Worry overrides my relief.
I shrug out of my suit coat and squat beside her.She cringes away and curls tighter into herself.
“You’re okay, sweet pea.I’ve got you,” I murmur as I coax her to lean forward away from the wall.
I settle my coat around her shoulders and scoop her up into my arms.
Her disjointed, uncertain voice as she whispers my name shreds my soul.
“Yes, I’m here,” I assure her.
She sneaks a dainty hand out from between the lapels of my suit coat and fills her fist with the front of my shirt.
I hook my foot around the leg of a chair and pull it out from under the table before sitting and settling her in my lap.
Her shaking worsens.I wrap myself around her as best I can and force myself to take deep, steady breaths.
As the fear and panic linger in my veins, I vow to never let her out of my sight again.
I need Penelope Miles in my life.She’s too stubborn, sweet, and innocent for this world.
I’ll protect her no matter what it takes, even if it means protecting her from herself.
She’s mine.All mine.
Chapter 9
Penelope Miles
Painful warmth seeps into meas Sebastian’s delicious woodsy scent fills my nostrils, and I cling to him despite my resolve to push him away.
The horrors are too close.Even with his hard thighs under my ass and his massive arms wrapped around me, I shake from the nightmares replaying in my memories.
“What’s wrong, sweet pea?”
The concern in his voice—along with the agonizing reminders of what happened when he turned his back on me—implodes my fear and transfers the energy into a catastrophic explosion of anger.
I push out of his arms, stumbling on my wobbly legs, but pull his coat tighter around me as I shrug away from his attempt to help me regain my balance.
“Don’t call me that, especially not in that tone.I’m not your sweet pea, and I don’t need your condescension,” I snap.
His thick eyebrows shoot up into his hairline before settling into a frustrated scowl.
“I’m not being condescending—”
“Do you really think so little of me?”I interrupt.
“What?I never said—”
“You didn’t have to.”His expression darkens, but rage fuels my courage and my tongue refuses to stop.“It’s fine.Keep believing the lies.You’re just going to abandon me again anyway.”
“Penelope,” he warns.
“I didn’t lock myself in!”The admission explodes from my chest.I can’t control my mouth any more than I can stop the way my body wakes every time he’s near.“Not today and not fifteen years ago.No matter what my brother said about me, I am not a useless klutz.I know how to work doors, for flipping sake.”
My chest hurts from breathing so hard.Sebastian reaches out, grabs the empty sleeves of his suit coat, and tugs me closer.
“What do you mean?”he asks.
