Page 33 of Bravely Yours

He pulled back and peered into the back seat.

I shook my head. “She’s asleep now, but I was trying to be quick in the store and get her back home. So I didn’t really look at my phone.”

He pulled me back against him.

Heart still beating quickly, I tilted my head up. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Don’t freak out.”

Too late for that. Just his demeanor told me I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

But I nodded anyway. “Okay…”

“Drew’s in your apartment.”

“What?” I half squeaked and half yelled, pulling back.

He smirked, though his eyes were still filled with concern. “You said you wouldn’t freak out, remember?”

I huffed. That was before he told me my abusive ex was in my apartment.

“It’s okay. Officers just went in to arrest him.”

Sighing, I rested my cheek against his chest, doing my best not to let fear overwhelm me. I was safe. Nora was safe.

We stayed like that until another police car pulled up next to us a few minutes later.

Dylan climbed out and approached us. “You okay?” His jaw was tense as he scanned me, likely looking for injuries.

Memories from that night almost two years ago flooded me. The ER, the fear of losing Nora, giving the police a statement and having to recount what Drew had done.

Pulling myself out of the doom spiral I’d fallen into, I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Yes. I’m fine.”

He gave me a tight nod. Was he, too, thinking of that night? He had been one of the officers on the scene that day.

Commotion at the front of our building drew my attention. Dylan strode that direction when the officers appeared; each was holding one of Drew’s arms where they were restrained behind his back as he bucked against their hold and yelled manically.

Jay stepped into my line of sight, pulling me into his embrace once again.

“I was so scared,” he mumbled against the top of my head.

“Huh?” Too many thoughts were swirling around my head to comprehend his words.

God. What if Nora and I had been in the apartment? Would Drew still have broken in? I probably didn’t want to know.

Jay pulled back, cupping my face with his hands and tilting my head up to look at him. “I thought you guys were in there when I saw Drew breaking in.”

The anguished look he now wore stabbed painfully at my heart.

“I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to either one of you.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

Grasping his wrists, I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled me back into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around me.

“We’re okay, though. Everything’s okay.” I clung tightly to him.

But then his words registered, and I frowned as I processed them.

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