Page 68 of Daddies' Little Spitfire

"You're awake, Princess," he said. "I'm right here and we're both awake."

"It can't be," she whispered as her body started to shake. "He can't be alive."

There was no way in hell that he could be alive. Not when he bled out in Miles' office. Was this her brother's way of getting her back to New York?

"You're okay," he whispered in her ear again.

Oliver held her tighter as her body started to shake more. This can't be happening. Not now.

"Can you look at me?" Oliver asked as he tried to pull away from her.

"We're almost home," Leo said.

Would Richard be able to walk through doors? Was he a ghost coming back to get her? Was he going to make good on his promise?

A whimper fell from her mouth as she latched on tighter to him. She didn't want to be let go, not now.

"He should be dead," she whispered again.

"You're okay. You're safe now," Oliver whispered. "Everything is going to be okay."

Everything wasn't going to be okay. Richard was back from the dead.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

LEO

Leo looked in the rearview mirror at Oliver holding Hedda. He didn't know what happened or what she saw to make her freak out this bad. It worried him.

All three of them were having a good time, eating ice cream and being out in the sun. But it all changed in a split second and Hedda was murmuring that someone was supposed to be dead.

Oliver and Leo had looked around, trying to find someone out of the ordinary that Hedda might know. But they couldn't find anyone. Everyone there was a local and someone Hedda wouldn't know.

Who was this person? Why did she think he was supposed to be dead?

There were so many questions that Leo wanted to ask, but it wasn't the right time. Hedda was hurting and freaking out.

"We're almost there," Leo said.

Oliver and he made eye contact in the rearview mirror and he could see how much this was affecting Oliver.

It was like she was having a flashback, reliving things as she clung onto him.

Was this related to what happened right before she ghosted them?

Leo took a deep breath and pulled into the driveway of the house. They were going to have to get answers to their questions so they could help her. As much as they didn't want to push her too hard, it wasn't healthy for her to stay inside and never leave. It wasn't healthy for her to not talk about these things.

She had been doing great at the ice cream shop. She smiled a couple of times in the first couple of minutes that they had their ice cream. Leo could tell she was nervous, but he thought it might be because she was new in town and would see a lot of people she didn't know.

Was this the real reason?

Leo wished he knew about this before they went out. Then Oliver and he could have helped her through this.

She didn't need to do everything on her own. It wasn't healthy and they were here for her. No matter how much they reminded her of that, it was like she was hell bent on not letting them get close enough to her.

"I'll go open the door," Leo said before he got out of the car.

Leo walked around the car and opened the door, letting Oliver and Hedda out of the car. All three of them made their way into the house, Oliver still carrying Hedda.

---