Page 40 of Guardian Daddy

He ran toward the screaming. It could only be from one person.

Cate!

He paused in front of her bedroom door as the noise quietened. Then he heard her scream again.

Ethan tried her door handle. Unlocked. But when he tried to push open the door, it didn’t immediately move. Had someone gotten in through her windows? But why wasn’t the system showing anything?

Another scream and he shoved the door. It felt like there was something heavy against it.

Finally, he got the door open and ran in, his gun raised, ready to face an intruder. But he couldn’t see anyone except for a figure in the bed, who was thrashing around.

The rest of the room was empty. Breathing heavily, he assessed the situation quickly.

Why had Cate been screaming? Was she having a nightmare?

He quickly checked the bathroom and closet, then moved to the bed as she let out another loud yell.

Ethan hated that she sounded so terrified. Was she dreaming about the night that asshole had tried to break into the house?

She hadn’t had a nightmare any other night. But maybe because Rhodes had been here those nights?

There were a couple of nightlights plugged into sockets around the room which added a soft glow. Sitting on the bed, he reached for Cate and gently shook her shoulder.

“Cate? Cate, baby, can you hear me?”

Nothing. Shit.

She whimpered and smacked her hands down on the mattress.

“Cate. I need you to wake up for me. Wake up now.” This time he made his voice stern, hoping it would get through to her. “Wake. Up.”

With a gasp, she sat up. He waited for her to panic at seeing him in her bedroom. To his shock, she didn’t scream or try to get away from him. She just stared around the room as though she was confused, lost.

Fuck.

She was breaking his heart. What had she been dreaming about to induce such screams of terror? And where was her mind now?

“I need Lady.”

There was a strange note in her voice. It seemed softer, warmer, and without the stiff formality it usually had. Although he’d gotten her to lose some of that stiffness this afternoon.

Before you drove her away.

“Who is Lady?” he asked.

She gave him a look. “Lady is Lady. Where is she? Where did she go? Is she lost?”

Was she sleep talking? Perhaps. Or stuck between being awake and asleep?

He really wasn’t sure, and as he brought up his phone to text Rhodes, she climbed from the bed and started searching the room.

“Lady? Lady? Where is you?”

Was Lady an old pet? Shit. He needed some help here, but he also didn’t want her to hurt herself.

She moved to her closet, then turned to look at him. “You stay here.”

This didn’t seem like sleepwalking to him. She seemed too alert and yet not.

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