“I want to see you. Can I come up this weekend?”
I cringed and glanced at Shawn. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Jillian.”
“I don’t care.”
He shook his head and mouthed No, like he knew exactly what she’d asked.
I probably should have kept my mouth shut when I told everyone how much trouble I was really in. Oversharing was the worst thing, and I’d never had a problem with it before. Yet for some stupid reason, ever since running from my wedding, I couldn’t stop telling everyone everything.
Now I knew that could probably end up with someone else I cared about dead.
If Daniel even suspected Jillian knew where I was now, her life was at risk. How crazy that I wasn’t overexaggerating.
“Adrianna—”
“No. I’m sorry, honey, but honestly, it’s just not safe for you to be here. Trust me. I can’t even tell you what happened, what I know, but I promise you, I’ll call and text you every day. We can FaceTime whenever you want to make sure I’m okay, but seeing me in person, being here? That’s the worst thing you could do.”
“Gosh,” she groaned, and I imagined her falling back on her couch, tucking her feet beneath her, and grabbing a glass of red wine. “I’m sure you’re right, but I’ve been so freaked. Who could have imagined all this stuff with them? And from what my parents have said, Charleston is a freaking wreck. Half the city believes it’s a lie, half the city is calling for his blood. They’re protesting in the streets. Last night a car was set on fire. It’s insane.”
“I’m sure.” I ran a hand through my slightly damp hair. “Try being the cause of all of it.”
Guilt weighed heavily on me. Whoever’s car had been set on fire, whoever would be injured because of this, it was all because I had made a choice. If I had accepted my fate like the good little girl they’d believed me to be, none of this would have been happening. It was a choice I didn’t regret and never would…but all this was still because of me. On the other hand, also because of me, their sex trafficking operation was shut down, Matthew was off the streets, and for now, girls weren’t being sent in a shipping container to who knows where for who knows what.
A boulder the size of Texas grew in my stomach. “I should probably go,” I croaked, “but if you learn anything from your parents, or if Daniel calls you—”
“I’ll let you know immediately. I promise.”
“Thank you.” I breathed out a heavy sigh. “Love you, Jilly-bean.” I loved teasing her with the nickname Klaus had given her, the one she claimed she hated but actually loved.
“Call. Every day, okay?”
“I will.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it to the cushion on the far side of the couch. With my eyes closed, I rested my head against the back of the couch and carefully brought a glass of wine to my lips.
“This week is officially the worst week of my life.”
“It’ll get better,” Shawn said, and it sounded like a vow. “I guarantee it.”
With that look in his eye and the fierceness of his stance, I had no doubt Shawn wouldn’t rest until it was done.
8
Shawn
A cry echoed in the room and I was awake, curling toward Addi and pulling her into my arms while she thrashed and screamed in my ear.
“It’s okay, Addi,” I whispered. “You’re safe.”
She clawed at me in her sleep, bucking her hips against me. It was the third night in a row she’d cried out in her sleep, and every night it was the same pounding scream that left her throat hoarse and my own body exhausted. Neither of us were sleeping, me because I couldn’t sleep heavily knowing Addi was going to have another nightmare, and Addi because she kept having them. She went to sleep in my arms, pressed tight to me, and even though I knew the nightmares were coming, I still couldn’t pull away from the coconut scent she always had in order to give us enough space so I could get some rest.
Even now, as she was thrashing and groaning and crying out against me, coconuts and sunshine invaded my senses. With her body against mine, it was still a difficult task not to get hard at the feel of her. Her nightmares weren’t getting better. If I had to hazard a guess, I actually thought they were getting worse, although some of it could be attributed to sleep deprivation, at least on my part.
“Addi.” I called her name louder and grabbed her wrists before she could score her nails down my stomach. Her shirt was so sweaty it clung to her body, wetting my arms and chest where she was pressed to me.
I rolled her to her back, straddling her hips, and shoved her wrists above her head.
“Addi.”
She shook, cried out, and screamed.
“Addi! Wake up!”
They’d never been this bad before. She usually woke up quicker, but this one had her in its grip, and a ball of fury rolled through me as I continued to try to wake her.
Daniel Johannsen would die for the pain and suffering he’d caused her. During the day, she put on a good, strong face, but it was just a mask. At night she was tormented, and there was nothing I could do because in the daytime, she acted like nothing had happened, and after I finally got her settled after these nightmares woke her up, she refused to talk and fell back asleep.
But at least she fell back asleep in my arms, letting me hold her close, and slept the rest of the night.
She went from screaming and crying to groaning. Despair pulsed off her, and she went limp, the fight leaving her. I did the first thing I could think of to do when she was beneath me like this, her body stretched, confined in my grip. Smart? Hell no. I risked her biting my face off.
I’d manage.
I bent down and brushed my lips over hers. Her body tensed, and she turned away, which was perfect. “Addi, it’s Shawn. You need to wake up, honey.”
She whimpered and arched against me, no sign of pain as her features softened. With her lips parting and her breath slowing, I dragged my mouth along her jaw. I kept my eyes on her, my fingers to her pulse at her wrists. Aware of every reaction, I leaned in and kissed her again, slowly, until she gasped and whimpered beneath me and her eyes fluttered open.
“You’re okay,” I whispered, brushing my lips over hers. “You’re awake and okay now. I’ve got you.”
Pink lips tipped up at the edges. “That’s better than how I woke up last night.”
She laughed, but it was breathy. Hell, it surprised me she had any voice left after her screaming.
I rolled off her and pulled her to me, wrapping her in my arms. My palms were wet from the sweat drenching her, and her heart was still racing as she burrowed into me. Addi was always so strong. When she needed me like this, it made me feel ten feet tall.
I ran one hand through her hair and kissed the top of her head. “You might need to think about talking to someone. These nightmares are getting worse.”
“I’ll be fine once this is all over.”
I doubted it, not with the intensity of them. When we were more awake, I needed to get to the heart of why she was refusing to talk to someone, but this couldn’t continue for her own health. “We don’t know when that will be.”