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Yanking open the bathroom door, I strode into the kitchen and started pulling things out to make an omelet. I was whisking the eggs when Keir emerged from the makeshift hospital room. He slumped onto a kitchen stool.
“Do you like eggs?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied, running a hand through his dark hair. “Sounds great.”
I bit my lip and kept whisking. After I was done, I chopped up some veggies and ham, then began throwing things into the skillet. The scent of peppers and onions filled the kitchen.
“Have you spoken to him?”
I glanced over at Keir. “Who?”
“Orin. Have you spoken to him?”
I bit my lip recalling our last ‘talk.’ “If you consider getting holed up in a café bathroom as speaking, then yes.”
His brows rose. “He locked you in a café bathroom?”
I could feel my cheeks flush, so I turned my face away. “He wanted to talk somewhere privately, and that was the only place close by.”
“What did he say?”
Using the spatula, I shifted the vegetables around. “Say? Nothing I hadn’t heard before.”
“Did he apologize at least?”
“He apologized for some things, but the man is hardheaded and refuses to tell me everything about his past.”
“From what I understand, it’s a pretty dark place, Fallon. Maybe he’s trying to protect you.”
“It’s not that.” I turned to face him once more. “I told him everything. Every last detail of my past. The lows, then the lower lows that resulted from them. Not once did he tell me a thing about him, and if he wants me to trust him, how in the hell can I do that if I don’t know him.”
“You can trust Orin,” he said simply. “He needs you, Fallon. I’ve not seen him so …”
“Pissed off?” I supplied.
“Passionate. I’ve not seen him this protective over someone else. Did you know he ordered everyone to not speak to you when you were first at the compound? He didn’t want you getting overwhelmed by strangers. And now, we have shifts to keep an eye on you, but Orin is taking every single one of them. He’s not slept. He doesn’t eat. He’s broodier than usual. What kind of man does all that if he doesn’t give a fuck?”
I knew the answer to the question, but I couldn’t voice it. Not with the glue holding my heart together still drying. I added the eggs to the skillet. “I don’t know, Keir. He’s so …” I couldn’t find the words.
“In love with you,” Keir supplied. “He’s in love with you, but he’s fucking terrified of that because it means he could lose you.”
My heart stuttered against my ribs, the movement kindling the hope that had refused to be extinguished after the last time I saw him. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” I replied, still unable to look him in the eye. “He’s not got the guts to come and tell me that himself, and until he does, this is where I’m going to stay.”
I plated up the omelet, cutting it in half so we could share. Keir took his plate with a smile of thanks and began to eat. I ate mine too, carrying on a conversation with Keir, but my mind was somewhere else. Somewhere there were dark eyes, a commanding tone, and a man who claimed he was a monster.
TWENTY-EIGHT
ORIN
It had been five fucking weeks of torture. Not the kind of torture that the fucker in front of me was currently experiencing but being away from Fallon had been my own source of torment. I hadn’t seen her since she’d left me standing in the café bathroom, but I’d heard she’d taken on the role of medic for the clan and exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Fallon was such a strong woman, and I didn’t know why I didn’t realize it before now. She may have been submissive in the bedroom for me, but outside of there, she was a fucking lioness ready to defend herself.
The guy in front of me moaned, and I fixed my cold, dead eyes on him.
It had only taken me a day to track down Owen Ward, but I spent at least two weeks learning his habits, watching him scuttle from his job at a fucking pub back home, then out again to score some pussy. The guy was a fucking broken record, and given that he always picked up a pro, I was willing to bet his dick would fall off the next time he stuck it in a filthy cunt.
And now, here we were. I’d bagged him walking home one night and brought him here to my little slice of heaven. The warehouse was cavernous, and the sounds of rats climbing the rafters and chewing the beams echoed around the space.
