I did it.
Once both arms are free, I get off the bench, looking immediately for something to cover my nakedness with.
All the while, I can’t stop smiling. I can’t stop feeling like I can survive anything.
Lennox.
I pause.
I hate him.
I want him.
Could I learn to love him?
He taught me more in one lesson than Hayes could in a month. It was brutal and harsh. But he knows how stubborn and determined to get in my own way I am. And he knows how I desperately need to be reminded that I can save myself. That I’m strong. That I can’t always fight back with my fists, but if I can calm my mind, I can find a way to save myself or, more importantly, others.
I find a towel and wrap it around myself before heading out. I don’t know what to do about Lennox, but first things first, I need to go back to our apartment and get dressed.
And I need to get my journal back.
I open the door, and Lennox falls back, my journal in his hand.
He’s been leaning against the door this whole time, ensuring no one touches me.
I smirk at that.
And then I realize exactly how I’m going to handle him.
I drop the towel.
And Lennox sits up quickly.
“That was fast,” he says.
“I’m a fast learner. Thanks for the lesson.” I strut past him, almost completely naked.
Lennox is shocked. Shocked that I didn’t fight with him, that I thanked him.
And now he’s shocked that I’m not covering myself up in front of the dozen men in the hallway.
“Keep your eyes off my wife if you don’t want to end up dead,” Lennox growls down the hallway.
The men’s eyes flicker upward, but not before they all get an eyeful of my body.
I can hear Lennox growling his discontent with me as I walk to our apartment.
Serves him right for the harsh lesson. I’m not going to let him win our battles without a little bit of retribution, even if I’m starting to enjoy them immensely.
Chapter31
Lennox
“There have been no more attacks?”Vincent Corsi asks.
“None, sir,” I say into my phone while I pace outside of Hayes’s room. Gage has healed well and has been sleeping on the floor next to Hayes’s bed. While Hayes has been taking a longer time to heal. Probably because he keeps trying to push himself and then reopens his stitches. If he’d just stay in bed, he’d be healed by now. Which is why Gage is now sleeping on the floor to ensure he stays in bed instead of trying to cook for everyone or cheer everyone up.
“Good.” There’s a pause as if he’s deciding if he should tell me the next part or not. But then he says, “Be ready for anything.”