“Didn’t see a thing,” Cam said as he came back in the house. “It’s quiet out there.”
“Don’t think she was respondin’ to a threat,” Casper said wearily. “Least not one anyone else can see.”
“I’m gonna need to check those stitches,” Forrest said apologetically. “She might have ripped a couple open.”
“I’ll check,” I told him, still watching CeeCee. My skin felt tight as I crossed my arms over my chest. It had to have been the longest five minutes of my life. “No one goes in there but me.”
“Wait a second,” Cam started to argue.
“Leave it,” Casper ordered. “If that was Trix in there, you’d be sayin’ the same damn thing.”
“Not the same, and you know it,” Cam shot back. “I didn’t leave Trix and completely fuck up her life.”
“You did plenty,” Casper replied calmly. “And if I remember right, you weren’t real pleased when Dragon put himself in the middle of that mess.”
“Dragon?” Eli whispered in disbelief. “I need a fucking nickname.”
“None of this is helping,” Farrah said in exasperation. She stepped to the side. “Go ahead,” she told me.
She’d barely gotten the words out before I was striding past her into the room. I slowed as I got closer to Cecilia, watching carefully as I crouched down in front of her.
“Hey,” I said softly. I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I had no idea how she’d react. “Cam checked outside. There’s no one there.”
Her eyes met mine and I jerked back like I’d been sucker punched. Fuck. The fear in her eyes was so overwhelming, it made me sick to my stomach. Dropping to my ass, I carefully scooted forward until my knees bracketed hers.
“You’re safe,” I said, cautiously smoothing her hair away from her face. “I’m right here, Cec. You and Olive are safe.”
There was no indication that she’d even heard me.
“You know, there’s a safe room behind the closet,” I said, sliding my hand to her shoulder. I rubbed her neck soothingly with the side of my thumb. It took everything inside me not to pull her toward me. “We can put you in there if you’d feel safer. If I know Poet, it’s probably got at least a chair in there for you to sit on.”
“I don’t know what the hell to do,” Farrah hissed from the doorway, clearly replying to a comment I hadn’t heard. “Wait?”
“You’re scaring everyone,” I told Cecilia. “We need to know you’re okay, baby.”
My stomach twisted as her eyes shot to the doorway and then back to me.
“You want me to shut the door?” I asked. I waited for any indication that was what she’d been trying to tell me, but she didn’t move. “Okay, I’ll shut the door.”
I got to my feet and, ignoring Farrah’s look of astonishment, closed the door in her face. When I turned back around, Cec and Olive were still in the exact same position.
She could stay there as long as she wanted. If she needed me to sit with her, I would—all night if that’s what it took. But, I needed to check those stitches on her side, and I hated to acknowledge it, but at some point, Olive was going to start fussing to be fed and changed, and I had no idea how Cecilia would react.
“Baby,” I said, crouching down in front of her again. “You need to get out of this corner.”
She just stared at me.
“Cecilia,” I said, more firmly. “Come on.”
I reached for her arm, and was surprised as hell when she didn’t pull away, letting me tug her to her feet. Her gaze darted around the room, but she allowed me to help her onto the bed. A little progress, at least. She was no longer curled up in the corner.
Sitting down beside her, I rubbed my hands over my face. I suddenly felt weary all the way to my bones. I had no fucking clue how to help her. No idea if I should be pushing or leaving her alone. No idea what to say to snap her out of whatever had happened in the kitchen. I was at a complete loss, and I felt my throat grow tight as I dug my fingertips into my eyelids.
“You know,” I said, after the quiet became so absolute that you could hear a pin drop, “I knew it was a mistake the moment I left you. No, that’s not right. It took about an hour. I was stepping onto the plane when I realized how