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She stirs, cutting into my thoughts and her face wrinkles. She starts mumbling something and shaking her head.
I realize straightaway she’s having a nightmare and I wonder if her subconscious is trying to warn her about me. The devil who’s planning to break her heart.
“Avery no,” she mutters in a hurried voice.
Avery.That was the name of her friend who died in the accident.
Is that what she’s dreaming about?
“Avery, no, please you can’t be dead.” She screams and jumps out of her sleep but I make sure I’m there to catch her and hold her as she starts crying.
“Serenity it’s okay, baby.” I hold her close to me and rub her back slowly and softly. “It’s okay I got you. You’re with me. It’s all going to be okay.”
I sound like the guy who will always be there and feel like a hypocrite.
She pulls out of my embrace to look at me. Seeing tears surrounding her thick lashes and streaming down her cheeks grips me. The impact makes me want to soothe away all her pain so she will never be sad again. It makes me want to be her reason for happiness.
“Dante.” Her soft voice seeps into me like oxygen filling my lungs. “I… could see her. When the car hit.”
I remember how she looked when we talked about this the other night. At the time I felt that it couldn’t have been easy for her to live with. This shows it wasn’t and the nightmare that still haunts her in her sleep.
I cradle her face and press my forehead to hers.
“Think of the good memories you had with her.” That’s what used to work with me after my mother and sister were so brutally ripped from my world. Father used to hold me just like this when I’d wake in the night screaming. It was years before it stopped and the image of my mother’s throat being slit left my mind. During those times I was only thankful I didn’t see what those demons did to my sister. “Think of the times that made you the good friends you were.”
She presses her hand to my chest, as if absorbing energy from my heart. I allow her. If she thinks it will help, I’ll do it.
We stay like this until she calms and her shoulders stop shaking, then I pull her closer so we can lie down together.
She rests her head on my chest and I hold her in silence, hating that I love even this moment when I’m her comforter as well as her protector. It’s another hour before she falls asleep. But I don’t sleep.
I can’t. There’s too much on my mind.
An hour after sunrise I get up, leaving her to sleep for a little longer.
I’d stay with her until she’s ready to get up but I’m expecting a call from Igor in a few minutes. He wants to give me an update about Japan and talk to me about the company. As soon as I head down to the kitchen the phone rings.
I answer it and try to tamp down the insistent rage I’ve been feeling every day that passes when neither Virgo nor I find anything more on Jason to end his sorry ass.
“Hello my boy,” Igor says. His voice holds an air of excitement.
“Hi, how’s it going?”
“Exceptionally well.” I can almost see him nodding in that habitual way.
“That’s great to hear.”
“I really wish I’d brought you along. We’re making legacy here, son.” He chuckles.
It’s good to hear him sound so happy but I hate that he’s having this success with Jason. It feels so wrong.
“I would expect no less. Maybe next time I can go along.”
“Certainly. Mara told me you’ve been going to the company. I’m happy to hear that.”
“It’s been good. I’ve found a way to work things around my schedule like I promised, so when you get back we can definitely talk about me doing a few days a week.”
“Fantastic. I was going to ask you if you’d thought about it. I’m glad to see that you have and we can set the ball in motion.”
