Page 76 of Nightmare

She shakes, cries, whimpers, and screams. It goes on and on until she exhausts herself when she finally looks at me.

Her eyes are the darkest emerald green I’ve ever seen them, big and wide, her makeup streaking down her perfect face, so I use my thumbs to wipe under her eyes.

“Talk to me.” I whisper. All thoughts of begging her to come back to me gone out the window, I just need to make sure she’s okay.

“He found me.” She says quietly, her gaze falling to my chest which is soaking wet from her tears.

“I know.” I say, because what else can I say?

Summer gave me some details after I begged, I guess the fucking dickhead that showed up in the Hamptons is Olivia’s ex from California. Immediately I saw red. Once Summer laughed at me and told me tofucking listen to me, you caveman,she told me that he abused her.

Raped her. Made her bleed. Fucked with her head for months. Destroyed her confidence. Pushed her to the point she developed an anxiety disorder.

I spent four hours taking my anger out on the punching bag at the gym, then got tattooed for almost three days straight to distract myself when Olivia wouldn’t talk to me.

“No,” She says, “While I was walking over here.”

I see red. My entire body locks up, my hands balling into fists, “What?!”

She sniffs, running a hand through her hair where she’s sitting on my lap, her eyes filling with tears again.

“He’s been fucking stalking me. He said he wants me, and that next time no one will be able to protect me from him.” Tears fall onto her cheeks, and she meets my eyes, then closes her own before taking a breath through her nose.

My chest is heaving, I trace a featherlight finger on her face, to her split lip then to where her cheek is marred with the color red, “What did he do to you!?”

Her eyes open again, and she cries.

I stand up, picking her up with me then place her down on the sofa by herself. Then I start pacing. Thinking. Trying not to pound my fists into the walls.

“Travis.” She says after a couple minutes, pulling my attention back to her. She’s curled herself into a ball on the sofa, her eyes begging me to help her.

“Pretty girl.” I say, running to her then pulling her into me again. She wraps her arms around me, and I tighten my hold on her.

“What do you need?” I ask, stroking along her hair, her back, her arms.

“Just don’t leave me.” She says quietly.

I nod into her, “Never.”

* * *

I’m lyingon my side under my covers, watching Olivia sleep. I lean forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead then slip out of bed silently.

I find Jax in the kitchen, I tip my head towards his bedroom door and put a finger over my lips – telling him to be quiet. His eyebrows dip in question, but he follows me into his room, shutting the door behind him.

“What?” He asks, taking a drink of the beer in his hand.

“I need you guys to find him.” I say to my best friend, and his arm freezes where it’s tipping the bottle back.

“No.” He says, shaking his head at me.

“He fucking hit her today, made her fucking bleed.” I grunt, trying not to raise my voice. I’m on the edge of losing control, slipping back into bad habits that we all quit a long time ago.

“So, we just don’t let her go anywhere alone.” Jax says matter-of-factly on a shrug.

I huff, “Jaxson. We can’t keep her locked away, we can’t always be with her. I have to work. And what about when Summer goes to school in the fall? Olivia will be here by herself all day. I need to fucking end this.”

Jaxson takes a drink of his beer, stepping past me, sitting down at his desk. “Travis. You just met this girl, and you’re going to ruin everything you’ve worked on in the last three years for her?”

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