Page 96 of Rebellion

“Sofia, not true. As long as you don’t betray me or give up on me or yourself, we’re good, baby.”

She sucked in a breath. “I’ll try not to.”

“As long as you’re fighting, baby. I’ll fight with you. Alongside you.”

“Alongside me, huh?” She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He grinned. “Maybe in front of you. Are you sure you don’t want anything more?”

“More coffee.”

“You can have more coffee when you’re up and dressed. How is your back? Do you need some more painkillers? Does it feel worse after sleeping while sitting up all night?”

“It’s fine,” she said. Then, his words fully penetrated the haze of her brain this morning. “Wait. All night? How do you know I sat up all night?”

“Because I sat up with you.” He gestured to the chair he was sitting on.

“You sat there all night?” she asked, gaping at him. “Why?”

“I wasn’t going to leave you, lass. You were in pain. You couldn’t really move. And you kept having bad dreams. You’d start frowning, then when I touched you, you’d relax.”

What? Had she said anything in her sleep?

“Did I say anything in my sleep?”

He gave her a curious look. “No, lass, you didn’t say anything.” He sat forward, his elbows resting on his legs. “I thought the nightmares were due to what you just went through, but they could have been dreams from your childhood, I guess.”

She nodded. “About Gerard Callahan’s death. What if I was there? What if I did see it?”

“You can’t remember what you dreamed about?”

“No. Sometimes I don’t remember. I just wake up feeling groggy and tired with this lingering sense of... fear.”

“We’ll figure this out, all right? But you really do need to keep this quiet. Step Callahan is desperate to find out who offed his old man.”

“Why? I mean, I guess anyone would want to know who killed their dad, but it’s been so long...”

“My guess is that he wants to use it as an excuse to strike against us. He thinks Rogan’s father did it. Thing is, Step has ties with a cartel, and I think he believes that will keep him safe. Maybe that they’ll even come in to bat for him. I don’t know.”

“So if he found out that I was there...”

“He’s been warned against striking against women and children. However, I’m not going to take a risk with you. Understand? You’ve never told anyone else about the dreams?”

“No. No one.”

“Good. That’s good,Mo leannan.”

Damn it.

When he called her that, it made her insides melt.

Kind of crazy when she didn’t even know what the words meant.

“Lately, my dreams have become clearer, but I’m still not fully sure what it all means.”

“We’ll figure it out, baby. The main thing is keeping you safe. Now, we need to go and see your cousin. Think you can walk all right?”

“I’ll be fine.”

---