Page 51 of The Shadows We Keep

My strong, sassy girl doesn’t need me to fight her battles, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be there to back her up the second shit goes sideways. She might not realize that this is more than a random hook up and a trip toThe Red Door, but I do. She’s not going anywhere,ever.

I head for my office, needing to scan through the final reports on those bank accounts before I hand off the information tomorrow. I was relieved to find that every single person on the list they handed me had dirty dealings.

None of them deserved the millions stacked in their offshore accounts. I couldn’t care less what the dodgy suits decide to do with the information. Sending the document to print, I wait for the papers before tucking them into the folder for tomorrow’s meeting. I pause, listening to my surroundings, waiting to hear anything from her room, but everything is stock still.

The floorboards creek under my weight, the last depiction of age from the building. Twisting the knob, I push open her door, and the silence calms my nerves. Her curves contour the comforter on the bed, nothing but shadows in the darkness. The rise and fall of her chest a subtle comfort.

I move to close the door, respecting her demand for solace when I hear it, faint whispers coming from inside the room. I step closer, the murmurs intelligible. She’s captivating, drawing me in. The closer I get, the clearer it becomes. She’s fighting with an imaginative being.

“No. Yes. Stop. Please.” Her body fights against the blanket, calming only when my hand drops to her side. The mattress dips with my weight as I climb in behind her, hauling her limp form against mine. She automatically calms as I settle in beside her. Her breathing deepens as the little whimpers passing from her lips stop.

“I’ve got you, little one,” I whisper against her ear before dropping a kiss to her temple and tightening my hold against her body, pulling her into the hollow of my chest.

My chest heavesto suck in a single breath. The fire tickles against my skin but I can’t feel it as my focus pulls in every direction. I scan the wreckage to the left and a body lays limp in my arms, unmoving. I shake her, trying to draw anything to the surface, but she doesn’t move. Keira’s eyes remain closed as I jerk her with every fiber of my being, but she doesn’t budge. Panic sets in as realization dawns that her chest doesn’t inflate. “No. No. No, not again,” I call out to her.

“Harkin! Harkin, wake up.” Her unexpected voice brings me back into a dark room. A forceful grip on my shoulder shakes my body back and forth. My eyes snap open directly into the worried focus of hers.

“I’m sorry… sorry.” I try to brush it off before settling against the headboard. Her body crawls up mine, never once breaking contact.

“What was that?” Her concern is palpable between us.

“Nothing, just a nightmare. Sorry I woke you.” She ignores my excuses, wrapping her warmth against my rapidly beating heart.

“No way, you don’t get to do that. Don’t pull away from me now.” Her strong condemnation brings a smile to my lips until she notices and matches me with a frown.

“Seriously Harkin, I opened up to you. Can’t you trust me enough to tell me what the hell was going on? I thought you were going to break my rib cage. I’ve never seen someone try to give CPR in their sleep.”

That shocks me. I had no clue I did that to her. The worry must showcase on my face because she softens.

“I’m fine. Just worried about you. You need to talk about it.” She’s prodding again.

I sigh, pulling in a lung full of air, my mind settling on telling her the truth—well, most of it. “Okay, you remember how we met?” Her small smile gives me her answer. “I was on my way to California. That was the first time I’d been back.” She shifts in my lap, settling in for the story.

“My family lives there. Well, it’s just my parents. I don’t have any siblings.” She doesn’t miss this new piece of information I’ve allowed.

“I left for a reason, and I wasn’t looking forward to being back there, but my parents insisted. I know you’re curious about how I can afford this place for someone who doesn’t seem to leave his house. I do work, but I work from home. What I do isn’t exactly a conventional 9-to-5.” Her eyes narrow down at me, and I chuckle. I know what she thinks.

“I’m a hacker sweetness. So, get those thoughts out of your head right now. I make good money, but you’re right, this place isn’t technically mine. My parents own it, along with employing James for security needs, although his loyalty is to me after all these years. He’s like an older brother or a really young uncle.”

“You’re stalling,” she points out.

“Okay, fine. About a year ago, I killed my girlfriend.”

Her body jerks from my lap, landing beside me on the mattress.

“Ahh, there it is. The reaction I get from people back home. You see, it didn’t matter that I ended up in the hospital with injuries bad enough that I couldn’t remember the accident that took her from me. It didn’t matter that the drug and the blood alcohol test all came back clean. It didn’t matter that every person in our town knew how slick that mountain road was when a storm blew in. They all blamed me for an accident that wasn’t my fault, but a freak occurrence.” Her eyes bore into me, taking in the story. She’s shifted closer, her hands back on my body.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew I’d never have a normal life if I stayed there. So, I decided one day to pack up everything I needed and caught a red eye to New York. I used a spare key my parents had in the house for this apartment, and I hadn’t been back.” She’s back in my lap and I pull her body closer. The warmth of her skin calming my nerves.

“She died because I waited too long to pull her drunk ass from a party.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” she asks, hanging on every word of my hapless history.

“Keira, it doesn’t matter. Just drop it.”

She huffs, shoulders rising in frustration. Her hands clasp my cheeks.

“You matter to me. So, in turn, this matters.” There’s nothing in her gaze that tells me she’s lying.

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