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Did they do this while I was in the diner trying to calm down?

This feels like a more personal attack. The destruction indicates there are emotions involved, which makes me think it’s probably separate from the van, or at the very least, not the same people.

Plus, the message over my bed is kind of unmistakably emotional. I’m sure it’s no coincidence this happened after the night I lost my virginity, but I try not to think too hard about that. Because if that’s the case, if that’s what set whoever this is off, that means they knew Orion was here, that he stayed the night, and that means someone’s following me.

I swallow heavily as my phone starts vibrating in my purse. I can’t believe I didn’t drop it in my shock, but on muscle memory alone, I pull my phone out and answer the call, not bothering to check the ID.

“Yeah?” I murmur softly.

“I need you at the club tonight.” Lucas’s voice is cold and indifferent, but I guess he likely doesn’t know my entire world has been destroyed.

“I can’t.”

“You’ll do as you’re fucking told, Ember,” he snaps.

“Someone broke into my apartment and destroyed everything. I’m going to be stuck here with the police for…hours, probably. And then I have to find somewhere to sleep tonight.” God. Where the hell am I going to stay? Because I sure as hell can’t stay here. Not when whoever did this could come back.

I kick at my spilled bottle of body wash, the soft pink liquid leaking across the tiled floor. Is there anything that wasn’t touched? Is there a single item in this apartment that wasn’t tainted by them?

“That sounds like a personal problem, Ember, and I don’t give a fuck. You’ll come in tonight.”

I’m about to argue when my phone is pulled away from my ear, and I look up at a furious Orion.

“Lucas,” he snaps out. “Ember will not be coming in tonight, or for the foreseeable future. If you want to take it up with someone, you have my number.”

He ends the call and slips my phone in his back pocket, presumably so I don’t have to deal with Lucas’s inevitable temper tantrum.

“The cops will be here soon,” he tells me as a blanket of calm moves over his features.

“Holy fuck.” A voice in the living room drags our attention to the door, and Orion doesn’t hesitate to put his body between me and the door, tugging his gun from under his jacket again. I have questions about why he’s carrying, but I can’t really bring myself to care right now. Not when it means he can protect me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Orion growls, and I peek around his body to find Killian standing in the middle of my ruined bedroom.

“I heard her scream even through the phone. I thought you guys might need backup.”

That makes sense, I guess, seeing as he’s on Orion’s security team, but I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do here other than stare at my ruined possessions.

It’s a good thing I don’t have much of an emotional attachment to things, because I hate to think how heartbroken I would be if I did.

A thought tears through me, and I slip under Orion’s arm and past Killian, not pausing until I reach the closet.

My clothes are strewn across the floor, torn and tattered, but I don’t care about any of that.

I drop to my knees and reach into the back corner of the closet, but when my fingers don’t touch the small shoebox I stashed there, panic slams into me so hard I can barely breathe.

“Ember?” Orion’s voice seems far away, even though I’m sure he’s standing at the door.

I don’t bother responding, instead tearing through the remains of my clothes, searching, and coming up empty.

All the cash I’ve saved over the years for my new life—the life without Lucas holding the reins—is gone. The only photos I have of Travis and me from our childhood are gone. Everything I cared about was in that box, and now it’s gone.

A ragged sob tears from my throat. The agony in my chest is so familiar, I almost greet it as an old friend.

I’m no stranger to loss, but this just feels like losing Travis all over again, and I don’t know if I’ll survive this time.

Time passes in a blur.

Orion carries me out of the closet and holds me in his lap as police take my statement. I have no idea what I tell them, but they seem satisfied enough with my responses, and all the while, Orion lends me his strength.