Page 28 of Second Chances with my Billionaire Bosses

CHAPTER 20

Rhett

I hadn’t been sleeping very well but it wouldn’t have mattered if I was in the deepest sleep ever; the pained cry coming from down the hall would’ve had me up and running to see what was happening. I got tangled in my sheets and nearly ended up in a pile on the floor but I caught myself and rushed out, colliding with Arlo as I did.

“What’s going on?”

He grunted and pushed past me.

“I don’t have a fucking clue.”

He made it to the room a few steps before me and whatever he saw made him freeze in the doorway. I shoved him out of the way so I could get inside the room and instantly understood why he’d stopped cold. My breath caught in my lungs. There was nothing that could have prepared me for the sight of Shep holding Maxie while she sobbed. I quickly saw that he wasn’t just holding her. He was sitting on the ground, wrapped around her in a way that kept her hands open and away from each other. He looked as panicked as I felt but his voice was soft as he gently spoke to her.

“You’re okay, sweetheart. We’re here for you and nothing’s going to hurt you ever again. I swear to god, Maxie, you’re safe now. Just breathe for me. In and out. That’s a good girl. Do it again, just like that.” He looked up at us and I could tell he had a lot he wanted to say but he couldn’t with Maxie in the state she was in.

I sat down on one side of her while Arlo took the other and we each held her hands, keeping her nails away from her still healing skin.

“Hey, baby. It’s good to see your pretty eyes again.”

Arlo stroked her hair out of her face.

“Yeah, it is. Look at you, Maxine. Stuck with us for a few days and we’ve already pushed you to tears. Are we that bad?”

She looked up at me with such large eyes filled with tears that I would’ve promised her the world if it meant she’d stop crying. Her bottom lip trembled and she let out a sound that was part laugh, part sob. It was painful to hear her in so much pain.

“We had soup downstairs and then I accidentally made her cry… I thought if I could get her into bed, it would be better. I didn’t mean to wake you guys.” Shep tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling. I could see how overwhelmed he was and I felt a bolt of fear that maybe it was proving to be too much for him. I should’ve known better, though, because the next thing he did was hold Maxie even closer and bury his face in her hair.

“I’m not letting you go, sweetheart. I’ll hold you all night and all day if it makes you feel even a little bit better.”

Maxie finally went limp in his arms, her tears falling silently as she refused to look at us. Her shame was so evident that it might as well have been as real as me or Arlo sitting beside her. I hated to think about her beating herself up about anything, much less being filled with anxiety, when it was something that couldn’t be helped without therapy and time.

I sat back against the bed next to Shep, Maxie’s hand still tight in mine.

“For a while when we returned to civilian life, I had panic attacks. It was fucking awful. The first one left me shaking for days. I felt so weak. I thought I should’ve been able to handle the things we saw at war, I thought Iwashandling it until suddenly I wasn’t. It fucking sucked to accept that I wasn’t some hardened manly man who just ate that shit for breakfast and kept it moving. I only started therapy to shut these two assholes up but it was the best thing I could’ve done. I learned a lot of coping skills. I also learned a lot about myself and how I needed to be easier on myself.”

Her hand tightened on mine.

“Do you still have them?”

It was a kick in the chest to hear just how shaky her voice was.

“I haven’t in a long time. I think talking about the shit in my head got me halfway to feeling better. And then time and these guys got me the rest of the way.”

She swallowed so loud that the sound filled the room.

“I don’t want to be like this.”

“Like what, Maxine?” Arlo pushed her hair behind her ears. “How do you think you are?”

“I think I’m broken.” She tried to bite her lip but Arlo gently pulled it free from her teeth. She sighed and rested her head on Shep’s shoulder. “I have things to do and I should be able to do them. It’s pathetic. I need to be better. I need to prove that I’m good enough.”

I sat forward and cupped her face in my hands.

“Good enough for who, Maxie?”

Somehow her eyes grew even wider. She clamped her lips shut and shook her head. She’d said more than she’d meant to.

“Good enough for your mom?” Shep’s question was barely audible but it made Maxie shake even harder than before.

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