Page 114 of Time To Learn

“Is Ailith okay?” I ask as I take off towards the house.

“Well, yes and no,” she starts, making me frown.

“What do youmean?”

Spit it out, damnit!

“Okay, I don’t want you to worry, Laura, but Ailith had a bad night. Lots of nightmares, and it took a while for her to fall back to sleep.”

I grip the phone tighter as sadness settles in my heart. She hasn’t suffered from them for such a longtime.

“Why didn’t you ring me?” Iask.

“Once she settled, I didn’t want you to rush down here in the middle of the night. She’s not too bad, considering, but maybe it’s best you come fetch her early. I think she wants to gohome.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I breathe, as I open the door to the kitchen.

“Good. And, Laura?”

“Yes?”

“She kept whispering stuff about her father,” Sophie whispersthen.

With a shaking hand, I touch the scar on my cheek briefly.

“What stuff?” I force the question through mylips.

She hesitates for a couple of seconds, making me wish I could reach inside the phone and shakeher.

“While crying,” she starts softly, “she kept shouting, Leave Mummy alone, Daddy! You’ll hurther!”

I swallow the thickness in my throat and bend over, sick to my stomach.

“Laura,” Sophie’s soothing voice pulls me away from my thoughts, “whatever happened before you came back here, I just want to say I’m sorry. Truly sorry. And to offer you a listening ear if you should ever needit.”

I take a deep breath and clear my throat. I already know I’ll dismiss her offer, but her kind words still mean a lot tome.

“Thank you. Give me half an hour, and I’ll be there. Bye.”

“See yousoon.”

As I end the call, I rush upstairs to wake up Kristian. As I round the corner, I run smack into a hard, naked chest, and I shriek as I come close to falling back on myarse.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Kristian chuckles as he wraps his arms around me. I try to wiggle out of his hold, adrenaline coursing through my body, and look up at his face. The amusement in his eyes vanishes as he takes in my tear-stainedface.

“What’s wrong?”

My head spins as I disappear down, down, down to the abyss that is my past. The deeper I fall, the less I seem able to see the man in front of me clearly.

“Ailith,” I whisper brokenly.

As if from afar, I watch Kristian’s jaw tightening and his brows knit together in a deadly frown.

“What’s happened?” he growls.

His tight hold on my arms brings me back to the present, and I blink a couple of times, trying to banish the shadows of the pastaway.

“I have to go fetch her, but Mum has my car,” I mumble and then give up fighting his embrace. I slump and melt into his arms, resting my cheek on his warm chest. As my heartbeat settles down, I breathe in his scent.

“We’ll take mine. Just give me thirty seconds to get dressed, and we’llgo.”

His prompt answer is all I need to hear to feel sanity return. No questions, no demands, just an offer to help me—it means more than he can possiblyknow.

“Thank you,” I burrow deeper into his arms, my breath hitching, before I take a step back and lookup.

“Anytime,” he murmurs. Briskly, he leans down to kiss my lips, and I sigh in gratitude. Without another word, he leaves me to do as he promised. He gets dressed in no time, and then we’re on ourway.