Chapter Nineteen
The fear was the first thing that crept through.
The darkness was like a living, breathing thing, trying to strangle everything in its wake. With it brought the horrible memories that left her weak with terror. Trinity’s eyes popped open, and a strangled cry left her raw throat as she struggled to breathe. The dark was everywhere, the moonlight no longer shining through Jackson’s bedroom windows, and it felt like she was trapped in a nightmare with no escape.
The three of them had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, drinking and talking, simply getting to know one another better. They had been open and candid, sharing their likes and dislikes with each other. She had learned that Jackson harbored fears of being in a trio because of the way his mother had behaved, and Trinity had promised to do her best never to pit the men against one another.
Maxwell was a workaholic and needed help loosening up. He also expressed concerns about her being an agent. He told her and Jackson that he felt better knowing there were two of them watching out for her, no matter how proficient she was at taking care of herself.
When their discussion was done, they retreated back to Jackson’s bedroom, where they had taken turns making love slowly. This time, Jackson had been first, then Maxwell. She had known that they would have been willing to take her at the same time, but she just wasn’t ready for that yet. When they had fallen asleep, she had felt happy and sated curled up between their big, powerful bodies.
But then the nightmare came…
She should have known the emotional rollercoaster from last night would have brought back the memories of her last mission. Sometime during the night, the curtains had been drawn across the windows, completely blocking out the morning light. Needing to break free from the nightmare, Trinity stumbled from the large bed where she had fallen asleep between Jackson and Maxwell.
Unable to breathe, she gasped for air. Knowing her jerking movements had woken both men up, she couldn’t bring herself to care as she tumbled to the floor, trying to make her way to the door.
She needed out of the dark…right fucking now.
Suddenly she was surrounded, Jackson and Maxwell both holding her while she gasped for breath, emotionally torn to pieces. She fought them, but their tenderness overwhelmed her desire to break free and she ended up holding onto the safety they represented.
“Katrina! What is it? What’s wrong?” Jackson asked, worried.
“I need to get out!” she gasped.
“Fuck! The lights! Why are the windows covered?” Maxwell snapped.
“Shit! I have automatic blinds.” Jackson released her to race over to the nightstand where he used a remote to draw the curtains back from over the window, letting the early morning light spill into the room. He hurried back to where Max held her and pressed himself close, lending her his strength.
“Sorry, just give me a minute.” Ashamed and embarrassed, she tried to curl into herself, but they simply wrapped themselves around her.
Holding her, comforting her.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jackson snapped, fear making him irrational.
“We’ve got you, love. Please, don’t cry. You’re not alone in the dark. You’re not alone anymore. I’m here,” Maxwell whispered in her ear.
“We’re here,” Jackson corrected.
“I hate that you’re seeing me break like this,” she said, her voice cracked.
Maxwell gripped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “You did not break, Trinity. Never that. You are the strongest person I have ever met, and I’m sorry that we added to your pain last night.”
“Of course, you would have had a nightmare after we made you talk about what haunted you.” Jackson’s voice was rough with self-recrimination. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“I want to go outside. I can’t breathe in here.”
“Here, baby. We’ll go outside, then. Anything you want.” Jackson picked her up, grateful that she didn’t push him away or try to get him to release her. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he could let her go.
He needed to hold her.
He needed it like he needed air.
Maxwell opened the door leading to the balcony as Jackson carried her outside. He sat down on a large wicker chaise with thick, soft cushions with her in his lap. Maxwell sat down next to them, rubbing her back as they both continued to comfort her. She had stopped crying and was simply quiet.
Somehow the quiet worried him more.
Trinity fought to get her emotions back under control. Embarrassed, she sat up, wanting to put some distance between them. “I’m okay now.”
“Don’t. Please don’t pull away from us,” Maxwell said softly.
Allowing herself a few more seconds of comfort, she curled up on Jackson’s lap, letting herself enjoy the feeling of his arms wrapping around her as Maxwell rubbed his large hands up and down her legs that were lying across his lap. She took one of his hands and held it in hers, needing that added connection.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Jackson asked softly. “Was it about your last mission?”
She nodded. “Since then, I’ve had a problem with being in the dark. It’s why I’m still on medical leave. I can’t put my team at risk if I might freak out on an op. I’d put everyone in danger.” She sighed. “The problem is, I don’t know what else to do. I love my job and can’t imagine doing anything else.”
The men were quiet for a moment until Maxwell broke the silence. “Would you consider being my security expert?”
