Page 70 of Dark Torment

OLIVIA

“I can’t waitto get back. I miss Sadie,” I say, laying my head against the passenger seat headrest.

Jon chuckles. “I miss her too, actually. She’s warmed her way into my heart now.” He sighs, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “She’s probably living the high life with Shelby, though. She’s okay,” he tells me, and I nod.

“I know, I know. I just… I don’t like being away from her right now, you know?” I whisper.

He understands, though. “I know, baby. I don’t like it ei—” He’s cut off by the blaring of his phone. “What the hell?” he curses, pulling over and grabbing his phone from his pocket.

“What? What is it?” I question, nerves flitting in my stomach. It’s clear that it’s not a normal alert if he had to pull over.

He looks at his phone, flicking through things and curses. His face drains of colour when he looks at me, and I feel the tears building.

“Sunflower,” he whispers, his voice broken. The worst things start clawing their way through my mind.

“What? Just tell me, Jonathan. Is it Shelbs? Sadie?” I whimper, but he shakes his head no.

“No. They’re okay. It’s,” He takes a deep breath, bracing himself. “Your house is on fire, Liv.”

My heart breaks as tears break the surface, sobs falling from me as I shake my head in denial.

“No. No, it can’t be,” I whisper through the tears. “Why? How? I never leave anything plugged in,” I rasp, my head spinning.

Did I leave something on or plugged in when we left? Everything was fine yesterday when we got the letter.

Oh, God. Grams, all of her stuff is gone. My whole life was inside of that house.

I can’t breathe. “Oh, God. I can’t breathe,” I rasp out, and he’s out of the car before I can register what’s happening.

Barely able to focus through the tears and tunnel vision as I struggle to breathe, I don’t realize he’s made it to my side and opened my door until he’s bending my head between my legs.

“Breathe, baby. Fucking breathe for me,” Jon orders, and I try but only sobs come out.

“No! I lost—I lost everything,” I cry, my whole body shaking as I try to understand. “How?” I whimper, shaking my head as his hand rubs my back in comfort.

“Breathe, sunflower. I’ll tell you what I saw on the cameras, but you need to breathe, Olivia,” he begs, sounding pained.

“I c—can’t,” I push out.

“Breathe in for me. In for four counts, good girl. Out for four counts.” He continues to walk me through the breathing, comforting me and rubbing my back as my head stays between my knees.

I never understood why people would do that when they were having a panic attack, but I get it now.

“There she is,” he whispers, helping me to sit up.

I can feel my face drenched from the tears, but he doesn’t flinch. He reaches forward, using his shirtsleeve to wipe my cheeks dry, and I know that he’s a rare breed.

He doesn’t care that he’s getting his dress shirt dirty from my makeup, or that there’s a good chance they’ll never come out. He just cares that I’m taken care of.

“I love you,” I whisper, feeling like he’s the only thing grounding me right now.

“I love you more than anything, sunflower. I’m so goddamn sorry you’ve lost this. If I could take away your pain, I would.”

I know he would, and I love that about him. I love that, for me, he’s the best man in the entire freaking world.

“Please tell me what happened?” I whisper, and he pulls me to the edge of my seat.

Swinging my legs around, I open them so he can move closer. He palms my cheek with anger and sadness in his eyes.

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