I ignore the rest as I walk down the hallway to Dane’s room.Cami opens the door with a red face and eyes glazed with tears. “Jake,” she gasps.
“Need Lyra,” I tell her without the explanations I know she’s wanting.
She nods her head quickly, rushing back into their room. She returns with Dane,who’s carrying Lyra. Dane’s eyes are full of questions,but he’s going to wait until later. I’m not answering anything tonight. I’m also not letting him near his sister. She needs quiet and calm, and he won’t be able to give that to her.
My lack of words doesn’t stop him, of course.He releases Lyra to me, then follows me back to my room. I continue to ignore him, and he lets out a string of curses when Maddox stops him halfway into the suite.
I climb into the bed, Lyra clinging to my neck, right next to Cara.Cara wastes no time curling into my side, easing the knot that’s in my stomach.Lyra stays on my chest but scoots just a little closer to Cara.
I can finally breathe. I have them both right here with me.
The tension in my shoulders ease. My racing heart finally begins to slow to a normal rate. The spinning in my stomach stops. Andthirty-eight hours without sleep finally claims me.
I jolt uprightin the bed when I realize Lyra and Caraaren’t there.My heart pounds in my chest. Sweat coats my body.
Fear that I dreamed everythingconsumes me. That I nevergot them back.
I jump out of bed, racing to find them.I nearly fall, getting tangled in the sheets. I run to the door of the bedroomin a panic.Ifling the door open, my lungs threatening to explode.
Then I slump against the frame. I squeeze my eyes shut as relief floods me to my core.
Both of my girls sit at the bar eating their breakfast.
I shove my hand through my hair, making sure I have myself composed before I make my way to them.I kiss my little girl on top of her head as she shoves cheerios in her mouth. She looks up at me with a huge smile.
Cara made sure she was returned to me without a scratch. Physically she was as perfect as when she was taken.Part of me worries there may be some emotional trauma, but she seems fine.
I move behind Cara,wrapping my arms around her waist. She tenses for just a second, makingmy stomach twist. Then she relaxes against me. I don’t miss the way she pushes her own food around her plate.
I bury my face in her neck, inhaling her scent. “You okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” she tells me softly, butI can hear that she’s not.
I turn her around to face me, tipping her head up so I can see her eyes.I cup both sides of her face and press our foreheads together. “If you weren’t fine, would you tell me?”
Her eyes glass over with tears. She quickly wipes them away. “I’ll be fine,” she changes her statement slightly.
“Don’t shut me out,” I plead. “Please don’t shut me out. Let me be here for you.”
A knock at the door draws her attention away from me.“We should get that,” she tells me quietly.
“Leave it,” I beg. “Just let whoever it is go away for now.”
She shakes heras she moves around me. “Everyone has worried enough already.”
Fuck, I can feel it. She has shut down. She is putting on that fake smile and doing the same thing shedidwhen we started this tour.She’s hiding.
She opens the door, and Dane walks in, bringing her to hischest. He glares at me over her shoulder. “You okay,Brat?”
I watch as she hugs him back. Her movementsare practically robotic. “I’m fine.”
“You scared the hell out of me,kid. Again.”
“I’m sorry,” she ducks her head like it’s her fault.
I’m not letting her do that. She’s not going to blame herself for something she didn’t do. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, baby,” I boom across the room, passing Dane my own warning glare.
He seems to realize what he just said. The reaction he just caused. He leans back, looking downathis sister. “He’s right, Cara. You didn’t do anything wrong. This was all Peyton’s doing.”
