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“If Orion had gotten caught trying to help Lennon, she wouldn’t be here right now,” I explain.
I glance at Turner, who is the most likely to lose his mind, but he’s deep in thought. “Lennon has to hear everything from him, and then she can decide where they go from there,” he muses. “I’m not stupid, that man is completely gone for her. Obsessed is a mild word for it, but Lennon has to choose him back, you know?”
I nod, grateful Turner’s not calling for his bat. “Yeah. Orion is struggling. He’s never had connections to people before or cared. He has moral lines on what’s not acceptable, and that’s who is on his kill list. My dad had to prove the men he wanted punished and eliminated for Orion’s criteria,” I explain.
Roark sighs. “I’m not sure how I feel about Orion, but he was upset about how Lennon reacted to him. He said he understands it, and wishes he’d been more careful when he found her first in the woods. She scared the shit out of me when I saw her with that big ass knife.”
Our girl isn’t scared to take matters into her own hands. However, the amount of times death has looked better to her than living, scares me more.
Worrying my lip, I watch Len.
“Derek, between you and Lenny, you’re not going to have lips left at this point,” Roark grumbles, and my mouth twitches.
Lennon and I can finally drive these possessive assholes crazy together again.
“You may as well tell us what you’re thinking about,” Turner tells me softly, so as not to disturb Lennon.
“Protection,” I bite out, blowing out a breath. “Lennon has lived through some unspeakable things. She told Orion she’d rather die than go back, and she’s attempted to end her life several times. I want her to fight for life, to know we’ll always come for her, but also be able to fight. She’s just so damn tiny.”
Turner rubs the inside of Lennon’s wrist and she sighs in her sleep. He freezes, but it doesn’t look as if she’s having a bad dream. There’s a slight smile on her lips, and her body is relaxed.
Thank fuck, because she deserves some good dreams.
“Greg gave us all some self defense classes, and Lenny had her knife on her when her mom took her. Even then, she was surprised enough at the time that I don’t think she’d have thought to use it against her mother,” Roark tells me.
He’s right about this…
“I want to hide her away from everything that can hurt her, but it won’t help anything. It’s just another kind of prison,” I groan.
A light knock sounds on the open door and Greg pops his head in.
“Hey guys,” he says, stepping inside. He looks tired, but his eyes are still sharp. “How is she doing?”
“She’s panicked a few times,” Turner reports laying his head back on the pillow and getting comfortable. Unfortunately, the bed is tiny, and his foot hangs off the edge. “I think that’s normal for everything Lennon’s been through, and we’ve run the nurses off from sedating her.”
Greg snorts as he sits down next to me, legs sprawled as he indulges in a yawn. “I heard you were terrorizing the staff, and I told them to deal with it. As much as the medical professionals are going to want to keep her,” he begins and he holds his hand up as we protest, “I don't think it’s in her best interest to stay. Not after her experiences in a hospital.”
I nod, eyes trailing down the bruises on Len’s body that I can see. “She’s going to need care, though. And, ugh, maybe someone to speak to about things that have happened?”
I don’t know why I feel like I’m betraying her by saying this. Therapy isn’t a bad thing, and talking to someone she doesn’t know could help, but the idea of therapy is tainted after Xav's treatment of her.
Roark clears his throat. “I don’t think she would have a problem with therapy, but I think Lennon should meet with people first and decide who she wants to speak to. She needs to feel safe talking to whoever it is. Not every therapist fits every person,” he says, and I agree.
“We’ll talk to her about this when she wakes up, but the question is where are we going to stay while she heals?”
Greg crosses his arms as he stares at us all. “I wouldn’t suggest going too far while we tie up loose ends here. Lennon also isn’t fit to travel yet, but can stay at the safe house as she heals. I am going to have some difficult questions for her soon too,” he says.
Turner grunts as he focuses on Greg. “Like what?”
Two words and yet the fire in his eyes would wilt a lesser man. Thankfully, Greg just returns the stare.
“I don’t want to take away anything that is due to our girl. People hurt her, and they will all be hunted and put down like the dogs they are. Everyone finds closure differently and…” Greg trails off to stand up and close and lock the door.
Sitting back down, he rubs the back of his neck. “You know I’m not innocent to death and justice. I’m a mercenary for hire, but work under the government’s purview most of the time. They gave me a carte blanche kill order to find everyone who has been working with Grant and Xav and neutralize them permanently—”
“Including my father, I assume?” I ask, interrupting him.
Greg inclines his head towards me. “Yes. I’m sorry but—”
