Chapter 45

*Deacon*

He didn’t speak all the way back to the city. He didn’t want to. He decided to leave Iris at Ayden’s clinic, and not give her a chance to say anything. He wants to keep her safe. I disagree with him, horribly, but he will not listen to me. I can't say anything. It isn't my place to do so. He went straight to his house shutting the door behind him. The lights were still off. He hadn’t even turned on a lamp. I knew he was sitting in the dark, drinking his whiskey, and sulking in there all alone. I stood outside the security building and stared towards the house. Part of me wanted to go check on him, but part of me knew better. He wouldn’t even answer the door, I am sure. I stood there, leaning against the brick, watching for any movement. My phone dinged taking my attention away from the front door. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out.

Check on her. Make sure she is okay. Let me know.

-Lorcane

He hadn’t addressed himself as Lorcane in a long time. He was in a very dark place. I knew this would start a path of destruction where he lands himself in a horrible place in the end. I messaged back to tell him that I would check on her. I was going to send a message, but I didn’t want to just call the clinic. I walked inside the security office and turned on the camera. “Dial Iris Cell.” The picture popped up on the large screen in front of me of her smiling face. It saddened me that I would no longer see her smile or hear her laughter. I wouldn’t get to enjoy her little sarcastic snips, and dark humor. I would miss her. Not in the way he will, not with desire and longing. I will miss her in the way a big brother misses his sister when he goes off to the military. Like I know where she is, but I can’t be there for her. I was supposed to be the one sent to the school to protect her, but instead Ryker decided to send Andrew and Kline. I was so upset by that. The phone rang over seven times, and she did not answer. I decided to try again. Twice she didn’t answer. Now I was feeling a sickness in my stomach. I called Ayden. He answered as soon as it rang. His face was pale and sweaty, which alarmed me immediately. My heart started to beat faster. I was terrified we had left her vulnerable and something bad happened. “Where is Iris?” I asked quickly and more sharply than I intended to. “She is in her room. She had a visitor.” His words didn’t comfort me. “What kind of visitor?” I asked grabbing the keys ready to go to the car. “A friend, she said. His name is Theo, I think he is a cop.” I sat down, stunned, and looked up at the screen. “Show me, but don’t tell her.” Ayden looked confused and frankly uncomfortable with my request, but we paid him too much to tell me no.

When he walked into her room, he mumbled something about needing to check on her again. He held the phone to his side so I could hardly see their faces. I could only hear them talking. “I couldn’t stop thinking and worrying about you.” The man said softly. He was trying to tell her he wanted her. Is she so detached that she might take this man up on his offer. “I want to make sure you are protected Iris.” He continued. “Deacon will keep me safe, Theo, I know he will.” Her words crushed me. I want to be there to make sure she is safe. I want to be the one she sees when she walks out of her class at school. I want her to know I am there to trade my life for hers if needed. “Deacon is a great security man baby, but Lorcane just left you here. He must not be too concerned with your safety. If I found you here, so can the others from the Mob he pissed off.” I slammed my hand into the desk in front of me. I couldn’t say anything, but I was getting more infuriated with each word he spit out. He Is using her current vulnerabilities to make himself her hero. I didn’t know what to do. “Is everything looking okay Doc?” Theo asked the Ayden, a bit confused to why he was still standing there no speaking. Ayden told them that she looked to be doing well and could be sent home with meds and supervision the next morning. “I don’t want to go back to the school.” Her words were sad, shaky, and uncertain. She didn’t know what to do now that Ryker had left her there. He left her there without any back up. He left her there with no where to go. She doesn’t want to go to the school. I must help her. I hung up the phone and walked out of the door of the security building heading straight for Ryker’s front door.

I knocked hard, like a police officer, and stood there waiting impatiently. Nothing. He didn’t even bother coming to the door. I knocked again, this time calling at the same time. “RYKER, LET ME IN!” I yelled loudly. He still didn’t respond. His refusal to answer gave me a good reason to open the door with my master key.

“What are you doing Deac?” He glared up at me from his table in the kitchen. He had a bottle of whiskey, no glass, and his phone in his hand. I could only see him from the dim light on his phone. “Are you kidding me? Ryker? What the hell are you doing? Just going to sit in here and drink the pain away? You left her in that hospital to deal with her shit on her own while you sit here and drink in the dark. Now she is sitting in a hospital bed with a man telling her he can help, a man that isn’t you.” That grabbed his attention. It wasn’t good attention, it made him angry. Angry and drunk doesn’t mix for anyone, but especially not for Ryker Lorcane. “What the fuck is your problem? Get the FUCK out of my house.” He growled at me, but I stood my ground. I care for Ryker, he was my friend, my boss, and my mentor. He was like a brother to me, more than an employer. I had a huge amount of respect for the man he is. The man he had become with his childhood is almost a miracle. He had darkness, we all do, but he was a good man, nonetheless. “You’re good with that huh? Good with Theo sitting there comforting her while you sit here and kill your liver?” I sat down at the table across from him. He looked up at me, taking a long sip from the bottle, and shook his head. “All I have don’t is caused problems for her Deacon. I should have listened to you in the beginning. You told me not to chase after some young innocent college girl. I didn’t listen. I put myself in the exact position to have her. It was no accident.” His words weren’t a surprise to me. When Ryker Lorcane wants something, he will stop at nothing to have it. “I have ruined it all. I put her in danger. I have set her far behind in school. I almost got her killed.” I looked at him as he spoke. I didn’t think I had ever seen him so broken, defeated, and sad. “She needs Lorcane.” His eyes sparked some at my words. The people who feared him before we left the city, they called him by his last name. They talked about him like he was a ghost, or an urban legend. He had learned how to win. He had learned how to remove any obstacle and never suffer any consequences. It got worse after Ivy disappeared. He got very dark for a long while. Then he felt guilt, so much guilt, he quit his law practice amongst other things, and went to the school He left the city and Lorcane behind, but that power is exactly what Iris needed to get past this. That power is what she needs to keep her safe. Its what she needs to get back on track, I just didn’t know how to make him see that. I stood up and grabbed his liquor bottle and took a big swig of my own. “Don’t just leave her behind and sit here sulking for months in the dark. Show her the perks of having someone like Lorcane love her.” My words startled him. I used a word he was barely familiar with. “I don’t...” he started to deny loving that woman, but I stopped him. I motioned to him and the bottle before speaking up.

“Ryker, no man hurts this bad over some submissive girl getting away. This is a burning pain, a harsh unforgiving pain. This pain comes from losing someone you are in love with.” He was silent for what felt like a long time. He looked up at me and slightly nodded, “Let’s go get her.”