Of the million things that ought to be on her mind, the most pressing were the nimble fingers currently caressing Delilah's hardened nipples beneath her shirt. As she swayed her hips, the music seemed to fade farther and farther away. She relaxed against the man, enjoying the thrill of the hardness in his jeans. Slipping her hands behind her, she rubbed against it as he shivered beneath her touch, groaning softly against the woven braids on her head.

They were in a dimly lit dorm room, the kind big enough for four students. With the beds against the walls and neon lights flickering overhead casting shifting shadows across every surface, the party raved along, writhing bodies all around them as Delilah lost herself in the embrace of a man she'd never seen before. Which wasn't strange, considering the number of students from other schools that were currently on Sorek's campus. The air in the room was heavy with the scent of sweat and alcohol, mingling with the faint aroma of shisha, creating an intoxicating blend that heightened Delilah's senses.

Turning to face him, she wrapped her hands around his neck, slotting her legs between his as he moved to accommodate her. He lowered his hands to her waist as he moved her to sway, keeping the rhythm of their bodies steady. Standing on her toes, she kissed him, licking into his mouth as his large arms nudged the back of her thighs, lifting one leg, and then the next as she was gently placed against a wall with both feet off the ground.

She had no idea who he was, but he'd approached her with such confident aggression that she'd welcomed his advances. Dark smiles with sexual intent, soft words in her ears, rich laughter that boomed through the room, an ease in his movements that set Delilah's teeth on edge in the best way possible. There was also the fact that she loved the full curve of his voluptuous, black lips. She'd been eager to kiss them, to feel them against her skin, to feel them between her legs. The dancing was just to be polite. She'd come to the party with intent and she knew that by the time she left, she'd have found satisfaction at least once.

As he humped up into her, she wrapped her legs around him, welcoming the beloved friction of his jeans against her inner thighs. She moaned, enjoying the vibration heavy in her chest, scared that it had drowned out the music, unashamed that everyone in the room had heard the desperation in her voice, unable to care that she'd once again put herself in this position.

When he sucked on her neck, she gripped his head, careful that she just might float away from the tingling sensation spreading from her neck, but...

In a second, the sensation was ripped away from her.

Blinking in desperation, she opened her eyes as the support he'd afforded her was taken away. Nearly landing on the ground, she stumbled to her feet as she watched her new friend be engulfed in a shield of broad chests covered in black vests.

"Wha-" she began, swaying forward as she reached for him. She was seconds away from falling to the side on the nearest bed when she felt strong hands lift her.

"Delilah Umoh?" a husky, deep voice asked.

"Yes?" she replied, blinking to try and see better.

"Please come with us."

"Excuse me?" she asked, trying to pull out of his hands as she suddenly found herself in the arms of a similarly dressed man.

"Please come with us," they said, still moving her through the crowd of party-goers who had gone suspiciously silent.

"Where are you taking me?"

They didn't answer her anymore, once the door to the room closed behind them. Through the narrow corridors in Hall Yeba, she was taken out of the building and into the open night. As soon as they made a turn into where cars were parked haphazardly, Delilah felt a wave of distaste wash over her as her eyes fell on the car they were headed towards.

"Get your hands off me," she commanded the two men, trying to dig her foot into the ground, but all that happened was her slippers caught against the loose gravel and slipped from her feet. "Don't take me there. Seriously. Stop."

But the men didn't listen. Not until they reached the back door where one of them opened and the other assisted Delilah, rather aggressively, into the car. She knew it was futile to do so, but she still found herself pushing against them, refusing to go quietly into the car as she hissed at them. She was sure her nails had scratched one of them but she didn't care. If they weren't going to listen then she wasn't responsible for any injury they incurred.

As soon as the door closed, she tugged on the handle but it just lifted and fell back into place without opening the door.

"Will you stop being a child?"

She paused, her hand still on the door as she took a couple of breaths to calm herself.

"Turn around and talk to me," the woman said, sitting on the other side of the car.

"Are we resorting to kidnapping now, Mummy?" she asked, turning to the woman with a barely concealed sneer.

When her eyes met the piercing, sharp gaze of the dark-skinned, stern woman, Delilah cowered a little, shifting against the unyielding door. She'd been told she was the spitting image of her mother; angular facial features, hidden eyes, and a slender frame. At one point in her life, she'd reveled in those words. But not anymore. Not for a very long time now.

Mrs. Umoh dropped a brown envelope between them. Delilah shifted from it even more, hating the heavy drop in her stomach. She couldn't do this. Not there. Not anywhere. Frantically, she tried to open the door again.

"Pick it up," Mrs. Umoh said.

"No," Delilah replied, shaking her head.

"I won't tell you again."

"Mummy, aren't you tired?" Delilah asked. "Don't you have enough money?

"This is what is paying for your eternal education," Mrs. Umoh snapped.

"I won't do it," Delilah said, still leaning against the door, hoping her weight would somehow make a difference and bust it open. "I won't hunt down anyone for you again." Not anymore. Never again. Not since...