She looked up at him, stunned.
“I know this is pretty quick, and who knows, in a few months you may want to go back to being an agent. But until then, I could use someone with your expertise to look over my hotels and point out where we are deficient. You could travel with me.”
Jackson’s jaw tightened at that. He wanted to punch Maxwell in his rich fucking face for trying to lure her away from him. His life was on Crescent Island, and if she left with Maxwell, Jackson would lose her. Her small hand rubbed over the tense muscles of his chest, making him relax even when it took everything in him to keep his mouth shut.
“The offer is intriguing, but I don’t want to leave Jackson,” she said honestly. “His life is here on the island.”
“Understandable,” Maxwell said slowly. “I know this is soon, however, if we are going to make this relationship work, then maybe we should both consider moving here for the foreseeable future. What do you think of that, Jackson?”
“This is a lot of house for one person,” Jackson said softly, unsure how she would react.
Trinity was quiet as she thought it over. Her apartment back in Chicago wasn’t anything special. It was nice, but the real reason she liked it was because it was in the building that a lot of the IAD agents lived in, so she was closer to her friends. But that wasn’t enough to hold her there.
Her mind made up, she said, “I’ll have my stuff shipped out tomorrow.”
Pleased with her decision, she snuggled closer to Jackson, smiling when his arms tightened around her.
“Seriously?”
She raised her head to look at Jackson’s narrowed eyes. “Weren’t you serious?”
“Well, yeah. I just didn’t think it would be that easy.”
She smiled at him. “I have nothing holding me in Chicago. If I need to go back, I can always visit. And this way if I do some consulting for Max, we can both come back here when we aren’t traveling.”
Not wanting to push his luck, Jackson still had to ask, “Just how much traveling are we talking about?”
“It would be simple to switch my headquarters to the resort here instead of my hotel in London. I oversee most of the hotels in Europe, and I do have to travel to at least one of the locations about once a month, but most of my work is done by video conference calls and phone,” Maxwell added. “I am also training my sister to take over managing some of the properties.”
“I will also need to spend some time in Breakers, Texas helping Nikita get her new training facility up and running. Would you be able to travel with us?” Trinity asked Jackson, pleased that she had thought to ask when a smile lightened his expression.
“The guys at the station will shit when they hear about this since I rarely take a day off, but yeah I can talk to the chief. We have a fairly lenient work schedule. And it’s not like they have to pay me for the days I don’t work.”
“I would pay rent, of course,” Maxwell said, only to be met with Jackson’s fierce scowl.
“Absolutely not.”
Logistics were a bitch.
“We will have to come up with some sort of schedule for the bills, food, and even paying your housekeepers,” Trinity said firmly. “Max and I can’t just live off of you, Jackson.”
She wasn’t fazed by his dark expression, but she knew it was safer to change the subject. PDQ.
“I don’t need freaking rent money.”
“Then we can all put some into a communal fund for everything else. It’s not like any of us are hurting for money, so this shouldn’t be an issue. Oh, and I did promise my friend Mikayla that I’d run a training session at our facility in Colorado next month, but both of you are welcome to come. You could either join in or play with her fiancé, Gage Stark.”
Maxwell blinked. “The movie star?”
“Former. Yeah. He’s a sweetie and so in love with Lynx that she gave up being a sniper to take over the training facility so they could be together.”
Jackson’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit! You mean the sniper Lynx is a woman ?”
She smiled. “Yep. And one of my best friends. Oh, and Nikita? My friend from the bar yesterday? She’s kind of a sociopath, so remember that when you’re pissing me off.”
“You keep some interesting company,” Jackson commented.
Maxwell grinned. “And darling, you know you’d want the pleasure of shooting us yourself.”
She laughed. “I would. I really would.”
Maxwell stroked her cheek gently with the back of his hand. “Do you think you can sleep now?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Don’t be. I know I’ll sleep better now knowing that you’ll turn to us if you need to. And I’m happy that I know you are going to stay. That both of you will stay,” Jackson amended. “Who knows, maybe you can even do some consulting for the CIPD. What are you doing that training on?”
“Hacking.”
“Shit, I knew you were going to be trouble.”
Trinity leaned in to brush her lips against his. “Only the best kind. Let’s go back to bed.”
As the dark sky gave way to the dawn, Trinity felt like this was the first day of her new life. Tucked safely between her two lovers, she fell back to sleep, safe from the nightmares that haunted her.