Page 113 of Hold Me Before You Go

I screamed for Grayson.

“Carrie! Carrie, wake up!”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Grayson

“Carrie!” I bellowed, leaning over her thrashing body as she whipped her head from side to side on the pillow, crying out for me in horror. “Carrie, wake up!” I held her shoulders in a firm grip, pulling her upper body away from the mattress.

“Grayson! Grayson, please!” she screamed, just like she had in my own nightmares, the ones were she was in my place, receiving the same torture I’d been succumbed to.

I pulled her to my chest, holding her head against me, looking down at her. “Sunshine, wake up,” I clipped, my voice shakingwith fear. “Wake up for me, baby. Open those eyes and let me see.”

Her body stopped shaking, and a second later, she was gasping for air as if she’d been drowned, her eyes shooting open.Fuck, I could drown in those baby blues, get lost in them forever.

“There she is,” I cooed, trembling as my heart pounded in my chest like a drum. “There’s my sunshine.” I pressed my hand against her cheek as she took in her surroundings. It only took a second, and then she was surging up, throwing her leg over my lap before shifting on top of me, burying her face in my neck as sobs wracked through her.

“Grayson,” she whimpered, the grief in her voice hitting me like a bullet, ripping through me, leaving nothing but a gaping hole. I felt her tears against my skin then, and I looked up to the ceiling, jaw tight, silently wondering why a fucking angel like her had to endure so much pain in her short life.

I put my hand on the back of her head, cradling her to me as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “It’s alright, it’s alright,” I assured her softly. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

For how long, asshole? Once Hayes gets his proof, then all bets are off, and the Feds will come for you as soon as the news is out. Then what?

I was here now; that had to be enough.

Even though I knew it wouldn’t be, no amount of time would ever be enough with her. I needed forever and nothing less.

“He killed me, Grayson,” she muttered into my neck.

I stiffened, my muscles tensing and burning in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. “What did you just say?” I asked slowly. She didn’t lift her head to look at me like I expected her to; no, she only whispered the answer, the words ringing in my ear like a bomb going off.

“In my dream, Robert finally killed me.”

My throat burned as nausea swam in my stomach. My mind began to race, but I couldn’t find the words. There were so many things I could say, but nothing came out. The silence stretched for some time, but I continued holding her, soothing her, being there for her in the only way I could.

My eyes shot over to her window seat, remembering everything that occurred between us there and in this room. Dawn was approaching, the dark sky above turning gray. Both of us had barely gotten any sleep.

“They were all there,” she said, breaking the silence.

My brows came together, not taking my eyes from the bench. “Who?”

“All of his victims.”

Right. Enough of the no eye contact shit.Gently, I pulled her from me, gripping her chin so I could turn her face to mine. Our gazes met as I demanded, “What?”

She explained the dream to me—in vivid detail, and by the time she was done, there was only one thing I could say. “Carrie, when this is all over, I need you to promise me you’ll talk to someone.”

Those baby blues hardened, and she jerked out of my grip. “I’m not going back,” she breathed, panic etching across her features. “I won’t go back to that place.”

Confusion washed over me for a moment.

Then, it clicked.

Shaking my head, I rubbed my thumbs against her bare hips, the t-shirt I’d given her riding up. “No, no. That’s not what I’m saying,” I told her, gently but firmly.

“Promise me,” she pleaded.

Fuck, she was killing me.

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