Thank you to celticturtle for editing my story for me! Sorry it took me awhile again. It's been very busy for me, but I will get the last two chapters out as soon as possible! I hope everyone is still enjoying the story. Thank you to everyone who has been patient and waited for this chapter.
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"Your brother??"
"Delilah... I can't believe I met you here." Her brother said as he reached out to grab her arm.
Stepping away, she said, "Don't touch me, Cameron."
Luke protectively put his arm in front of her gently pushing her behind him. Cameron looked over Luke.
"Who do you think you are to get between us?" Cameron rudely spat.
"I'm her boyfriend."
"That's bullshit. My sister doesn't have a boyfriend."
"She does. Maybe actually care about her and you'll know."
"What? I do care about her."
"If you cared, she wouldn't have run away from your home because she was scared for her life."
"Excuse me. Listen here—"
"Stop. Don't do this here. Please." Delilah said as she gently squeezed Luke's arm.
Luke inhaled deeply and nodded. He turned and looked at Delilah.
"Let's pay for your stuff first."
"Okay babe." She looked at Cameron. "Just wait here."
After a few minutes, they paid and walked back over to Cameron. They decided to take the conversation outside to keep the attention off them. Luke made sure there was distance between Delilah and Cameron. After hearing the stories of what she has gone through, he wasn't going to risk anything happening to her. Once outside, they sat down at a table.
"So, what do you want from me, Cameron?"
"I want you to come back home."
"Like either of you have missed me."
"Actually, yes I have. When I woke up and you were gone, I didn't know what happened. I didn't know if you were dead or if you got in a wreck or what."
"You're only acting like this because I have someone with me. If we were alone, you wouldn't even care. You just got lucky because dad didn't do all this bullshit to you. But because I look like mom, I had to endure all the abuse."
"Not now. I have to endure it because you're gone. I'll be damned if I don't take you back with me."
"You're not taking her anywhere." Luke bluntly spoke.
"Um excuse me. I don't remember asking for your opinion. Do you not know who my dad is?"
"Yeah. I know he's a drunken asshole who abuses his daughter for no fucking reason."
"He's a lawyer, so if you do anything to me, he'll sue your ass."
"That's a cute job."
"Babe, don't provoke him." Delilah whispered to him.
"I'm just saying." He looked over at Delilah. "Your dad being a lawyer doesn't scare me."
"Why doesn't it scare you?" Cameron crossed his arms. Luke looked back over to him.
"Why?" He chuckled. "He's a drunk and a lawyer. Yeah, that doesn't scare me. I deal with scarier people than that. Plus, I don't understand people going in that field and doing stuff like this when they could easily get caught."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean," He propped his arms on the table leaning forward. "He abuses his daughter for no fucking reason. Then when she runs off, he turns the abuse to his son. He probably thinks he can get away with this because he's a lawyer. Also, he might have people who could lie or cover for him because he's good at what he does."
"That—" Luke cut him off.
"And you're probably wanting to take Delilah back home with you because you want him to switch the abuse back on her. Right? He blames you for her disappearance, so he takes his anger out on you. Well, I can tell you right now the only place Delilah is going is back with me. That's where she belongs and that's where she's going to stay. She has found people who care about her. I doubt she'll go back with you even if you bribe her." He shrugged and sat back. "Just my thoughts."
There was a long moment of silence because Cameron knew everything Luke said was true. He knew that the only reason he was happy to see his sister again was to take her back home. He also knew that Delilah wouldn't come back with him because of the man in front of him. He still had to ask to confirm.
"Delilah, you really don't want to come back with me? I promise that I will be a better brother. I won't let dad abuse you anymore. I know how it feels now."
"No, Cameron. No, you don't know how it feels. Always being paranoid when he's going to do it again or what he's going to do. There was no limit to what he was going to do to me. You probably got the short end of the stick like you always do. I'm surprised he even laid hands on you because you're the untouchable child who can't do any wrong."
"That's not true. His punches hurt!"
"His punches?" She scoffed. "I don't want to hear anything. If that's all he's done to you, I don't even want to hear it."
"Isn't that what he did to you?"
"No. He did a lot more than just punch me. And no, I'm not telling you what he did."
"Why not? How am I supposed to help if you don't tell me?"
"Help?" She scoffed. "You're kidding me. If anyone helped me, it would be my boyfriend. You haven't help me in my entire life. You just sat there or hid in your room while dad abused me. Sometimes you were even sleeping, so I don't want to hear you wanting to help me."
"Come on, Delilah. I promise it will be different this time."
"No, it won't. You might protect me once or twice but afterwards you'll just hide away again. Plus, my man is right. You only have one motive in mind."
Cameron sighed and looked down at his hands. He knew if he wanted her back, he'd have to try a different approach. Luke was good at figuring people out from the job, so he knew what was going on in Cameron's head.
"Cameron, I can tell you probably do care for your sister." Luke calmly said.
"What...?" Delilah confused as she looked over at Luke.
"Yes, I do." Cameron quickly spoke.
"But you don't care about her like you should. Not just because of the father incidents. It's because you don't know how to love her the right way. Your father abusing your sister is all that you've known, right? So, how could you possibly know how to care about someone you saw your dad abuse every single day?"
"I... Yeah I guess you're right."
"Exactly. So why should she come back with you? She should stay with me, so I can protect her."
"Uhm I guess so." Cameron said puzzled.
"Okay then it's settled. Delilah will come back with me, and you can continue on with your shopping." He stood up as he finished. Delilah followed his lead and held onto his arm. As they were about to walk away, Luke paused and turned back to Cameron.
"One more thing, if you ever tell anyone about us, I will come for you."
Cameron nodded his head quickly in response. Luke and Delilah left and went back to the car. They get inside and Luke started up the car as he started to drive back. Delilah stared out the window and stayed quiet the entire way back. Luke kept glancing over at her wondering if she was alright. He had never seen her this zoned out before.
After awhile they pulled up to the building. Luke grabbed the bags then got out as he walked over to get Delilah's door for her. She doesn't move as she's lost in her thoughts. Luke kneeled in front of her then placed his hand on her thigh.
"Delilah, are you okay?"
She slightly jumped but quickly calmed down when she noticed him. She was completely lost in her thoughts. Seeing her brother brought back all kinds of memories she never wanted to remember.
"Yeah. I'm okay. Sorry, babe."
