Chapter 28
Cash didn’t like how quiet Addie was. Well, she was always quiet, but at the moment she seemed completely withdrawn.
They were in the living room of the safe house.
Dotty was asking a million questions while Monroe just stood in the middle of the room and stared at everyone.
She seemed dazed. Addie was curled up in a corner of the sofa with his jacket over her, trembling.
Stone and Captain were outside, keeping watch, while Ink tried to answer Dotty’s questions and Ralen stared at Monroe in concern.
Butch was prowling through the house as though he thought there might be a threat hiding under the bed.
Cash walked over, crouching in front of Addie. “Ahh, Stowaway. You’re exhausted, aren’t you? And hungry. I can make something soft for your throat. What would you like?”
She just stared at him, shaking. Shit. He had the feeling that she couldn’t make any decisions right now. That she was completely overwhelmed.
And that was okay with him. He didn’t mind making the decisions. In fact, he preferred it. The only problem was he didn’t have enough information to take care of her properly.
And that annoyed him.
“I’m going to make you some soup, all right?”
Surely that would be okay on her throat.
Addie shook her head and pointed at her stomach, pulling a face. Was she trying to say that she had an upset stomach?
“Your tummy is upset?” he said.
Addie nodded.
“Did you get your period yet?”
Unfortunately, right as he said that, the whole room had gone quiet. Addie went bright red, and she ducked under his jacket so her face was completely covered.
Shit. He hadn’t meant to embarrass her.
“Good one,” Dotty told him.
Fuck. How did he put his foot in his mouth so badly?
“Addie? Addie, will you look at me?”
But she didn’t move the jacket away from her head.
Cash sighed. “All right, Stowaway. I’m going to make some soup and see if that helps. Even if your tummy is upset, maybe having something in it will help. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
She reached out from under the jacket and grabbed hold of his upper thigh, squeezing it. That seemed to be an acknowledgment of his apology.
Getting up, he headed into the kitchen to make some soup.
That seemed to be the very least he could do.
Addie’s stomach was a mess, rolling and rioting, but she dipped her spoon into the soup since Cash had gone to the trouble of making it for her.
It didn’t help that he was sitting across from her, watching her every move. She felt like she was a bug under a microscope. She took a sip, swallowing it.
Addie couldn’t help but wince as it scraped against her raw throat.
Had she injured her throat? She’d been using her voice a lot, not to mention she’d screamed several times in the last twenty-four hours.
Was that it? It had hurt badly earlier today but after being chased by those men today . . . yeah, that had to be it.
“Shit, even the soup hurts your throat?” Cash said.
She shook her head, not wanting him to feel bad. He already felt terrible over mentioning her period in front of everybody.
Stone, Ink, and a truly terrifying guy called Captain had left, leaving them with Cash, Ralen, and Butch.
Dotty was in her room working on her laptop, while Butch was outside doing something, which left the four of them sitting around the kitchen table.
Monroe wasn’t eating and Ralen alternated between doing something on his phone and glaring at her sister.
So weird.
But that meant Cash had all of his attention on her.
“It looked like that hurt,” Cash said. “You winced. Maybe I can find something else.”
He stood suddenly and she jumped, letting out a small squeak of fear. Cash froze, and even Ralen and Monroe turned to her.
Oops, shit. She didn’t mean to do that.
Monroe’s hand found hers under the table. She was trembling slightly, or was that Addie?
“Addie? Are you okay?” Monroe asked.
“Fuck, sorry, Addie. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cash said, holding his hands up slightly, as though he thought she was an injured animal that he had to be very careful around. She definitely felt on edge, as though something was coming for her.
Addie could only imagine how Monroe was feeling. And the last thing her sister needed was to be taking care of her.
So she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding.
“Fine,” she managed to croak out.
Both Ralen and Cash watched her with disbelief.
“No, you’re not,” Cash said. “You can barely talk, you’re shaking and you just jumped a mile into the air. Plus, you haven’t eaten. None of you have.”
“It’s hard to eat after the day we’ve had.” Monroe shook her head. “I need to go to bed. Addie probably does too. Your throat is still bad, babes?”
“Be fine,” she said.
“I’m going to call Hack, get him to come check you over,” Cash said.
Addie frowned, shaking her head. She grabbed her phone and typed out a message on her text-to-speech app. She’d downloaded it at the airport while they were waiting.
