Holt pushed to his feet. “I’m going to put these pieces into place and then go talk to Mom and Dad. They’re freaked.”
Grae winced. “I told them I was fine.”
Lawson shook his head. “Would you be okay if this were happening to your daughter?”
“No,” she mumbled.
“Give them a little grace.”
Grae sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I’ll call them again later.”
Lawson nodded, and then he, Nash, and Holt headed for the door. I followed them out of the living room, and they stopped short in the entryway.
Lawson turned, pinning me with a hard stare. “Tell me you’ve got her.”
My heart thudded against my ribs. Did I have Grae? I’d barely kept her alive all those years ago, had almost lost her.
Nash gave Lawson a shove. “Don’t be an ass. He’s doing everything he can.”
“I want to hear him say it,” Lawson growled.
“I’d trade my life for hers in a heartbeat.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. But they were the raw truth. I’d give everything I had to make sure I didn’t fail Grae.
Lawson, Holt, and Nash stilled. Lawson studied me for a moment and then nodded. “Okay.”
Nash hovered in the entryway as Lawson and Holt headed for their vehicles. “You gonna be all right?”
I jerked my head in a nod but wasn’t sure if the action was a lie.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He pulled me into a hard hug. “I’ve got your back. Always.”
A burn lit my chest as I released Nash and watched him walk to his SUV. He cared. And I’d been locking him out.
Closing the door, I flipped the deadbolt and set the alarm. I walked back toward the living room. I nearly tripped as I took in Grae on my massive sectional. She looked so small as she stared out my back windows into the surrounding forest. The look on her face was almost as if she’d given up.
That familiar vise tightened around my ribs as I thought about how determined this asshole was to hurt her. “Are you okay?”
Grae stood, picking up her now-empty mug. “I’m fine.”
But there was no emotion in the words.
She crossed to the kitchen, rinsed her mug, and set it in the sink.
“Maybe you should lie down. Rest for a little bit.”
Grae whirled on me. “I’m not breaking.”
“I’m not saying you are. Just that you need to take care of yourself—”
She shoved at my chest, forcing me back a step. “I’m not weak. I’m not going to crumble.”
“I know—”
“Do you? Because you sometimes look at me like you expect me to fall apart in front of your eyes. But you, of all people, should know better than that. I didn’t break when I got Type 1. Or when you walked out of my life and broke my damn heart. And I’m not going to break because some asshole is trying to scare me.”
