Page 42 of Orlando
“I would have lost my job instantly if I hadn’t.I managed to waste enough time for someone to rectify this, didn’t I?”
“You did the bare minimum.”
Her jaw tightened.“Not everyone can be like you.You were lucky.”
“How was I lucky?I had the guts to leave because I knew it wasn’t right.”
“So what, did you expect all of us to refuse the job?”
Orlando shook his head.“Of course not.I know you would never do that, but doing this job shouldn’t mean that you lose yourself, Cynthia.They warned you about this, remember?You’re not just a council assassin.You need to remember that.”
Liam hoped she would.He didn’t know what would happen to her now, but he hoped to never see her again.
She shook her head and moved toward the window.Orlando rolled his eyes, caught her wrist, and pushed her toward the front door.“You’re wounded.Don’t hurt yourself worse by climbing out the window.”
“I don’t want your neighbors to see me.”
“Then you should use your training to make sure they don’t.”
Liam didn’t understand how the two of them could play around after everything that had happened, but it didn’t matter.He wasn’t about to become Cynthia’s new best friend or even one of her friends.He wanted her out of his life.
It happened quickly.She didn’t turn back as she walked through the door.She didn’t hesitate.She wasn’t even limping, for fuck’s sake.She vanished into the hallway, and while Liam held his breath for a moment in case she decided to return, she never did.She was gone.
“I should go, too,” Tex said.“I’m sure the two of you have many things to discuss.Don’t be a stranger, Orlando.You have my number.Use it.”
“You have my number, too.”
Tex ignored him and turned toward Liam.“I hope we never have to meet in this kind of circumstance again.”
Liam shook his head.“It depends on how many assassins your council will send after me.”
“Hopefully, none.I made a note in your file that you have nothing to do with anything the council does.You’re safe.”
Liam wanted to thank Tex, but making sure he was safe and that no one else would try to kill him was the bare minimum.The council had put Liam through hell, and he wasn’t willing to forgive them yet.He wasn’t sure he ever would be.
Tex left the same way Cynthia had, although he waved at them and said goodbye.He closed the door behind himself, which was probably a good thing since Orlando was still naked, and for a second, everyone and everything in the room was silent.It felt like time was suspended, and Liam closed his eyes to enjoy the fact that he was safe.
No one was trying to kill him.
He blinked his eyes open.He’d been thinking about this moment many times over the past few weeks.He’d been planning what he’d do as soon as he was free of this apartment, but now that he was, he was hesitant.Leaving the apartment meant leaving Orlando, and that wasn’t something Liam wanted to do.
He looked around.The apartment was similar to the one he lived in.Neither was big, but they were both big enough for two men and a cat to live there.Did Liam really want to go back to his empty apartment?All of his things and his plants were there, but in the end, he didn’t care where he lived.He cared who he lived with, and that was Orlando.
“You should probably put some clothes on,” he murmured.
Orlando arched a brow.“I thought you’d be happy to see me naked.”
“I normally would be, but there’s blood on your skin, and this isn’t exactly the situation I was thinking about when I thought about you naked.”
Orlando wiggled his eyebrows.“So you’ve thought about me naked.”
Orlando was bloody, including around his mouth, but he wasn’t hurt.That was the only reason Liam pulled him closer.“There’s not one day I don’t think about you naked,” he murmured.He kissed the side of Orlando’s neck.There was no sign of the place where Liam had drunk Orlando’s blood, but Liam didn’t need a sign to know where it was.“But this isn’t exactly the situation I have in mind when I do.”
“I’ll take a shower,” Orlando quickly said.
Liam laughed.“I’m sure you need one.”He looked around the room.“I guess I should start packing.”
“Or you could stay.”