“I’m fine. Just need to rest my throat and it’s late. Don’t call him. I just want some sleep. It will be better tomorrow.”
Cash frowned but nodded.
Relief filled her.
“Is there anything you can take for your throat?” Cash said.
She shook her head.
“She took some painkillers earlier,” Monroe said. “She probably just needs to rest it. Addie isn’t used to talking this much.”
Addie smiled at her sister. She really thought the best idea was just to go to bed and try to get some rest.
“Come on, Addie,” Monroe said as she stood. “Let’s go find our rooms. Um, thanks for everything. I know that I kind of zoned out.”
“You still haven’t eaten,” Ralen said with a frown.
“I’ll be fine. Just need some beauty sleep. You could use some too.”
Ooh. Ouch.
Monroe turned and tugged her away. Addie waved good night to both men. Cash was already on his phone, though. A stab of sadness hit her, which was silly.
He wasn’t hers.
“Do you want to sleep with me?” Monroe asked her.
Addie nodded. She didn’t want to be alone, and she got the feeling that Monroe probably didn’t want to be either. They headed into Monroe’s bedroom.
To her surprise, the bathroom attached to Monroe’s bedroom was filled with everything they could possibly need, even a spare set of pajamas and slippers.
“You take the pajamas,” Monroe said. “I’ll just sleep in my singlet.”
Addie nodded, knowing that was what would make her sister more comfortable anyway. After a quick shower, she got into her pajamas and then headed toward the bed. Monroe was already asleep. She’d always been a good sleeper.
Addie grabbed Snaggles out of her backpack, which she’d put on the single chair in the room. She also took out the squishy that Cash had given her and set it on the bedside table. Pulling back the covers, she climbed in carefully and slowly so she didn’t disturb Monroe.
But her sister didn’t even stir. A light snore escaped Monroe, and Addie had to smile.
Hugging Snaggles tight, she stared up at the ceiling. She should have fallen straight asleep, she was so exhausted. But instead, her brain just kept rolling over and over what had happened.
It didn’t help that this room wasn’t right. The sheets didn’t feel right. The smell was different. She thought that sleeping with Monroe might help, but instead, it just felt strange to have her sister in here with her.
The disruption was a constant itch under her skin, and frustration built inside her. Why couldn’t she just fall asleep?
Her throat burned with pain, and she squeezed her eyes shut as tears formed. One dripped down her cheek.
This wasn’t good. She was going to wake up Monroe if she stayed in here. So she crawled back out of bed and grabbed her backpack, Snaggles, and the squishy.
She headed into the bedroom she’d been given, coming to a sudden stop as she realized someone was inside the room. Addie let out a raspy cry and took a step back, nearly tripping up over her own feet in her haste to get away.
“Baby girl, it’s me.”
What? Why was this man calling her baby girl? Wait. Someone who had broken in to hurt them wouldn’t call her baby girl.
And she wouldn’t recognize their voice. That was Cash.
“It’s me. It’s Cash, baby. I’m just setting up a humidifier. I was going to try and sneak it into the other bedroom when I realized that you were sleeping with Monroe, but I didn’t want to wake you, so I was setting it up in here.”
Why was he setting up a humidifier?
“I read that it could be good for your throat.” He eyed her for a long moment “What’s wrong? I thought you were sleeping with Monroe?”
She hugged Snaggles tight, unsure what to tell him.
“Were you having trouble falling asleep?” he asked.
Addie nodded. She ran Snaggle’s fluffy ear under her nose, trying to comfort herself.
“Well, I think it’s better that you sleep in here with the humidifier for your throat anyway. I put a bottle of water on the bedside table, as well as some painkillers and a heating pad. I got that delivered too, just in case you got your period. You’ll find some personal items in the bathroom.”
And now she was bright red again. Why did he sound so matter-of-fact about her period? Were all men like this? Caring? Somehow, she didn’t think so.
“Tomorrow, I’ll get some more things from LittleLand for you, all right?”
She felt overwhelmed by how much he was doing for her when she barely even knew him. They were essentially strangers.
To her horror, tears started to drip down her face, and she wiped them away hastily, burying her face into Snaggles’ fur.
“Hey, hey, hey. What’s wrong? That was meant to make you feel better, not worse. What can I do?”
She could feel Cash hovering in front of her, but not touching her. Addie wanted to lean forward and bury herself in his chest.
Could she do that? It wouldn’t be right, would it?
