Chapter 11 Under My Protection
Orion
I did not care about the water soaking into the expensive carpet. I did not care about Phillip or the staff staring at us with their mouths open. My only focus was the girl in my arms.
Coralyn was shaking so hard I thought her bones might snap. She was small, cold, and breaking apart. The moment we had reached the edge of the pool, I had ripped my own shirt off. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t care that I was standing there bare-chested in front of my employees. I just needed to cover her. I wrapped the fabric around her, shielding her bare chest from the crowd.
My rage was a cold, vibrating thing inside my chest. It wasn't a loud anger. It was the kind of quiet fury that usually ended in a body being found in a ditch. I was an Enforcer once. I had spent years trying to bury that part of me, trying to be a "clean" businessman who wore suits and talked about guest capacities. But seeing her like this? It brought the monster right back to the surface.
As I carried her toward the elevators, a sound sliced through the air.
It was a laugh.
It wasn't a normal laugh. It was a jagged, ugly, gangster sound. It was the sound of a man who enjoyed watching something beautiful get destroyed. I knew without looking that it was Kade.
I stopped. My muscles locked. Every instinct I had told me to drop Coralyn gently into Zilla’s arms, turn around, and kill that man with my bare hands. I wanted to feel his neck snap. I wanted to see the light go out of his eyes.
"Orion," Zilla whispered. She was following close behind, her eyes wide and filled with tears. "Please. Just get her out of here."
I felt Coralyn flinch against me. She was sobbing into my shoulder, her fingers clutching my neck like I was the only thing keeping her on this earth. If I went back for Kade now, I would be leaving her alone. She needed me more than Kade needed a beating. For now.
I turned my back on the laughter and stepped into the elevator.
The ride up to the suite was silent, except for the sound of Coralyn’s heavy, wet breathing and the drip-drip-drip of pool water on the floor. Zilla stood in the corner, looking like she was about to collapse herself. I didn't say a word. I couldn't. If I opened my mouth, I was afraid I would start screaming.
When we reached the suite, I carried her straight to the living area. I set her down on the plush sofa.
"Zilla, get a robe. The thickest one we have," I ordered.
Zilla scrambled toward the bathroom and came back a second later with a heavy white robe. I helped Coralyn out of my wet shirt and wrapped her in the robe. I tied the belt tight, making sure she was completely covered. I sat her down in the armchair by the white lamp. The light was soft, but it showed every detail of her misery. Her hair was a matted, wet mess. Her eyes were red and puffy.
I knelt on the floor in front of her. I took a deep breath, trying to force the Enforcer back down so I wouldn't scare her.
"Coralyn," I said. My voice was uncharacteristically gentle. It felt strange in my throat. "Look at me."
She didn't look up at first. She just stared at her hands, which were tucked into the sleeves of the robe.
"Tell me what happened," I said. "I need to hear it. All of it."
She shivered. A stray tear ran down her cheek. Then, the dam broke.
"He... he thinks he owns me," she whispered. Her voice was thin and shaky. "Kade. We have a history, Orion. Not a good one. He’s from the place I tried to leave behind. He’s a hornet’s nest. If you poke him, he just gets more toxic."
I watched her face. Every word she spoke felt like a blade twisting in my gut.
"He told me I was trash," she continued, her voice gaining a little bit of strength from her anger. "He said I was just climbing the 'Merrick ladder.' He thinks I'm using you to get out of the gutter. But it wasn't just that. He saw the way you looked at me. He saw the way I looked at you. He told me I belonged with him, in the trash. When I told him you were a better man... he just snapped. He pushed me. He knew I couldn't swim. He wanted to see me drown."
She started to cry again, her shoulders shaking. "He felt like you were snatching me away from him. Like I was a prize he lost."
I listened to every word. My face was a mask of deep, bottle-green intensity. I didn't blink. I didn't move. I just absorbed her pain.
I realized something at that moment. I had started this with a crush. I thought Coralyn was beautiful and smart, and I liked having her around. But as I sat there on the floor, watching her fall apart because of a man I had allowed into my circle, that crush evolved.
It became something far more dangerous.
I liked her more than I had planned. I didn't just want to date her; I wanted to protect her. I wanted to be the wall between her and the rest of the world. And to do that, I realized I couldn't be the "clean" businessman anymore. To handle a man like Kade, I had to return to my dark roots. I had to be the man I used to be. The man people were afraid of.
I stood up. My mind was made up.
"Zilla, stay with her," I said.
I walked over to the desk and picked up the phone. I dialed Phillip’s direct line. He picked up on the first ring.
"Orion, I am so sorry about what happened at the pool…"
"Quiet, Phillip," I cut him off. My voice was like ice. "I don't want an apology. I want Kade handled. Now."
"What do you mean 'handled'?" Phillip asked, his voice trembling.
"I mean I want him gone from the public eye. Put him in the lock-up downstairs. The one we use for the violent drunks before the police arrive. But don't call the police yet. Give him a few days there. No windows. No comforts. I want him to have a long time to think about what he did. Make sure he understands that this is a lesson. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir," Phillip said. He knew better than to argue when I sounded like this.
I hung up the phone. It wasn't enough, not really. A few days in a cell was nothing compared to what I wanted to do to him. But it was a start. It would keep him away from her while I figured out a permanent solution.
I walked back over to Coralyn. I knelt in front of her again. This time, I didn't care about being professional or keeping a distance. I took her small, cold hands in mine. They were still damp, but they were starting to warm up.
"Coralyn, look at me," I said.
This time, she raised her head. Her eyes met mine. I saw the fear in them, but I also saw a flicker of hope.
"He is never going to touch you again," I said. I made a promise. It wasn't just a comfort; it was a vow. "I don't care who he is or what he thinks he owns. You are under my protection now. If he even looks at you the wrong way, he will have to answer to me."
"Orion, you don't have to do this," she whispered. "He's dangerous. He has friends."
"I don't care," I said.
I knew what this meant. By stepping back into that world of violence and "handling" people, I was risking the clean life I had worked so hard to build. I was risking my reputation and my business. If the authorities found out I was throwing people in private lock-ups to teach them lessons, I could lose everything.
But as I looked at Coralyn, really looked at her, I realized I didn't care about the clean life. A life is only clean if the people you love are safe. If she wasn't safe, then none of my success mattered.
"He won't hurt you anymore," I repeated.
I pulled her hands up and kissed her knuckles. I stayed there, kneeling on the floor like a servant to a queen, while the white lamp glowed beside us. The rage was still there, buzzing under my skin, but for now, I pushed it aside.
She needed a protector, and I was going to be exactly that. Whatever the cost.
I held her hands tight, promising myself that Kade’s laughter was the last thing that man would ever enjoy at Coralyn’s expense.