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I fought for so long to keep my autonomy, right to choose, and consent… only to have it all ripped away from me.
I can’t change what happened, I can only move forward, so I blow out my breath. Next, I stretch my neck in an effort to release some of the stress building up in my body.
“Okay,” I say, only to have my voice betray me and crack. “I’m sorry…”
Turner sits next to me immediately, dropping his phone to the side. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he asks softly, brushing away a treacherous tear that slips down my cheek.
“I was okay,” I whisper, shrugging. “And then I wasn’t. I started thinking about how I got these bruises, lost my ability to say no, and started to spiral.”
“It’s okay not to be okay, baby girl,” he murmurs, carefully pulling me into his arms. I wrap mine around him, enjoying how solid he is.
Turner is an immovable force, and always has been a safe place to land. Today is no different. I breathe when he breathes, and slowly stop crying. Roark doesn’t say anything when he comes in, instead crawling into the bed and wrapping himself around my back.
Pulling away, I sniffle. Roark kisses the top of my head, standing to get me a tissue. It’s like he just knows what I need before I do.
Turner kisses my lips with a soft smile. “Layla said a while ago that she’s always available for her sister, and if I didn’t tell you that exactly, I’d no longer be one of her favorite people,” he says.
I huff out a surprised laugh. “That sounds exactly like Lay actually.”
Roark slips back in, handing me a tissue. Blowing my nose, I drop it into the trash can by the bed, and then dry my face.
“Okay,” I sigh. “I’m ready.”
“Ready for what? You sound like you’re going to war, Len,” Derek chuckles, standing outside the door.
My smile grows as I watch him. “Not today, I’m just calling Layla.”
Derek nods. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. Do you need anything?” he asks.
“I would kill for some dark chocolate,” I sigh.
He shrugs as he pushes off the wall. “I’ll go see if I can find some. We can kill people another day,” he winks and I giggle.
“I kind of think he meant that, and it’s scary hot,” Turner mutters as he connects the call.
“I don’t know what to do with the fact that he’s a killer, but then, so am I,” I mutter.
Layla’s face pops up and I squeal. “Hey, baby sister,” I tease her and she grins.
“Oh my god, I’m so happy to see you, I’m not even going to give you shit for that,” she breathes. Her eyes scan over me, and her lips tighten.“I hope you made it hurt.”
“What?” I ask, head tilting in surprise. Turner whistles to get my attention, and I turn my head.
“I’ll be downstairs,” he says and I nod.
“The people who hurt you,” Layla says, as soon as Turner leaves the room. “I hope you hurt them back. Especially the ones who left those bruises.”
I wince, biting my lip. My hair must have moved when I turned. “Yeah, I have to say that’s a work in progress,” I sigh. “I didn’t really—”
I hear someone running up the stairs and turn my head. “What is going on…”
Orion almost trips in his hurry into the room, and there’s a laptop in his hands. “Hang up!” he barks and I blink at him in confusion. “The line isn’t secure, Lennon. It can be tracked both ways.”
“I’ll call you back,” I say hurriedly, despite her yelling, asking what’s happening. I hang up, my heart thundering in my chest. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t think about it, I just wanted to talk to my sister…”
Traitorous tears leak from my eyes, and I brush them away angrily. I shouldn’t be crying over this.
Orion tosses his laptop onto the mattress, climbing onto the bed to straddle me.
