Page 179 of Dagger

I winced at the sting from the antiseptic. “Mitch has gotta be our next step.”

“Agreed,” Breaker concurred.

Sophie nodded, swiping my torn-up skin with the wipe.

“I dunno what the fuck happened,” I muttered, sitting back and scraping a hand down my face. “I just touched her shoulder, and she woke up and freaked.”

“Used to happen to me,” Kit interjected. “I’d stay awake for days for the sole purpose of not wakin’ up to my dead buddy talkin’ to me from the corner of the goddamned room.”

“You fuckers give me the heebie-jeebies,” Atlas muttered with a little shudder.

Kit’s lips twitched.

“Does it still happen?” Atlas asked.

“Not since I got on the happy pills at Grand Junction,” Kit explained. “And remember, I’d been gonzo for years. Elise won’t be that deep into it.”

“Who knows?” Sophie murmured.

My eyes slashed to hers. “Huh?”

She gave me a tight-lipped smile. “PTSD is unpredictable. We don’t know how long she’s had it. Her life was traumatic for a long time. She was living on her wits for years. It could have built up over time, just like Kit’s. She functioned okay, but then so did he.”

A deep sense of unease filled my gut.

Sophie made a good point.

Going by what had just happened, as usual, I’d been blind to what my woman was going through.

Henderson liked to play games, and from what Elise had already told me, he played with her constantly. He knew how strong she was and how much she loved me, so he used mind games to break her down and force her to stay with him. For example, he used to give her photographs of our girl, but only if she toed the line and did everything he said.

He played off the things that meant the most to her; he played off her fear.

Goose bumps ran down my arms, and slowly, I closed my eyes.

Elise’s ex-husband had affected her deeply. My Duchess was kind and sensitive, so of course Henderson would’ve plotted and schemed to take advantage of that so he could keep her to heel.

The dread in my gut intensified, and my gaze lifted to study my daughter.

“I’ve gotta bad feeling about this,” I told her quietly.

Her eyes met mine, and she said the words that made my heart sink into the pit of my stomach.

“Yeah. So have I.”

Six Hours Later

Elise had been awake for a while. I knew because her body gave a little jerk, and her breathing became shallower.

I hadn’t spent the night spooning her since before I got deployed to Kuwait, and after what happened the night before, I vowed I’d never spend another night without her again.

My hand was resting against her hip, my thumb stroking the soft skin underneath my favorite tee, when she finally whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Do you remember?” I asked softly.

She sniffed. “Everything. I’m so sorry.”

“No,” I murmured vehemently. “I’m sorry.”

---