And yet, her body was moving before she could stop it. She pressed herself against him.
Cash slowly wrapped his arms around her. “My poor baby. You’re overwhelmed, aren’t you? Just let it out. I have you. Be my good girl and let it all out.”
She sobbed. She so wanted to be his good girl. It was an ache inside her that wouldn’t go away.
Cash ran his hand up and down her back as he held her.
“Just let it all out. You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”
He really shouldn’t make promises like that. She wasn’t his responsibility.
But God, she wanted to be.
She wanted to always feel his arms around her, to know that at any time she could search him out, and he’d hug her tight like this and make her feel better.
Even though the circumstances were shit, and she wished none of this had ever happened, she couldn’t ever regret meeting Cash.
But this wasn’t her life and she knew she had to go back to reality eventually. Just in this moment, though, perhaps she could have something of her own to remember.
She could pretend that she had something that other people took for granted. A person of their own, who cared about them, wanted them.
Maybe even desired them.
She’d always known she couldn’t have normal. That was out of her reach.
Not that Cash was exactly normal. He was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even funny. They weren’t even in the same stratosphere.
But he didn’t seem to mind touching her, hugging her.
He didn’t seem to think that she was dumb and defective.
“You’re shaking. Are you cold?” he asked.
Was she cold? She didn’t really know anymore. It was like her brain and her body were detached from one another. She wasn’t even sure what she was feeling.
Maybe she was ill. Was she dying? Was her mother right?
Was her life destined to end in doom and gloom?
Her mother had died on her own . . . the doctors said it was a heart attack because she hadn’t taken care of herself.
Even though her mother had never seemed to truly love and care about her, Addie had always felt bad that she’d died alone.
“I’m going to pick you up. If you don’t want that, tap me on the stomach twice,” he warned her.
Huh? What was he talking about? Pick her up? Why?
Before her brain could figure it all out, she was in his arms. She should object, only she couldn’t find any desire to.
Cash carried her over to the bed and sat her down on the end before pulling the covers back.
Then he picked her up again and placed her in the bed, tucking the covers around her.
“Do you want me to plug the heating pad in?” he asked. “What about some painkillers? Drink of water?”
She shook her head, completely overwhelmed again by all the questions. She didn’t know what she wanted or needed.
Well, it wasn’t quite true. What she really wanted was his arms back around her.
To her surprise, he sat on the bed facing her and brushed her hair back off her face.
“What am I going to do with you, Stowaway?”
It was a good question, since she didn’t really know herself. She stared up into his gorgeous face. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate that the one person who had ever made her feel safe from his touch should be this man.
A man who didn’t even live in the same city with her.
A man who thought that she wasn’t quite right.
She had to keep reminding herself of that. He was just taking care of her because he felt sorry for her.
He was a good guy who was giving up his free time to watch over her and her sisters. If she was a better person, she would probably tell him that he shouldn’t be doing this, that he should just go home and live his life.
But just the idea of doing that made her feel sick.
“I’m going to stay with you until you fall asleep.” He grimaced. “I mean, is that okay?”
Why wouldn’t she say yes to that?
“You should sleep,” she croaked.
“Not going to sleep until you do, baby,” he told her. “So why don’t you close those eyes and just try to relax, okay? Take a few deep breaths for me and let them out slowly. Also, I don’t want any more talking from you until your throat is no longer sore.”
She wasn’t sure how long that would take. Not with stress and anxiety riding her hard.
But she just nodded.
“Good girl. Close your eyes and listen to me. Deep breath in, then let it out slowly. That’s it. And now another one. Deep breath in and let it out slowly. Nothing bad will happen while I’m here.”
Addie found herself relaxing into each breath as he kept talking to her quietly.
Gradually, sleep started to overtake her, pulling her down. She jolted, waking up again. It was like her body didn’t actually want to fall asleep, as though she was too stressed and on edge.
But he was there, talking to her quietly, reassuring her, telling her that he would be here when she woke up.
So she finally let herself drift off to sleep.
Cash watched her sleep for far too long. Ralen was sleeping while Butch was somewhere outside. They really only needed two of them here, but neither he nor Ralen wanted to leave. And Butch had just glared at him when he’d suggested he could leave.
Grumpy bastard.
When Cash was certain she was in a deep sleep, he stood and stretched.
He walked out into the living room, but kept her door slightly open so he could hear her if she made any noise.
If she needed him.