so quickly?
He glanced at the ornate, carved clock hanging in the main room of the hostel.
Fifteen minutes.
The guy currently holding the attention of the group Orion stood in was telling some story. Orion was grateful. It let his mind wander.
He had strict rules about what he would and would not tolerate under his roof. Each guest got a refresher upon arrival. At least for their first few stays. They could drink as much as they want and make a fool of themselves so long as they weren’t violent or harassing anyone. A single complaint from a woman would get a guest escorted to their room or off the premises. Orion’s staff wouldn’t step in if a person did drugs they had brought with them, but there was absolutely no selling on the property. The kind of people who stayed here weren’t good at being covert, so it was easy to spot. All other criminal behavior was given a zero tolerance policy.
On those grounds, he should kick Milan and Jennifer out.
But he wasn’t going to. It had never crossed his mind.
A tiny red flag waved in his head, but he ignored it.
Jennifer had been as blindsided as he. Orion couldn’t hold her accountable for something Milan had done. The girl was an adult now. There were consequences, and she’d bitten off way more than she could chew.
He’d help Milan because of his feelings for Jennifer. The rules were bending, not breaking. Helping a friend in need was an entirely different kind of thing.
Right?
Or was he compromising everything he’d built out of blindness?
Jennifer still wasn’t at fault here.
Without him, he had no doubt she’d make a call back to the Aegis Group team. Only, Orion knew from previous encounters the company didn’t have much in the way of resources on the island. It was why they’d asked favors from him.
She’d leave.
Jennifer would have to take Milan and go somewhere else.
Selfishly, Orion didn’t want that. After an experience like this, Milan probably wouldn’t come back to Ibiza for a long time. Which meant Orion would have to sneak a day here and there with Jennifer when and where he could. No. They needed to handle this quickly.
The clock hand hit the half hour.
Orion nodded, but the circle of people were still listening to the blow-hard’s story. Orion edged away, finished the last of his orange juice based mocktail and escaped the crowd.
He cut through the kitchens to avoid the guests. The staff blinked at him, some called out a greeting. He nodded and kept going. Hopefully they’d forgive him this rudeness. He made a mental note to come back later and spend some time with the kitchen staff. See if any of them had a new idea to pitch or some local vendor to supplement their outside supplies.
None of that mattered right now.
Had Jennifer made any decisions while he was gone? What was she going to do?
Mateo had assured Orion that he’d find out just who their visitor was. They needed more information before a move was made.
He let himself out of the main house and cut around the far side of the office building.
Jennifer sat on the wicker sofa on the patio. Alone. Staring at her phone.
He was so damn relieved to see her. It wasn’t until then that he’d realized part of him worried she would have left already.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
Her head snapped up. She blinked at him a few times. “Not the best.”
He closed the distance and knelt next to her, taking her hand in his. “Tell me?”
She reached out with her other hand and ran her fingers through his hair.
Normally he hated people taking such liberty with him. His hair was his, not public property. But not her. He couldn’t think of a time before now when she’d initiated a touch like this. To him, this was progress down the right path. He just wished it wasn’t motivated by a metric ton of stress.
“Milan is up in her room, probably crying. She cracked the door and heard Imogen earlier. I think that friendship is over and done with. Can’t say I’m upset about it. Milan... I want to strangle her. Her heart was in the right place, but damn.”
“Deep down, Milan is a good girl. I’ve always thought so.”
Jennifer sighed. “But, what the hell?”
He patted her knee and moved to sit next to her, one leg curled under him so he could face her. She twisted, sitting cross legged, still in her bright red trousers.
“Has Mateo said