“Do you really know her? Or are you just f**king her? Because she’s already been screwed over once since I’ve met her and I think you might have the power to break her.”
Blood began to boil in my veins. I was going to beat the shit out of him. And who the hell had screwed her over?
“You might want to be careful what you say. I don’t give a shit who you are or who the hell I’m supposed to be. And what do you mean she’s been screwed over before?” Then the memory of Jace sitting in my office saying she’d gotten mixed up with her boss came back to me. What had he said exactly?
Tripp held up both hands. “Calm down and listen to me. Damn when did you become a hot head?”
“Tell me what happened with her old boss? The one in Dallas.”
Tripp scowled. “Bastard played her. He’s married and his wife is pregnant. Della didn’t know because he doesn’t wear a ring and he never comes in the bar. She was new and he showed up late at night and did a little flirting. Then he was picking her up and coming by more often. It’s a big bar. No one asks questions. I’d seen him f**k with waitresses before but I wasn’t sure if that was what was happening with Della. Until his wife showed up. Della was furious more than she was upset. That’s why I sent her here. He didn’t have the power to break her. But I think you do.”
Her old boss had been married. Damn. No wonder she was so careful to stay away from me when I’d been engaged. She’d been worried about history repeating itself. I was a dirtbag.
“I won’t hurt her,” I vowed. I wouldn’t.
“She’d be easy to break.”
I didn’t like the way he kept saying that. “What do you mean?” Had he seen her have a panic attack?
“She screams at night. Every damn night she screams like someone is beating her. It’s scary as motherfucking hell. She doesn’t wake up either. Nothing I do calms her down. She screams until it’s over. Then she wakes up. Sometimes she doesn’t. Sometimes she just lies back down and stays asleep. I just sit there in horror and watch her. I try to hold her and calm her down when she wakes up but it never helps. She trembles and it breaks my heart. I can’t make it better. All I know is she’s got some f**ked up shit in her head. I don’t know what and I don’t know why but it’s there and it haunts her. So, if you’re in this for a hot f**k then I’ll gladly fight you. Because that girl ain’t the kind you f**k with. She’s not strong enough for that.”
I was going to be sick. My stomach was wound so tightly in knots I couldn’t move. She was screaming, at night. The frozen terror I’d seen her in that night at the party had been scary enough. She’d clung to me desperately. I had worried that she might deal with that alone. I hadn’t known she had bad dreams. My chest hurt and my eyes burned. I hated this. I hated knowing she was tormented by something. I wanted to fix this. Fix everything for her.
I turned and headed for the door. I was going to find her. We were going to talk about this. I’d be there the next time she woke up screaming. Tripp might not be able to comfort her but I sure as hell would. I’d make this go away. I had to. I wasn’t sure I could live with her hurting like this.
“Where are you going?” Tripp asked.
“To find her,” I replied.
“You really think that’s the way to handle this? Do you not know her at all? Scare her and she’ll run. You need to stop and think about this. If you want to help her then good. I’m glad. She needs someone. She doesn’t want me and honestly, I don’t know if I could handle this. I’ve got my own demons. But she does want you. She held that hoodie so tightly, last night when she woke up and buried her face in it like she was trying to smell you that I was worried. I couldn’t imagine you cared enough about her to deal with this craziness. She’s smoking hot. I figured that was what you were in this for. But if you care about her enough to stay even though she has issues and it isn’t easy. Then good. I’m relieved.”
I looked back at him. “I’ll be whatever she needs me to be. I can’t walk away from her; I tried. I’m hooked. And now I’m about to lose my mind because I don’t know how to help her. I just need to go find her and hold her the rest of the damn day. I need to know she’s okay.”
Tripp walked over toward me. “I don’t know if she’s ready for you to know. I don’t think she trusts you to want her when you find out she’s got problems. Major emotional problems. You need to ease into this. Don’t go telling her you know and expect her to handle it. She’ll be furious with me for telling you and terrified of getting hurt when you run. So, she’ll beat you to it. She’ll run like hell. It’s how she deals.”
I hated this. He was right but I hated it. “What do I do?” I asked him needing someone to tell me. I couldn’t lose her.
“I’ll call you tonight when she goes to sleep. Come on over and sleep on the couch. When she starts the screaming you’ll be there. She’ll see that you aren’t scared and you can use that to prove to her you’re not running.”
Okay. I could do that. I could wait until tonight. But I was still going to find her now. If only to hold her. I wouldn’t tell her why. I just needed to make sure she was okay for my sanity.
Tripp opened the door and stepped back to let me in. I’d been sitting in the parking lot when he’d called two minutes ago to tell me she was asleep. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for this screaming to start up and I didn’t want Tripp to be the one holding her when she woke up this time. Never again.
“Were you already here?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t you just bring her home from work two hours ago?”
“Yeah.”
Tripp chuckled and shook his head. “Did you even leave?”
“No.”
He looked amused. “There’s a pillow and a blanket on the couch. I’m going to bed. It’s late and I need some sleep. Last night was rough.”
I didn’t have to ask him why. I knew what he meant by rough and it drove me mad to think about the fact I hadn’t been here. That she’d been suffering and I had no idea.