39. Saturday Week Fifteen (the explanation.)

Despite me not wanting Eli to come into my house, he insisted he was there with me. Raven and Cayden said that they were going to cause some sort of emergency that would require the men watching my house to leave, giving me some time with my Nan.

Men watching my house. It still didn't feel real but the threat that Mikael posed loomed over us and you could feel the danger in the air. Eli was on edge, I could tell from his straight back and the way his bright blue orbs kept scanning everything they saw. And him on edge, put me on edge.

Of course, he noticed and grabbed my hand before we went in. I looked at him as he spoke, "you'll be fine, tigru."

I tugged my hand out of his and ignored the way that it felt empty, "we'll see," I responded before entering the house to find my Nan watching Harry Potter in the lounge — she loved it because it made her feel closer to England.

"Hey, monkey," she called when she heard the door open, she turned to look at me and she smiled wide when she saw Eli, "Ryker!" she exclaimed, "you having dinner, sweetie?"

Replying before he could, I shook my head, "we can't stay, Nana."

She frowned, "we? Where are you going, Rei?"

I sat next to her on the sofa and turned off the TV, clasping both of her hands firmly in my own, "I have to tell you something, Nana, and I need you to just listen, okay?"

Scepticism flashed across her face and her frown deepened as her eyes flickered between my serious face and Eli standing sentry at the door.

"Okay," she drawled slowly, sounding very unsure.

Without meaning too, my eyes flickered over to Eli who gave me a flicker of a nod as reassurance.

"Remember when you asked where I met Eli?" She nodded slowly, "I said school, but I lied. We actually met at a fight, an illegal one," her brows rose but as requested, she didn't say anything, "Eli fights Nana, he fights for money and he does it because of his father."

I took a deep breath, "his dad, Mikael, heads a gang and he has Eli doing all sorts of messed up shit, Nana. It's why we need to get him out, that's what we are working on right now but in order to make sure you and Ty are safe, I need to move out for a while."

Nan gasped and shook her head vehemently, "absolutely not. I don't know what kind of crap you have wrapped yourself up in, Reillyn, but there is no way you are leaving home!"

"It's to keep you safe, Nana."

"Safe? That is my job, tell me how you moving out will protect you? It won't, but I will, Reillyn, I always have."

"You can't protect me from this, Nana, no matter how badly I want you to. These men will go to extreme lengths and Eli is our best option right now."

"We'll find something else," she said dejectedly.

"Nana, I have to do this," my voice broke at the sight of unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

"You do not! I will not lose you, Reillyn. I lost your mother," her voice broke, "and I will not let her down by losing you too," she shook her head some more and a tear slipped loose, trailing down her cheek, "No. No! There are other ways to fix this-this-this," she struggled for the right word, "this mess!"

Then she spun round in her seat so she could glare at Eli, "you!" She screeched, pointing at him, "how dare you involve her in this! How dare you get her wrapped up in your messed up life!"

Eli's mask stayed up and his face showed nothing as he simply stared back at my Nan, but then his eyes skipped past her to land on me and he flinched as guilt briefly flickered in his ocean blue eyes.

My hands rose and I discovered my cheeks were wet with tears from watching my Nan break down, "Nana, please," she turned back to me at my plea, "Nana, I have to do this, I need to. I'm sorry, Nana, I'm so so sorry," my eyes had turned down and I was staring anywhere but at her, unable to stand the sight of the strongest woman I knew with tear tracks marring her skin.

Immediately, she began shaking her head and cupped my face gently, turning my head to look at her, "you have no reason to be sorry, Rei, but I will not allow you to place yourself in danger just because you think you are keeping us safe."

I placed my hands on top of hers, holding her hands against my cheeks as I smiled at her, "I won't be in danger," my eyes flickered to Eli, "I trust him to keep me safe, Nana, but there is no way for us to protect you and Ty if I stay here, leaving is the only option," her hands began to slip as she realised this was something I was going to do, with or without her permission but I clasped them tightly in my own and held them where they were, "I promise, it's not for forever, it is just until we fix this," I squeezed her hands, "and we will fix this."

She looked at Eli and he gave her a sharp nod, his assurance that it would be okay, that he was going to get me out of this.

She breathed in a shaky breath, "Ty is in his room," she dropped my hands and turned away from me, "you should say goodbye."

My heart clenched at the word goodbye but I rose from the sofa and padded over to his room, Eli trailing behind me.

"Lyni!" Ty screamed in joy upon seeing me and I grinned, crouching down to catch him as he ran into my arms.

I squeezed him tight against me, "I've missed you, little man."

He pulled away with a smile but that smile fell off his face when he saw my tears. He raised a chubby little hand to wipe at them, "what's wrong, Lyni?"

'Wrong' sounded like 'wong' and I smiled at his inability to make the 'r' sound. I wiped at my tears and set him down on his bed, "I have to go away for a while, Ty, but I'll be back before you know it."

My heart clenched when he frowned — he was too young to frown.

"Where are you going?"

"Just away for a little bit, with Ryker," I motioned to Eli with my hand but Tyler paid him no heed as he stared at me in confusion.

"So you're leaving?"

"Not leaving, little man, just going away for a while."

"But you promise you'll come back?"

Instead of responding, I pulled him into a hug but he wasn't having it. He pushed me away and jumped to his feet, stomping his left foot.

"No!" He yelled, "this isn't fair," he pointed at me, "you said that you wouldn't leave me like Mummy and Daddy."

I shook my head, my tears uncontrollable, "no, buddy, they didn't leave you and I'm not either, I just have to go away for a bit," I reached for him but he swatted my hands away.

"No!" He screamed, stamping his foot again, "I don't want to be alone. I HATE YOU!"

A sob wrenched free of my throat and I reached for him again but he pushed me away and ran from the room, the sound of Nan's bedroom door slamming resonating through the house before silence.

Taking a deep breath in, I wiped my tears and made my way to my room. Pulling a bag out from under my bed, I began shoving things away at random, ignoring the pain in my chest, the sting in my eyes from withholding tears.

Eli's hand rested comfortingly on my shoulder, "tigru," he breathed out.

But before he could continue I shrugged his hand off, "don't," I said, "don't say a fucking word, Ryker."

Then I zipped up my bag and left.

Left my home, my Nan, my brother. My family.

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