Breathe You - C.R. Jane Page 0,4

the one that is more urgent. “I came back, and Valentina was on the floor, a bloody mess with a shard of glass to her wrist. I think she was going to hurt herself.”

“That’s not possible,” Logan quakes, rushing over to her room.

“She’s asleep, Logan. Let her be, but I know what I saw.”

“And what did you see?” Quaid questions with the same fear in his tone that I have been drowning in since I came back to our suite.

“I saw a woman on the edge, wanting to give up.”

“No. Not Valentina. We know her. She would never do that. Not to us.” Quaid shakes his head in denial.

“She isn’t the same girl we fell in love with, Quaid. She’s different somehow. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but she’s changed.”

“We’ve all changed,” Logan adds, running his fingers through his hair in desperation.

“Something isn’t adding up. We’ve all felt it, even if we refuse to believe it. Valentina is hiding something.”

“You think she’s…she’s…” Quaid stutters back at me, unable to utter the word suicidal.

“I’m not sure.” I bow my head, trying hard not to have the image of a naked Valentina seconds away of taking her own life branded to my memory. “I don’t think our Valentina ever had those types of dark thoughts, but who I encountered a few hours ago, wasn’t our Val. It was almost as if she was in a daze, completely confused by her surroundings.”

Having had enough of my rambling, Logan picks up his phone and starts typing madly on it.

“What are you doing?”

“Searching for a doctor who can come over to the hotel.”

I breach the gap between us and snatch his phone away from his hands.

“No doctors,” I tell him apologetically. “She made me promise. Don’t make me a liar, Logan.”

He lets out a long exhale.

“So what do you suggest we do?”

“We stay and figure this out. Try to get at the bottom of what she is reluctant to tell us.”

“You think she’s lying to us?” Quaid asks, not hiding his hurt.

“Not lying, no. But definitely omitting something.” I maul the cushion of my lower lip with my teeth.

“I don’t like this,” Logan says, shaking his head.

“Do you love her?” I ask point-blank, and his head snaps into place.

“Yes.” He doesn’t even catch his breath to answer me.

“What about you?” I slant my stare over to Quaid.

“I never fucking stopped,” he replies just as steadfast.

“Then we’re in agreement. We all love the woman lying inside that room. That will never change. So maybe it’s time we fucking did.”

“What do you mean?” Logan asks.

“She can’t choose between us, and right now, we would be fools to make her. Not until we find out what’s wrong with her and help her somehow.”

“What if what she needs is professional help?” Logan says, his mind still fixed on the idea that calling a doctor to check up on her would be the best course of action to take.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we have to be a united front. Be there for her until she comes clean. I don’t want her to spend a single moment alone. That means daytime and nights. We will take turns with who will sleep next to her at night, and make sure she’s taken care of.”

“And what if that isn’t enough? What then?” Quaid chokes out, his tormented heart doing the talking for him.

“I don’t know. But right now, this plan is all we’ve got.”

“So it’s decided. We’re staying. Right?” Logan asks unsurely.

“Were we ever not?” I cock my brow at them both, their answer plastered all over their faces.

That’s what I thought.

Chapter 1

Now

_____________________________________

Valentina

I have no idea where I am when I first wake up. Sun is streaming in from a window across the room, showcasing a perfectly cloudless day.

I’m in a hotel room, alone in an enormous king-sized bed that feels perfectly plush against my aching body.

Aching body…what—

Suddenly, everything comes rushing back. Making love with Logan, Carter walking in, all of them leaving.

The glass shattering. The blood from the cuts on my skin.

And then Carter. Carter was there, he’d come back.

There’s a solitary knock on the door, and then it creaks open and there he is, walking through the door towards me.

He’s really here. It wasn’t a dream.

“Baby,” he breathes, sitting down on the bed and gathering me in his arms. I want to live in his embrace and never leave.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” I whisper into his neck. He doesn’t say