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“They did good. They went to my house and locked themselves in the basement. He would have never looked there,” he tells me.
“They did?”
“Yeah. They called me and hid. They did good, Mama.”
“I don’t remember a lot of what happened. Just waking up chained. I couldn’t move my head too far to one side or the other without choking myself. It was hell, Knight. I never thought he’d go that far, but he did. I mean, I always knew he was off when he’d hit me, but to this extent?” I feel a tear slide down my cheek before he’s there, wiping it away.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he says once more. He’s said this over and over again since I’ve been home from the hospital, and each time breaks me a little more. I know he feels badly about it. I know he regrets not being here, but this wasn’t his fault.
I reach up my hand and cup his cheek as I smile.
“You’re here now,” I tell him.
“And I’m not goin’ anywhere, Lyra. You know that, right?” His face has grown serious as he looks at me.
“I know. I don’t want you to go anywhere either,” I admit. Knight smiles and nods his head before laying on the pillow next to me. He snuggles as close to me as he can without hurting me and holds my hand in his.
I never thought I’d want to find another man. Not after what Dave put us through. I never thought I could trust another man, and here I am falling for Knight. Each day he’s here, I fall a little more. Each time he kisses me, I’m a little further gone.
I wait until I hear his breathing even out before I attempt to climb off the bed once more. I walk slowly down the hallway toward the boy’s rooms. When I walk into Cam’s room, I’m a little shocked to see Billy in his bed, too.
I walk over and sit in the chair in the corner and just take in my boys. Without them, I’d have nothing. Without them, I’d be nothing. They mean everything to me. They are my world, and I’d give anything to keep them safe and happy.
I don’t know how long I sit in the chair when my eyes flutter closed.
This time, the dreams don’t come. I don’t see him. I don’t see what he did to me. I don’t see anything but the boys happy and smiling. They’re actually happy, and right in the middle of it all is Knight.
I can vaguely hear his voice in my mind. Telling me I shouldn’t be out of bed again. Then I slowly pry my eyes open and see him standing above me with a blanket.
“If you’re gonna be stubborn, at least you can be warm,” he teases, draping the blanket over me. I half smile as my eyes flutter, the pain medicine doing its job.
“Will you stay?” I whisper.
“Of course I will.”
“Forever?”
“Forever, Mama. Forever.”
27
Knight
“First of all, don’t talk to me like that. I ain’t your bitch,” I tell Cage when he starts talking shit and directing it at me. I’m not in the mood for his bullshit today. I haven’t slept well in months, and this shit isn’t going to fly with me today.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“Your mouth is my problem! Shut the fuck up for a while, brother.”
“Who the hell you think you’re talkin’ to?” he roars. Ridge chuckles as he steps between the two of us, trying to defuse the situation. We’re both on edge and have been for months.
“I’m talkin’ to you!”
“Okay, let’s just take a deep breath and calm the fuck down. Both of you assholes are runnin’ on little sleep, and it’s startin’ to show,” Ridge declares as he pushes us apart. I glare at him. I don’t give a shit what he thinks. If Cage wants to throw down, we can do that here and now.
“Why ain’t you sleepin’?” Cage finally asks as I run my hand through my hair.
“Lyra isn’t sleepin’. She keeps havin’ nightmares,” I tell him. I didn’t want to tell anyone about it since it’s not their business, but I suppose they need to know why I’m so on edge lately.
