Is there a kitchen here?"

"Yes, there's a small one in the rec room and the main one is next to the rec room just down the hall a little farther."

She tensed up when he mentioned the rec room. After what happened, she didn't know if she wanted to go in there. She contemplated it but the grumble of her stomach decided for her. She smiled shyly, embarrassed by her stomach.

"Thank you. I don't want to keep you from your job."

"You're fine. Also, if you have any questions Luke's office is this room." He motioned to the room he came out of.

"Thank you." He said as he departed to another room.

She thought more people would be using the main kitchen, so she decided to go to the rec room kitchen. She turned and walked towards the rec room. She got a churning feeling in her gut, but she wanted to eat, so she forced herself to keep walking. There were only a few men in the room when she entered. She walked towards the little kitchen area. Once there, she scrounged around for something to eat and found some instant noodles high on the top shelf. She softly sighed then tried to reach up to grab a bag. When the shelf proved to be too high, she climbed up on the counter to better reach it.

She placed the package on the counter beside her and closed the cabinet door. As she tried to carefully step down from the countertop, one of the men in the room thought she was falling and rushed over to help her. She freaked out from the random touch and her flailing caused her to fall. Softly groaning from the impact to her tailbone, she looked up to see who caused her fall. Before she could react, another man, Dave, pulled the man away from Delilah.

She was confused by his reaction. She overheard their whispered conversation.

"Are you out of your mind, Jake? Did you not hear Luke yesterday?" Dave said while shaking Jake's shoulders.

"I did, but she looked like she was going to fall. I couldn't ask him for permission when it would have been too late. Plus, Luke wasn't serious, was he?" Jake said annoyed.

"Yes. He was dead serious. Do as he said and don't touch or talk to her. I'll keep this between us because you are new to our group, but I can't promise if you do it next time you're on your own, man."

She wondered what they meant. She didn't remember Luke saying anything to the men after he found her huddled in the hallway. Did Luke threaten his men? Why? She looked over at the two men.

"Excuse me, what do you mean by what happened yesterday?"

Jake looked over at her and scoffed. "How dare you even ask that question since you're the one that told on Dave. I guess you think it's okay since you weren't the one that Luke throttled."

"Jake, easy. I'm fine it was my mistake anyways. And for the love of God, stop talking to her!"

She became even more confused. Why did he blow up at her for asking a simple question? Did Luke hurt someone because of her? Why did he do that?

"What do you mean? I didn't tell Luke anything."

"Luke came down here and asked who spoke with you. As soon as he found out it was, Dave," Jake pointed to the man beside him. "He took him out into the hallway for a chat then came back in the room holding Dave up by his throat. He dropped him on the ground. He told us that if we wanted to speak to you that we must have his permission, and we're not allow to touch you. If we do then we will be thrown out."

She couldn't believe Luke would do that just because Dave caused her to panic. She was bombarded by so many different emotions. She didn't know how to feel or what to think. She thanked the men for the information and headed straight to Luke's office.

She hovered her hand over his doorknob hesitant to open the door. She was unsure if she should ask him about it, or if she should just let the matter go. As she moved her hand away, the door opened. She looked up at him.

"Did you need something?" Luke asked with a worried expression on his face.

Her thoughts were so scattered that she didn't know how to respond to him. She stared at him wondering what she should do.

"Delilah, what's wrong?"

She took a deep breath and asked the question on her mind, "Did you threaten your men because of the incident with me and Dave?"

He softly sighed as he nodded. "Yes, they needed to know you are off limits in every way."

"But why did you do that? I don't understand. You've known your men longer than you've known me."

"I've told you before, there's something about you that makes me want to protect you. I meant it."

"Okay." She didn't understand but she didn't want to start an argument.

"How did you find out about my order?" He asked curiously.

"Two of your men told me while I tried to make some instant noodles. I couldn't reach the bag, so I had to climb up on the counter. As I was getting down, Jake came up behind me to help me. I ended up freaking out and fell. That's when they started to whisper about what happened last night."

It infuriated him that someone dared to touch her after he specifically said what the consequences for touching her would be. What were they thinking going against his word? The fury in his eyes scared her, but she grabbed his hand and gently held it.

Moving away she pulled her hand back. "Please don't do anything... I know they are your men and I'm simply here, but I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. It's probably asking a lot from you. I'm sorry."

He sighed and pulled her hand back. Holding it firmly, he intertwined their fingers together.

"You must understand that I require absolute loyalty from my men. If I give an order, they are to follow it without question. However, I promise no one will be severely harmed because of you unless their offense is severe. Okay?"

