Page 120 of Break

Vincent

“Sweetpea?”

Sticking my head into Mina’s bedroom, I wince when I see that she’s passed out on her bed. Fucking Walter is stretched out across her, head and arm laying across her stomach, snoring away.

Tiptoeing into her room, I glare at the dog when one droopy eye cracks open. He eyeballs me as I lean over gently to check on our girl.

Whispering as quietly as I can, I pat him on the head. “I’m just checking on her. Go back to sleep.” It’s been a month since Danny got his hands on her. All the bruises are gone, but she’s developed issues sleeping at night. Dreams wrack her body, keeping her body tense while fighting off imaginary villains. More often than not, she’s woken with dark circles under her eyes, completely exhausted.

I breathe easier when I see that her forehead is completely smooth, void of any stress as she rests.

Once they started, we discussed with her the idea of talking with someone about it. What she went through wasn’t a normal experience for a lot of people. Even though Danny is gone and no longer a threat, those lingering fears are following her.

I can’t remember the woman’s last name, but Missy has been working wonders with her. They’ve been meeting twice a week for three weeks. Her session this morning went extremely well. So well that Missy suggested Mina drop to once a week for a month and then see where she stands.

Pressing my lips to the little spot between her eyebrows, I push up from the bed and pull her door closed behind me, leaving it unlatched so the sound doesn’t wake her.

I quickly jog down the stairs to find Ethan at the counter, seasoning some steaks for dinner. Max is on the other side, tapping away at his laptop, brows furrowed in concentration.

He looks away from the screen at me when I enter the room and raises a brow when he doesn’t see our girl behind me.

Moving to the fridge, I pull out a bottle of beer and twist off the cap. Max is still waiting for me to answer, so I grin at him and take long swallows of the bubbly drink until he breaks.

“Goddamnit, Vince. You’re such an asshole. She coming down?”

Ethan side-eyes me, knowing I’m just trying to rile up my friend. If we’re all going to be in this relationship together, I have to get my kicks where I can. It’s like having live-in siblings again, and I couldn’t be fucking happier.

“Relax, buddy. She’s sleeping.”

Max turns toward where the stairs are located behind the wall and frowns. “You think she’s feeling okay?”

“She’s fine. Probably just drained after her appointment with Missy,” Ethan says as he flips the ribeyes over to season the other side.

“Looking good there, chef.” I’m being serious when I compliment Ethan. It’s like the one man-card I can’t be a carrier of. I’m absolutely awful at grilling, but Ethan is fantastic.

He grunts at me, refusing to answer.

“Cooper called me just a few minutes ago,” I share, knowing that they’ve been dying to hear what happened to Andrew Harrow at his hearing. We’ve all been eager to find out. They charged Harrow with one count of abduction and two counts of aiding and abetting.

Max stands abruptly, his computer forgotten as he waits for the information.

“What’d he get?” Ethan asks, hands frozen over the steaks, focused entirely on me.

“Eight years in federal prison for Mina’s abduction, then an additional 12 months and a five-thousand dollar fine for each count of aiding and abetting.”

“Should have gotten the full ten for the abduction alone,” Ethan mutters, throwing salt at the steaks a bit harder than necessary. Abduction in our state carries a maximum of ten years. Andrew got a few years knocked off because he so quickly gave up all the information he had when he was questioned. Had he waited longer, Mina’s rescue could have gone completely different.

“Agreed, but he’s still going to prison as a cop.” Pointing the tip of my bottle at him, I wink. “That’s gonna be a rough ten years for him.”

Walter’s nails clicking along the tiled floor have us all turning, looking for our girl, but she’s still missing. He stops when he notices our attention and answers us with a high-pitched whining yawn. He plops his ass on the ground, cocking his head at Ethan when he spies the meat in front of him.

“For fuck’s sake,” Max mutters, dropping back into his seat.

Stretching my arms out to the side, I groan out, “I’m going back up there. Maybe she needs some help to wake up.” With a wink at Ethan, I laugh when he scowls at his messy hands, knowing he can’t follow. I set my bottle next to him and slap him hard on his back. Calling over my shoulder, I push the knife in a little deeper. “Come get us when it’s dinnertime, honey!”

Chuckling at the curses thrown at me, I take the stairs two at a time and slide to a stop in front of Mina’s now open door.

She’s laying on her back, looking up at the ceiling, but turns to look at me when I step into the room and shut the door. Her slow blink lets me know she’s not quite awake yet, so I slow my steps and slide into bed next to her.

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