Page 34 of Love Me
Colt grabbed for me. “Shit! Are you all right?”
All I had time for was to wince at the hurt before pushing forward. I shrugged off Colt’s hands to walk away. I didn’t make it far. Keelan and Creed blocked me in the hall.
I was prepared to shove them out of the way when I heard, “Shiloh.” The deep, beautiful voice made me pause.
I looked past Keelan and Creed and saw Knox standing at the other end of the hall. Tears slipped from my eyes. I had to put a hand on the wall to keep from crumpling to the floor. My other hand went to my chest, trying to soothe the pain of my pounding heart. I looked down as a body-shaking sob barreled its way out of me. “He was here,” I cried, sounding broken. “He was going to kill you and I couldn’t stop it.”
Colt, who was behind me, grabbed my shoulders. I felt, because my sight was blurry, one of them move to stand right in front of me. Colt’s hands dropped from my shoulders the moment giant hands grabbed me by my hips and lifted me. I cried into Knox’s shoulder as he carried me somewhere.
Knox set me on a flat surface that felt like a countertop. My face slid from his shoulder to his chest. He stroked the back of my head as I continued to cry. “Can one of you go get the food off the grill?” Knox asked.
“I’ll go,” Keelan said.
“Watch your step out there,” Knox warned. “I dropped my beer when I heard her screaming for me.”
“I’ll go clean it up,” Creed said.
I heard the back door open and close. With how close it sounded, I knew we were in the kitchen.
“Nightmare?” Knox said.
“Yeah,” Colt replied.
Knox sighed. “I’m guessing the pills Dr. Bolton prescribed aren’t working anymore.”
“They work when she takes them,” Colt explained.
Of course, I hadn’t taken one in the middle of the day. They were strictly for bedtime. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep on the couch when Colt, Creed, and I had sat down to watch a movie this afternoon, waiting for Knox and Keelan to get home. Although I wasn’t surprised. I’d been so worn out and exhausted when we’d returned home, I’d had to sit down in the shower to get clean.
“She reopened the cut on her knee,” Knox said.
I pulled back from his chest to get a look. The bandage I had on was hanging by a thread and there was a line of blood making its way down my shin. It must have happened when I had fallen off the back of the couch.
“I’ll get her another bandage,” Colt said and left.
I looked up at Knox, finding him already staring down at me. The helplessness I felt…I couldn’t stand it. “You have a gun,” I said. “Do you know how to use it?”
His eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t own it if I didn’t.”
“What about them?” I glanced at the back door, wishing Keelan and Creed would come back inside. It made me more and more anxious the longer they were gone. “Do they know how?”
“Look at me.”
I didn’t. I looked toward the hall leading to the twins’ side of the house for Colt instead. The vision of Mr. X standing there popped into my head, making me flinch.
“Shiloh.” Knox’s hand went to the back of my neck and forced me to face him. “You are safe.” His tone was assuring and unrelenting. “We are safe. X doesn’t know where you are.”
“I have a bad feeling.”
“It was just a nightmare.”
“It was the second one I’ve had.” I didn’t know why, but it felt like a warning.
“What do you mean?” Knox asked as I heard the back door open. Knox shot a look over my shoulder before returning his focus to me.
“I normally dream about my family or that night,” I explained. “This is the second time I’ve dreamt of the four of you.”
Knox’s hand began kneading the back of my neck. “Are you able to talk about it?”