She shook her head to dislodge thoughts of things she'd rather forget. Being in a family of bounty hunters, it was easy to lose sight of the whole point. Eventually, the blurred lines between hunting criminals started to veer into the territory of hunting innocent people for the rich and powerful. And in a town like Uyo, in a country like Nigeria, there was never a lack of a powerful person looking for someone.

But never again.

"I'm not asking you to hunt."

"Then what do you want?" Delilah asked, unable to keep the venom out of her words.

"Open the envelope." She nudged it closer to Delilah.

"I don't want your money."

"It's not money," Mrs. Umoh said.

Those words gave Delilah pause. Slowly, she looked from her mother to the envelope and back.

"I've tried money before and it didn't work," her mother said with a tacit smile. "I thought I'd try something different this time."

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Open it."

Hissing in discomfort, she looked out the tinted windows of the car, watching other students walk by, enjoying the leisurely breeze of the Friday that night that Delilah was currently being denied.

"Open the envelope and I'll let you go."

She picked it up, tore open the seal, and pulled out the papers, expecting to see information on the target. As she flipped on the car light over their heads, Delilah's eyes fluttered as she read the words at the top of the document. Because it definitely wasn't the target's information. It wasn't anything she would have ever expected.

"Dissolution of Betrothal?" Delilah asked, not believing the words even as she read them out loud. Pulling the document out, she perused through it, flipping to the next page where she found the etched signature of the man she'd been betrothed to when she was still in her mother's womb. "What is this?" she asked, looking at her mother and wondering if she'd wake up in the morning and this would all just be a dream.

"You're free," Mrs. Umoh said.

"Oma Phillips would never sign this," Delilah accused.

"And yet he did."

"Why?"

"No," Mrs. Umoh shook her head. "We can't discuss the bounty unless you agree to it." She adjusted her skirt as she looked away from Delilah, careful and deliberate now that she'd gotten Delilah's attention.

"What could he possibly want that's important enough to dissolve a legal betrothal?"

"You mean the betrothal that you were never going to honor?" her mother asked back. "You think he doesn't understand what's going on if you've been in this university for seven years, failing ECO 422 just so you won't graduate and have to get married?"

Feeling caught, Delilah lowered her gaze to the document again, choosing to hide that way, rather than face her mother's fierce judgment.

"He's been lenient with you. Considering the things we've heard about you," Mrs. Umoh said, voice dripping with contempt. "Considering the disgusting practices you engage in, I'd think he'd be better off not marrying a girl who's been ran through by every single boy in her university."

That had been the point. At first. She'd hoped to be so promiscuous that Oma Phillips looked upon her with disgust. But as the years went by and he showed no signs of dissolving the betrothal, she'd given up.

And yet, the habits persisted.

"What does he want?" she asked. "Wait-" she pleaded as her mother snatched the envelope from her hands. "That belongs to me."

"Not until you deliver your bounty."

"Mummy, how could you be so cruel?" she said, feeling anger bubble up inside of her as she stared at the envelope.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Umoh said. "No one will get hurt."

"Someone always gets hurt," Delilah argued.

"I want you to get close to someone and gain some information. A good secret or two."

"A secret?" Delilah asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Oma Phillips is trading his betrothal for a secret?"

"Not just any secret." Mrs. Umoh untucked her phone from the pocket behind the front seat, unlocked it, and handed it over to Delilah. "I believe you know this boy."

Delilah looked at the picture and she recognized him immediately. As popular as he was within Sorek University, there was no reason for a business tycoon to care about his secrets. He wasn't nearly important enough. The situation didn't quite add up.

"What does Oma Phillips want with a university student?" she asked.

"He's the star of your school's basketball team, no?" Mrs. Umoh asked, clearing her throat as she spoke.

"The basketball tournament?" Delilah asked, still not buying it. "Does he want Samson to lose the game?"

Mrs. Umoh smiled at her daughter, bitterly. Reaching over, she gently grabbed Delilah by the chin and shook it from side to side.

"After all these years," she said to Delilah. "I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to teach you how to see the bigger picture."

Insulted, Delilah pulled her chin from her mother's grasp.

"I don't care if Sorek gets to the finals," Mrs. Umoh said. "But if you don't get me that secret before that final game, consider this contract ripped to shreds."

"Mummy-" Delilah said, sitting up in horror.

"If you like," she said. "Study the same course for the next eleven years to avoid marrying Oma Phillips. Either way, you're living in one bondage or another." Sitting back, she knocked against her window and the doors clicked from the outside. "That's all. You can get out now."

Delilah opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. She wanted the contract. She knew she did. Nothing she said would negate that. Besides, she knew she wasn't in the headspace to prolong her exposure to a woman who was as eager to be rid of Delilah as Delilah was.

As the doors closed, they drove off, leaving Delilah stumbling away from the car.

She couldn't say no. She was going to do it. One secret wouldn't kill him. If Delilah's freedom was at stake, she was going to dig that secret out of Samson's soul if she had to.