“I know, Baby,” I whisper, my voice coming out hoarse as I slide a thumb over her jaw. “I feel it too.”
Her breath catches and my heart jackknifes as I realize the magnitude of my confession. The impact it could have for Molly and me.
I screw my face up and kiss her again before she can say anything. Keeping us in this moment. A moment where I can allude to the way I feel without having to consider theramifications.
A moment where it’s just me and her. And my daughter sleeping soundly in another room.
A moment that’s perfect, even if it is fleeting.
I kiss Tate deeply, savoring her taste as I move inside her.
In this moment, my body is free to dream alongside hers.
Tonight, I’m sleeping without nightmares.
34
SULLIVAN
The room is dimly litwhen I wake. But it’s light enough for me to realize that I didn’t set my alarm and overslept.
“Shit,” I whisper-curse, my thoughts immediately flying to Molly.
I scoot out from beneath the covers and swipe my underwear from the floor, pulling it on in a frenzy. I’m out of the door, pulling it closed behind me, and heading to Molly’s bedroom within a matter of seconds.
It’s fine. She must have slept later, too. Yesterday was a long and emotional day. But despite my self-reassurance, my heart is thundering as I approach her room and find her door open, despite closing it when I put her to bed last night.
“Molly?” I say, stepping into the room.
Her bed’s empty.
“Molly?”
I check her bathroom, but that’s deserted too. She’ll be playing with her dolls in the living area.
I stride down the hallway.
The living area is silent.
A cold slither inches up my spine and pins me by the throat.
“Molly?”
I race over to the kitchen, checking all of the places she could be where she’d be hidden from view.
Nothing.
My head grows light, my pulse an erratic pounding in my skull. I run from room to room, my home office, gym, guest rooms, bathrooms.
Every room, every closet. Even beneath the couch.
She’s gone.
“Jesus!” I choke, fear gripping and making me gasp for air.
I’ve only ever felt like this once in my life.
The day that death showed my family no mercy.
