Page 28 of Every Sunset
I couldn’t watch that poor young guy fall apart anymore. It hurt so fucking much to know he was so filled with worry and stress atsuch a young age. What had he been through to be so filled with terror for his mom? What had been done to him to make him so strong and wise beyond his years? He was fifteen. All he should be thinking about was school, girls, and whatever sport he was into. That should be as far as his worries went, but he carried so much more on his shoulders and I got why Anna was so scared of giving him anything else to add to it all now.
She wanted to protect him in the way it seemed no one had ever done for her, and that made perfect sense, but she was trying to do it at the cost of herself - of her own happiness, wellbeing, and health, and Logan and I couldn’t sit back and watch her do that any longer. It was time we stepped up even more and proved to her that we could and would protect them both if only she’d allow us to.
CHAPTER 12
ANNA
I sat up with a deep, violent gasp and looked all around me in panic. The image around me faded until there was just Callum over me with that knife, then he was gone too. The nightmare was unclear as I fought to breathe, but the fact that I was pressing a hand through my shirt to the rough and jagged scar beneath, told me I’d been tied to my bed again, at that monster’s mercy.
“Anna?” I turned swiftly at the gentle voice and found Logan sat in a chair beside the bed I lay on. He looked exhausted.
“What?” I panted with confusion. I looked all around me and saw the darkened room I was in wasn’t my own. The walls were white and the space around the bed was much bigger. Maddox was laid out on a sofa that sat before the floor to ceiling window, over which hung heavy navy drapes. “Where am I? Where’s Max?” I demanded as my panic rose. Was I right not to trust these men? What had happened to me? I ripped back the comforter so I could glance down my body in complete, blinding panic, but my clothes were intact and my limbs were all free to move.
“Anna, calm down, sweetheart. You’re in our house. Max is safe. He’s fast asleep in the room right next door. He wanted to stay with you but he was exhausted,” Logan told me calmly.
“Why am I here? What happened? Did I pass out?” I asked all at once as I racked my brain for my last memory. I wished I hadn’t when I recalled myself screaming at my son in the garden. I remembered getting inside and slamming the door, but the rest was just a blank.
“Kind of. You were conscious, but you weren’t responding to any of us. It was like you just checked out. I think everything just got to be too much,” he explained, and shame filled me at realizing what I had once again put Max through with my weakness. I was sure he’d have been terrified to see me that way.
“Max?” I uttered as tears filled my eyes.
“He’s okay, Anna. He was a little shaken up at first. He was worried you were sick, but once Maddox assured him you would come around, he calmed down. We kept him close,” Logan promised and I reached for him, grabbing his hand as he moved to take mine.
“Thank you,” I stuttered between my still too fast breaths. “F-for taking care of him. I never should have put him through that. I’m sorry.”
“Of course,” he nodded as he held my hand in his much larger one on the bed between us. “We want to look after the both of you if you’ll only allow us to. What happened wasn’t your fault, Anna, but it may not have happened at all if you’d just stopped being so stubborn and trying to do everything alone. We’re here and we don’t want anything you’re not willing to give. Let us in, please.”
“I’m scared to,” I whimpered as more tears threatened.
“I know you are, sweetheart. You told me before, but look what happened. You completely spaced out. It was like you weren’teven there when we spoke to you. Whatever happened to you, it’s too much for you to just lock away and push through. You’ve tried and it’s not working, is it?” he asked as he leaned closer and ran his free hand through my hair.
“I guess not,” I sniffled as I swiped at the tears that fell.
“Then give us a chance. I promise you that there’s nothing to be afraid of. Madd and I won’t hurt you. What you see is what you get with both of us. We have our own baggage that haunts us plenty, so believe me when I say we can help you with yours.”
“There are things that I can’t…and w-won’t tell you,” I warned him, and myself. No matter how close I may get to either of the Easton brothers, I could never tell them everything.
“Then tell us what you can and let us help you with that. Jesus Anna, I’d be happy if you’d just let me drive you to work and back at this point. Just give us something so we don’t have to sit back and feel so fucking useless, just watching you in pain and struggling.”
“Max is struggling too. He’s been through too much,” I admitted.
“We know and we’re gonna be here for him too. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, and Max has allowed us to get to know him a little, but not you. I think you might be the most stubborn woman I ever met,” he laughed dryly.
“Not stubborn,” I denied as I clutched his hand between both of mine. “I…I was just scared to trust myself, Logan. I learned the hard way that I have become way too trusting over the years since Max was born.”
“What do you mean?”
“I…I made a decision. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it was the biggest mistake of my whole life and it almost cost me everything. Fuck, it cost my son way too much,” I confessed.
“Some one hurt you both?” he pushed.
Images of what I remembered of those two days and nights played out in my mind like flashes of strobe in a club and I slammed my eyes closed to try and block them out.
“I can’t…I’m sorry,” I whispered tearfully.
“Sshh. It’s okay. You don’t have to. Just breathe. We’re here, Madd and I. We’ll keep you both safe now,” Logan soothed as he stood and scooped me into his arms so effortlessly. He sat on the bed and set me in his lap, holding me close as I fought back those damned images and the fear they sent coursing throughout my body.
Eventually, Logan’s comfort worked to push away the memories of the past and I found myself relaxing against him, my eyes getting heavy as he continuously ran his hand up and down my back, almost rhythmically.
