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I swallow and look back at my phone. Orion is disengaging by calling me by my last name. Why is he leaving?
“He’s leaving,” I rasp, shaking my head. “I don’t understand why.”
Roark picks up my phone and reads the message. “Fuck, he can’t leave,” he mutters.
I know why I don’t want him to leave, but am confused by Roark’s words.
“Why? What’s keeping him there at all?” I ask.
Roark stands, kissing my forehead. I lean into it more than I usually would, and I can feel Lennon’s eyes on me. She slides off the bed, and I lurch forward as Roark steps to the side.
“Len, where are you going?” I gasp. I feel dumb, as if I’m having a different conversation than everyone else as Lennon gives me a patient look.
“I’m coming to sit in your lap. If you let me fall, Turner will beat your ass,” she says evenly.
I wrap my arm around her, picking her up to sit on my lap.
“What’s got you so upset, and who is leaving, love?” she asks.
I wrap my arms around her waist with a sigh. “I don’t know how to have this conversation with you, baby. I don’t want to upset you.”
“I think we can all agree I’m not breakable, Derek. Now spill. Roark, who are you calling? I will beat you if you don’t answer me, sir!”
Roark turns, his lips twitching. “I’m calling Orion, Lenny. He’s leaving the safe house, and we aren’t sure why,” he explains.
Lennon stares at me, her head tilting. “He’s important to you, Derek. Catch me up, please? Do you think he’s leaving because of how I reacted in the woods?”
“Len, in your defense, you didn’t know he was working with us to get you out of Hidden Hills,” I tell her. She gives me a regal, ‘go on’ look and I sigh. “Orion and I got close while we were doing shit for my father, Lennon. He’s important to me, and now he’s pulling away because he thinks it’ll be easier for you.”
Lennon frowns. “Ror, give me the phone, please?”
Roark growls before hanging up, and handing it to her.
I watch her fingers fly along the keyboard, eyes widening at her words.
Lennon: Orion, I don’t know who you are to Derek yet, but if you don’t call me right now, I will come after you. I’ll shove Turner’s bat so far up your ass, you’ll be puking your own shit for days. Don’t be a shitstain and do the right thing.
I make a strangled sound as I finish reading. I see the message flash to read and a full minute goes by before text bubbles begin to pop up. Another minute goes up where he starts and stops before he calls.
I think Lennon has stunned Orion.
She picks up the phone, hitting speaker so we can all hear.
“I’m tiny, but I can talk a lot of shit,” Lennon says and Orion snorts.
“Tiny, you don’t need me around. You need peace, a place to make better memories, and if I stay, you won’t get that. I bring terror, nightmares, and memories of terror. Tell Baby Williams I’m sorry. I hoped there was a way for me to fit into the life you all have, but I clearly hit my head at one point,”Orion says and I can hear him opening a door.
Lennon mouths, ‘Baby Williams?’ as I mutter, “Fucking dick.”
There’s silence as he hears me. He sighs, muttering, “Derek, this isn’t going to work. The girl’s scared to death of me. It’s okay that you all can’t handle me. We had fun—”
“Excuse the fuck out of me,” Lennon growls. “Are you breaking up with my boyfriend because I’m too fragile? I don’t know who you are. You haven’t properly introduced yourself to me, and frankly I don’t think you’re good enough for Derek if you’re going to run at the first issue. It sounds like he deserves better than you.”
Orion swallows thickly and I realize he’s going to use this as another excuse to run. “He does deserve better than me. Derek deserves Roark’s fierce need to take care of him, Turner’s protectiveness, and whatever you give him,” he says dismissively.
I know he doesn’t mean his last comment the way it comes out, but Lennon bristles.
“He’s saying it like that because he really doesn’t understand why you’re important to me. Orion does know that I’ve killed people for you, sacrificed, and went to hell and back to get you out of Hidden Hills. He does understand that you’re afraid of him, so he’s removing himself from the equation,” I explain, uncaring that Orion can hear me.
