Hurry, Isla did not.
Nearly two hours later, I was exhausted and pissed off when she finally returned. I was on the sofa, cradling Pippa, who’d nodded off an hour ago.
“Hi,” she whispered. “I’ll go put her to bed.” She took the baby and disappeared down the hallway.
Stretching my arm out, I fought to keep my emotions in check. This place wasn’t safe. There was no way in hell I’d let Isla and the baby live here.
I replayed the night in my head. The loud crash. The yelling. Pippa’s scared cries.
Isla’s selfless need to help the sister she’s been estranged from when we were together. She could have been hurt, for Christ’s sake. Then what would’ve happened to Pippa?
When I spoke to the police, giving my account of the incident, they’d said it was the third time they’d been called in the last month. The fucking third time!
“Hey.”
I looked up to Isla, grimacing.
“I know what you must be thinking.”
“No, I’m sure you don’t, because if you did, you wouldn’t be living in this place.”
“Now isn’t the best time to talk about it. We’re both tired. We might say something we’ll regret.”
I stood and put my hands on her shoulders. “If I hadn’t been here, would you have gone over there with the baby?”
“No, I’d never take her over there. But…” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I have left her in the crib before. But?—”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You left our baby alone while you tried to save your sister from that motherfucking drunk?” I squeezed my nape, willing myself to calm down.
She cupped my face. “I’m sorry. But I can’t ignore what’s going on. Elsie is in a bad situation.”
“A self-induced situation, if you ask me.”
“It doesn’t matter. She feels trapped, like she doesn’t have any options.” She stroked the pads of her thumbs over my cheeks as I stared down at her. This woman,mywoman, she was a damn saint.
“This isn’t okay with me, Isla. I won’t risk losing you and the baby.”
“Let’s go to bed. We’ll talk about it in the morning… or I guess in a few hours when Pippa wakes up.” She took my hands, heading toward the bedroom.
I furrowed my brows. “What are you doing?”
“I know you’re upset. I’ll let you sleep with me if you promise not to try anything. Maybe being in the same room with us will make you feel better.”
“I know you’re deflecting, so let me assure you, we will talk about what happened.”
She nodded with her finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet, so quick to get me to stop talking.
I’d move heaven and earth to get them out of this dump.
She shocked me when she went to remove my trousers, whispering, “You’ll be more comfortable, but be good”
After my pants were removed, she folded them and put them on a chair in the corner. I pulled my shirt off to test her. A soft gasp left her lips, but she didn’t object.
I smiled, liking how I could still affect her.
We crawled into bed. It was just a queen-sized bed, not nearly big enough to keep much distance between us. I’d use it to my advantage. I needed Isla in my arms, so I pulled her to me.
Feeling her body tense, I quietly said, “I won’t doanything but hold you. Unless you ask for more.” Our bodies molded together perfectly as always.
