Page 85 of Until You

I don’t know what it is, but the hair stands up on the back of my neck as I slowly sit up in bed. Shadows from the branches outside dance across my walls and only add to that twisting in my gut.

Was it a dream? A nightmare? Or is there something more there?

Fear. Welcome back, old friend.

A strangled cry pierces through the silence. I’m up and off my bed in seconds.

Crew.

The girls.

Kaleo doesn’t care about collateral damage when he has an endgame in mind.

He’s found me.

I’ve brought this on them.

I fling open my door to hear another shout. Another choked cry of agony.

Crew.

It’s coming from Crew’s room.

I fling open the door, expecting to see the worst—Crew hurt and bleeding like the men on the yacht—only to find him wrestling with unknown demons in his sleep.

“Crew.” I say his name. One time. Two times. A shove to his shoulders. His name again. “Wake up. It’s just a nightmare.”

He fights against me, but I know the minute awareness hits him because his body jolts and a slew of profanity falls from his lips. He shoves up out of his bed almost as if he has to move so his mind registers that the nightmare is over and that he’s in his bedroom.

I watch him as he paces, his hair a mess, his body misted in sweat, his face pale as pale can be. He walks past the bedroom door, and for the first time, I notice Addy and Paige peeking their head in the doorway.

“Girls,” I say softly as I move toward the door. “It was just a bad dream. He’s okay.”

“I’m okay,” Crew says weakly behind me, but I’ve already ushered the girls out of the room.

My hands are on both of their shoulders as I steer them down the hallway towards their rooms. “He’s okay,” I reiterate, trying to think how scared they must be seeing and hearing the man they think as invincible, struggling. “It was just a nightmare.”

“About that night?” Addy asks softly as she rubs her eyes.

I hope he’s okay.

“Probably.” My smile is fake, but I try to sell it. “But now he knows it wasn’t real.” I press a kiss to each of their heads, their concerned eyes breaking my heart. “Do you guys want me to tuck you back into bed?”

Nods are their answers, but instead of each sleeping in their own beds, they opt to climb into Paige’s bed together. I press kisses to their foreheads and leave the hall light on per their request before making my way back to Crew.

He’s standing at the bathroom sink, splashing water on his face, before bracing one hand on the counter as he wipes the water away with the other. He turns to look at me with bloodshot eyes and a still pale complexion.

I sit down on his bed, my back against the pillows and headboard, and wait patiently for him to take whatever time he needs. Seconds stretch to a few minutes before he walks back into the room and stands at the foot of the bed. His eyes search mine, but there is still a hollowness to them that I’d do anything to erase.

“It was about that night.” He runs a hand over the scar on his abdomen. “This night.”

“What about it, if you want to tell me?”

He starts to run a hand through his hair, hesitates for a second, as if making up his mind.

“You can trust me, you know.” I murmur something similar to his own words back to him.

“A man doesn’t like to admit he’s weak, Tennyson.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “We’re vain like that.”