Page 45 of The Lost Melody

“Something tells me you’re impossible,” he says, shaking his head.

“Len is the other brat in our group,” Derek chuckles on the other side of me.

Greg barks a laugh as Orion nods. “I believe it. Okay, now I’m going to tell you about what I found the right way, okay?” he glares at Greg, but I keep my eyes on Orion and nod.

“Alright, I have been keeping an eye on the dark web as a precaution. You’re a loose end for Xav and Grant, which means they’re going to try to get you back.” Orion’s arms tighten around me as I stiffen.

Needing to ground myself, I push my hands under his shirt, soaking in his warmth. He doesn’t flinch, looking down indulgently with an eyebrow raised as if to ask if I was good.

“So what happened?” I ask, rubbing my thumb along his abs.

“There’s a job posted on the dark web for both forged documents for three people and essentially a kidnapping. I did a little digging, and the person they want is you. They do not know where you are, they just posted photos. The job can be split into two, but I picked it up so we can’t be double crossed. I didn’t want someone deciding they wanted the bigger payday,” he explains. “Now obviously, we aren’t going through with this, instead we want to lay out a trap to start catching them.”

“Exactly,” Greg picks up and I carefully glance over at him. He’s leaning forward with his arms braced on his thighs. “Your mother attempted to leave the country, and while she was detained, she managed to get away from the agent when she claimed she had to go to the bathroom.”

I grimace because Carrie O’Reilly has made it clear with her actions that she’s not a very good mother.

“She’s very much not one of my favorite people,” I murmur mildly. “Is there a plan in place to send her to a dark hole forever?”

Greg bares his teeth at me, and I can see the killer reflected back at me in his eyes. It should scare me after everything I’ve been through, but instead I feel safer because he’s on my side.

“Yes, Lennon, I’m working on doing exactly that with my team. Speaking of the team, Derek and Orion just joined it. Once you can travel and we deal with the contract out on you, I want you to consider moving to South Carolina. Layla has shows out there, so everyone important to you will be out that way,” he says carefully.

My heart constricts at the mention of my sister’s name. “I have to call her later,” I sigh. “Where in South Carolina? You all live in Georgetown, right?”

“Yep,” Greg nods. “There’s a vacant house up for sale next door to us. Link and Miguel are waiting for your approval, and then we’ll move on turning it into a safe house for you.”

My jaw drops because I’m stunned by their generosity. Blinking quickly, I shake my head. “I’m totally fine moving, but I want to pay for the house.” My brow furrows as I think. “…Unless the paper trail is going to cause an issue.”

I want us to be safe as we figure this all out, and I’ll make it up to them if we can’t pay for the house.

Greg opens his hands in supplication. “I don’t want to call a lot of attention to you, because I’m going to ask you to do something you may not like. Uh, probably a lot of things.”

I wrinkled my nose, unconsciously digging my fingers into Orion’s skin. It’s only when his stomach contracts that I release him. He never made a sound.

Shit.

I pull away, worried I hurt him. Orion catches my hands, putting them right back where they were. “You can’t hurt me that easily, little girl,” he growls softly.

My skin breaks out in goosebumps and I shiver, but in the best of ways. Biting my lip, I look back at Greg.

He chuckles, and I have a feeling Greg knows what happened. “The pheromones in this room are stifling,” he teases, and I blush. “Anyway, Grant and Xav are also out in the wind, as is Dr. Bennett. I want to leak a news story out to the media about some of their misdeeds. I already leaked that the hospital exploded, so that he won’t be able to claim the insurance. People know that you were at that hospital due to Grant’s press conference, so we issued a statement that you were safe.”

I nod, having a feeling the news story will probably be tracked to me. “How involved am I going to be in this news story?” I ask.

“I want to leak that you were kidnapped, and tack on the lie that they said they would kill you if anyone said something,” Greg explains. “This will take any heat off the band, Music Horde Records, and help solve any blowback that may occur.”

I nod slowly, thinking. “Jordan would be the best person to work with to spin this story,” I tell him, and Greg nods, grabbing his phone to take notes. “Roark and Turner made it look as if they were partying to pull media attention from me, and Jordan can make a statement to help sell that. It also explains a lot of the speculation the media has probably been stirring up.”

Roark grunts as he thinks. “When we were in Albuquerque and did a press conference, the media I spoke to were worried about you,” he reveals. “I think they’ll pick this story up and run with it, forcing anyone who was talking shit on the interwebs to back pedal.”

I blow out a breath, wincing. “I had so much shit happen the last couple of months, I shouldn’t be worried about what the media is saying. Except, I think I’m more worried about my fans. Doctor Bennett enjoyed telling me everyone would forget about me, and no one would care what they did to me. Fuck, the things he said to me I can’t even repeat.”

I’m looking off in a corner, remembering his words, when Orion carefully pushes my face back to face him with a finger. He’s very careful not to touch my throat, and I know the bruising is a kaleidoscope of greens and blues.

“I have another question for you,” Orion says, and I would swear shadows cross his usually clear eyes. “Everyone who has hurt you is going to die painfully, do you want to help?”

I drown in his eyes, thinking about it. “Maybe not my mom, though I want to know she’s not going to be a problem anymore. There’s something evil and unnatural about her. But everyone else? I want to learn how to make it hurt,” I tell him.

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