The silent plea for me to keep going.
The hovering right there on the edge of fear and peace.
I sobbed as I threw a leg over her lower body and held her down. Every second that passed was pure agony, but only because I’d made my own choice to follow her and I wanted to be right behind her when she went.
Her eyes didn’t close when she finally stopped struggling, so it was hard to be sure she was gone. It wasn’t until her hands slipped from where she’d been holding onto my wrist and a single tear slid down her cheek that I knew it was done.
I’d saved her.
I’d saved us both.
I turned over on the bed and reached beneath it to search out the piece of the metal I’d been working free of the mattress frame for weeks. I’d finally gotten it loose this morning. My intent had been to use it as a weapon during the grandescape plan I’d come up with – the one that never would have worked – but it would serve another purpose now.
I turned on my back and without any kind of hesitation, pressed the tip of the metal against the skin along the inside of my forearm. The relief masked the pain as blood welled around my makeshift blade, and I closed my eyes and pressed up against Mouse, ready to follow her over to the other side.
Chapter 7
Cash
I managedto keep up a conversation with Daisy, but my gut was rolling with tension as I kept glancing over my shoulder at Sage.
I couldn’t help but think I’d royally fucked up by letting Daisy come stay with us. But when she’d looked at me in that hotel room, I’d known it was what she needed. I’d seen it in Sage’s eyes too, as he’d been pressed up against her side. Selfishly, I’d wanted it too. I’d wanted a chance to explore this thing between the three of us, so I’d put aside the complications it could potentially cause and I’d seized on Daisy’s unspoken request.
Never in a million years would I have thought she’d choose me and Sage over Ronan.
But she had, and I wanted to believe there was a reason for it.
Yes, it could’ve just been her reacting to the moment – Sage and I had been her saviors, after all. But Ronan wasn’t just any guy. He’d saved Daisy’s life first, he’d given her a new purpose… he watched out for her and treated her like a daughter or younger sister. If there was anyone in this world she would have felt completely safe with, it was Ronan Grisham.
Yet, she’d chosen us.
And she’d done it in a way that had spoken to all of my darkest needs.
She hadn’t been able to just voice her request, so she’d looked to me to do it for her. To give her what she needed.
It was the exact same thing Sage had done two years earlier when he’d been trashing that hotel room in a fit of rage. In that moment when I’d wrestled him to the floor and he’d practically ordered me to fuck him, I’d seen something else.
I’d always wondered if I’d just been projecting my own needs on him, but after everything that had happened between us, I knew that wasn’t the case.
We’d somehow lucked out in finding in each other what we’d both been looking for.
But to have lightning strike twice?
Impossible.
But the proof was currently setting our kitchen table.
I’d thought it was what Sage wanted, but there was no denying how much he was struggling. And I wasn’t in a position to give him what he needed. Giving him an occasional order when Daisy was outside of hearing distance wasn’t enough to quell whatever was burning inside of him. But I couldn’t risk exposing our unique lifestyle to Daisy.
She’d go running for sure.
But the more I watched Sage, the more I knew I’d monumentally fucked up. I’d seen Daisy as some kind of balm for him, but he couldn’t let go of his fear long enough to even interact with her. I’d thought being around her might offer some kind of shift for him, but I was wrong.
Having her around didn’t make him need me any less.
She didn’t tip the scales enough that he no longer needed the dynamics of our relationship.
Which left me to wonder what I’d managed to even accomplish by bringing Daisy home with us.
