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She looked away, so I spoke for both of us. “Mason, let it go. We can talk tomorrow when we’ve all had time to chill.”
Cee’s eyes went wide. “Not tomorrow. Don’t tell Wyatt I’ll see him tomorrow. I don’t know if I will. Just make sure you tell him I love him.”
“Of course,” Mason agreed.
I looked at my phone as I got in the car and responded to Silas’s texts to let him know I had Cee and I’d call him later. As I drove us back to the hotel, all the emotions of the previous few hours collided and spilled out of my mouth. “Jesus, Cee. What were you thinking?”
She just looked out the window. I wanted to shake her and get her to talk to me, but I also wanted to wrap her in my arms and be grateful she was in one piece.
“Sorry,” I exhaled forcefully. “I get it. Shitty things were said. But you know I have your back. I won’t let them take Wyatt away. I need you to trust me. Damn it, Cee, I thought you trusted me.”
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight that my fingers turned white. We were silent as we pulled into the parking area and went up to our room. I tossed the keys on the table by the door and kicked off my shoes, watching Cee walk to the bathroom. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. How the hell do I reach her? Get her to fight?
She came out of the bathroom in an oversized t-shirt. I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms, letting the scent of coconuts and vanilla calm me.
She’s here. She’s safe.
“Don’t let those assholes win. You are stronger than they think you are. Prove it to them.”
Her arms wrapped loosely around my waist and her cheek rested on my chest, but she said nothing. She just stood there while I rubbed a hand down her back.
I frowned, closing my eyes briefly. “Let’s just get some sleep, yeah?”
She remained silent but let go of me and crawled into her bed. I wanted to crawl in beside her, needing the reassurance that she was there, safe and sound, but I didn’t want to intrude on her space.
After getting ready for bed, I slid into mine, mere feet away, but it felt like miles. I turned the lights off. “Night,” I said, my voice just above a whisper.
It was a few minutes before she replied. “He’s better off if I don’t see him.”
“Wyatt? Absolutely not. You’re his mother.”
“He has the nanny. He wants her, not me. I stayed away for too long. I might as well be as dead as Eli.”
“Bullshit.” Struggling to keep myself in my bed, I sat up, trying to see her in the dark room. “Kate, you know that’s not true, right?”
She didn’t respond. I gave in to my urge to be closer to her and moved to sit on the side of her bed where I could touch her. I placed my hand on her wet cheek. “Things will look better tomorrow. We just need some rest, okay?” I wanted to crawl under the covers and hold her, but she turned away from me.
Fifty-One
I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling for hours. I wished I knew if I was doing the right thing. Her tears were fewer, but she didn’t seem any better. I had hoped spending time with Wyatt would help. Remind her that life was waiting for her. Instead, she was faced with a nanny who told her she shouldn’t be allowed near her own kid.
Fuck. What if I was making it all worse? Is there something lower than rock bottom? And if so, what then? How long was too long to let her spiral?
I woke up to a bright room, not sure when I had managed to nod off. Cee’s bed was empty, and the bathroom door was shut. I scrolled through my phone notifications while I waited for my turn in the bathroom, but after ten minutes of no sound at all coming from it, I got up and knocked on the door. “Cee? You good?”
Silence.
“Hey, I need to take a leak.” I tried a new angle. It wasn’t a lie.
Still, not a sound.
I tried the handle, but the door was locked. “Can you at least just make a noise, so I know you’re in there?” I waited a minute and when she still didn’t reply, I got nervous. “Kate. Open the door.” I wiggled the handle. My pulse kicked up.
She didn’t make a sound.
“I’m calling the front desk to knock the door down if you don’t answer me.” I threatened, my hand already picking up the receiver on the room’s phone. “Fuck!”
I gave the door one last bang with my fist and dialed the front desk. The sound of blood rushed through my ears as my heart pounded away.
