Page 142 of Dream On, Liar

And I stopped feeling anything at all.

25

Rihaan

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS wrong before I reached the door.

I’d called twice. Partly to inform her of my arrival, and mostly to ask if it was fine with her if I was the one to do the drop off.

By the time I’d driven over to the address Raina had texted me, I hadn’t received a single call back.

When I texted once to let her know I was downstairs.

The message hadn’t delivered.

That had been enough to raise questions.

Maeve had told Raina she would be back at her flat after collecting her things, stating how she’d asked for the coming week off as a part of her annual leave to recover properly.

When I finally gave in to the urge to check properly, I grabbed her small suitcase from my boot and rang her bell twice. But when that got me nothing, I’d tried pushing the glass door as last hope.

Had I known that a few seconds later when I arrived at her flat a minute later, the door her front door broken in, I’d made an attempt to get in sooner.

“Maeve?” I asked, pushing in the door open gently.

The smell hit first.

Dust.

Something metallic.

Adrenaline flooded my body so quickly my hands went cold. The flat looked as though someone had turned it upside down. Items were scattered across the floor. A bag had been ripped open. A phone lay smashed near the wall.

Before my eyes landed on the her.

She was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, knees pulled towards her, arms wrapped around herself.

For one awful second, she didn't move.

“Maeve?”

Her eyes lifted, and something inside me dropped. Her skin had lost all its colour, there was a bruise beginning to darken along her arm, another near her shoulder, and a tremor running through her hands that she seemed unable to stop, but most of all, it was the tears that made the caveman inside me ready to unleash.

I crossed the room and crouched in front of her.

“Hey.” She blinked at me, as though she was still trying to make sense of what had happened. “It's me.”

Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

“Do you want some water?” I asked softly, more aware than most times that I shouldn’t touch her, until I knew she could let me. She was clearly in shock.

Maeve gave me a single hesitant nod.

“Okay. I’m just got to get up and get it for you. That sound good, baby?” I asked softly. But when she continued to remain silent, I wasn’t sure if I should leave her along for that long at all. “Give me a nod, Trouble. Tell me you’re fine with that.”

She gave me a slow nod, like it hurt to move her head.

“Thank you.”