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“What are you thinking about, little girl?” I purr, and she wriggles in her seat. Lennon’s wearing a hooded, long-sleeve black dress with a slit up one side so she’ll have access to the knife strapped there. I place my hand on her thigh, squeezing as she bites her lip.
Grinning, I pull back my hand, knowing how much I affect her. I’m learning a lot from just watching her while we talk to her. Lennon O’Reilly spends a lot of time turned on when she’s with us.
“I’m thinking about how proud I am of Layla, and all the showsThe Darkest Nightshas done together. We’ve had a really good run,” she says, and I realize she’s nostalgic.
“Are you saying you’re retiring?” I ask. I will support her either way, I’m sad I missed hearing her perform. I’ve always heard that she’s magnetic on stage.
“I don’t know yet,” she says, lips twisting in thought. “What if I can't write normal music anymore? Or if being on stage freaks me out and I freeze?”
Roark looks at Lennon in surprise. “Does the thought of performing in front of people scare you?” he asks.
“That’s the thing, I don’t know if it would, and I don’t want people to pay to see us perform just to watch me epically fail,” she sighs.
I want to talk about that more, because I’ve never known Lennon to back away from a challenge. She loves music, and I don’t want her mother to have fucked that up for her.
A knock sounds at the door, and Roark yells, “Oye, come in!”
This man definitely has a way with words.
Jordan pokes his head in with a grin. “How is everyone doing?” he asks, slipping inside.
“Good, I’m excited to see them,” Lennon says brightly, concealing her previous worries.
Standing, I decide I’m going to see if she’ll talk to one of us, or with her therapist. Lennon is still going to have regular sessions with her.
“They’re going on now, so wait two minutes, and then come on out,” Jordan grins excitedly. He loves a good surprise, and it makes me wonder about all of the other things he may be doing to make miracles happen.
His organizational skills are seriously on point.
Jordan walks out of the room, and we follow a couple minutes later.The Velvet Escapeis amazing, even without Leo and Albert, who Jordan fired this morning.
Lennon bounces on her feet in excitement, screaming her head off for the band. They can’t hear her, which is fine, because Turner and Roark dance with Lennon in the wings as the band performs. Her hood is over her blonde hair, and she had some anonymity to just enjoy herself.
I watch them as much as I pay attention to any dangers there may be, utterly amazed at how gorgeous this woman is when she just completely lets go.
“Isn’t she so goddamn gorgeous?” Derek asks, leaning in to talk in my ear.
I nod, in awe. “Does she usually dance like this? As if no one is watching, just completely consumed by the music?” I ask.
Derek nods as he watches her, a smile playing on his lips. “Yep. Her ritual before she went on to sing was to rock out in the wings to whatever band opened forThe Darkest Nights.It burned off any nervous energy she may have had, and sometimes Turner or Roark would join in like this,” he explains.
They have such an amazing dynamic. Each of them are so different, yet they very clearly need the other like they need air to breathe. I’m not even jealous, I don’t really understand the emotion, but I love how well Lennon is loved.
Yeah… I’m including myself in this. At first, I worried that I didn’t know how to love, but the rage that so often lives under the surface of my skin calms around her. When she’s happy, I want to do everything in my power to keep her that way. I think love feels different for everyone, but I ride the line between obsession and intense devotion.
I don’t know how I’ll tell her, not when it’s so hard to harness how intense it feels. I think it’s enough for now to know it for myself.
My eyes are drawn to the side, and I see a roadie staring at us. Taking a step closer, I realize it’s the agent that’s with us. His eyes move away, and I continue surveying everyone around us as Lennon enjoys the show.
My focus is on keeping her safe and happy.
Velvet Escapefinishes their set and grins, waving as they leave the stage. Lennon squeals, telling them how amazing they were, and Mav, Atlas, and Layla’s jaws drop.
“Oh my god! You’re one of the best things that I’ve seen in a long damn time, little Valkyrie,” Mav laughs, recovering first and opening his arms to Lennon.
She grins and jumps into them. He catches her as always and squeezes her.
“Give the girl some room, I want some too,” Layla says with a laugh.