She looked at their hands then back up at him. "Okay, but it has to be a very severe offense."

He nodded in agreement as he led her into his office. He guided her to a seat in front of his huge desk. Looking around the room, she sat down. This was a room that she hadn't looked inside while she was exploring. As she looked around, she found the room to be less elaborate than she expected it to be. A large mahogany desk was flooded with paperwork except for the corner where his computer and keyboard sat. He had a comfortable leather chair at his desk. The chair she sat in was leather as well with a high back. A matching chair was positioned to her left. She turned her head around to get a better look at the rest of the room. A love seat and a large bookcase were against the far-left wall.

He was captivated by her curiosity as she explored his office with her eyes.

"You said you were going to make instant noodles, right?"

"Yes."

"Come with me." He held out his hand.

Standing up she took his hand. He linked their fingers as he led her out of his office. He led her to the main kitchen. While they walked, a few men noticed their interlocked hands. They were stunned by Luke's show of physical affection.

They entered the enormous kitchen. The floor was black and white tile. The dark wood cupboards lined the back wall. A huge square island occupied the middle of the room. The island was unlike any she had ever seen in a kitchen. Both ends of the island had an oven with a stove on top. The top of the island was covered in black and white marble. Pots and pans of all shapes and sizes hung from a metal holder that was attached to the ceiling. One wall of the kitchen was filled with three sinks and two huge refrigerators.

Different employees were busy cooking food. Delilah was amazed by the kitchen. Luke looked down at her and was pleased that she was impressed with the kitchen. He led her towards an open stovetop. A few employees looked at them, and they whispered amongst themselves about how different Luke had been acting lately.

Luke rolled up his sleeves and started to cook her some pasta. She leaned against the counter watching him. She found herself mesmerized by the different things she was learning about him. She couldn't help but stare at him while he cooked.

After the pasta was ready, he made a plate for her.

He handed her the plate and a fork. "What would you like to drink?"

"Thank you, any drink is fine." She said as she took the plate.

Handing her a soda can, he said "Let's go back to my office. You can eat while I continue my paperwork."

She nodded. They walked back to his office, and she sat down in the same seat. She didn't have a place to put her plate down. She tried balancing it with one hand while she ate. Luke sat down behind his desk and looked at her.

"You can pull your chair closer to my desk, so you have a place to set the plate down."

She pulled her chair closer, sat the plate on an open space, and started to eat.

Surprised at how amazing it tasted, she said, "This is really good."

"It sounds like you didn't have faith in my cooking ability."

"No, your cooking is definitely a good thing."

She continued to eat while watching him work. She wondered why there was so much paperwork on his desk. She started to ask but changed her mind because she didn't want to disturb him.

After she finished eating, she thanked him once again for the food.

Rising with her plate, she said, "I'll let you get back to work."

"You can stay here, if you'd like."

"Are you sure?"

There was a knock on the door.

"Yes, I'm sure." He told her then said a little louder. "Come in."

She sat back down. Michael came in and handed Luke a leather folder. Luke took it and looked over the contents.

"This is the contract you asked for, sir."

"Thank you, Michael."

Luke signed the document before handing it back to Michael. Michael took it and nodded to Luke as he turned to exit. When Michael left, Delilah looked at Luke. He went back to the stack of papers on his desk.

"Do you need help?" She softly asked.

He looked up at her. "You can help, but it's not going to be exciting."

"I thought I'd try to help. It might go faster if we were bother working on the stack."

"Very true. Are you good at math?"

"I'm decent at it, why?"

"You can check the calculation on these. If that works for you."

"That's fine with me. Whatever you need."

He stacked a few sheets of paper, setting them beside him with a calculator on top.

"You can bring your chair around."

She put her plate back down in front of her, picked her chair up, and sat it down beside his chair. She sat down and started working on her stack.

"You know this would be a lot easier if you used a spreadsheet on your computer." She said after working for a while.

"I'm not really skilled with a computer. Maybe you can bring me up-to-date with technology."

"I can do that." She smiled at the thought of actually being useful.

While they worked on their parts, occasionally, someone would knock on the door to bring Luke something or ask him a question. Everyone who entered was surprised to see Delilah in his office and even more surprised that she was helping him with his work. Luke always worked alone.

Word had spread that he cooked for Delilah. Some of them didn't believe that Luke would change just because of some random girl. First, he didn't wake up early, he was late to the shipment, he cooked food for Delilah himself, and now he was letting her sit beside him in his office while helping him with work. Some were suspicious of his change in behavior and others believed he was getting soft because of her.