49. Daltyn
DALTYN
My pulse is already pounding before I even reach the bed.
Peyton looks terrified.
Like she woke up somewhere she never fully escaped.
“Hey,” I say carefully.
Her breathing turns ragged when I step closer. The sound cuts straight through my chest.
“It’s okay.” My voice comes out lower this time. Softer. “You’re okay.”
She shakes her head, like she doesn’t believe me.
Something ugly twists violently inside me.
I sit slowly on the edge of the bed, giving her enough space that she won’t feel cornered.
“Nightmare?” I ask quietly.
Peyton drags a shaky hand over her face.
For a second, I think she’s not going to answer.
Then she whispers, “Landon.”
The name lands like a lit match inside my bloodstream. Every muscle in my body tightens.
I remember Key West. The blood. The knife .
The look in her eyes when she screamed at me to stop hitting him.
Rage rises so fast it nearly chokes me.
I force it back down. Because this isn’t about me right now. It’s about her.
Peyton’s staring down at the blankets tangled around her legs like she’s ashamed of this. Ashamed of being scared.
That realization nearly fucking destroys me.
“He can’t hurt you here,” I say carefully.
She shakes her head again. “You don’t understand.” The words come out broken. Raw.
I stay quiet, letting her decide if she wants to keep talking.
Finally, her voice cracks softly through the silence. “I saw him grab Allie again.”
My chest caves inward.
“He had that knife against her throat and…” Peyton’s breathing stutters. “There was blood everywhere.”
I don’t say anything.
I can’t.
Because all I can think about is how terrified she must’ve been standing there, helpless. Watching someone she cared about get hurt because of him.
“Then you tackled him,” she whispers.
Something in her expression changes. Fear mixes with something deeper.
“You wouldn’t stop.”
Fuck.
The word echoes heavily through my skull.
I lost control.
I wanted to kill him.
Not just for hurting Allie, but for all the things he did to Peyton .
Because he still wanted her... and I wasn’t going to let him have her.
Peyton finally looks at me. Her eyes are glassy with tears. “I couldn’t get you to hear me.”
The guilt hits hard.
I remember the sound of her screaming my name. The taste of blood in my mouth. The absolute fucking blackout rage that took over when I saw Landon staring at her.
My jaw tightens hard enough to hurt. “I scared you.”
Peyton’s expression crumples slightly. “No.” But she says it too fast.
I exhale slowly through my nose and stare down at my hands. “I wanted to kill him.”
The room goes silent.
Not because she’s shocked. She already knows that.
“The rage got to me,” I admit roughly. “I lost control.”
I don’t tell her the truth. There was another time I felt enraged.
And it was because of my father.
Peyton swallows hard. “He said it was my fault.”
Something cold settles inside me. “What?”
“In the dream.” Her voice shakes. “He told me I ruin people.”
Absolutely fucking not. The thought slams through me with enough force to make my vision sharpen.
I lean forward before I can stop myself. “Look at me.”
Peyton hesitates, then finally lifts her eyes to mine.
“You didn’t ruin me.” The words come out hard. Absolute. “You hear me?”
Her breath catches slightly.
“You didn’t make me attack him,” I continue quietly. “He held a knife to Allie’s throat. He stalked you. Terrorized you. ”
She stares at me, fear in her eyes.
My voice roughens. “He did that. Not you.”
Tears slip silently down Peyton’s cheeks now.
And Christ. That destroys me more than the nightmare ever could.
I pull my shirt over my head and hand it to her. “Will this make you feel better?”
She reaches for it, then says, “Don’t look.”
I turn away, listening to the rustle as she removes her pajamas and puts on my shirt.
“Okay.”
I turn and look at her. The sight of her in my shirt does something feral to me.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I nod, reaching toward her slowly, giving her time to pull away.
She doesn’t.
The second my hand touches her face, wiping away her tears, something inside my chest cracks wide open.
Her eyes close briefly as I brush away a tear with my thumb. “You are not something bad that happens to people, Peyton.”
The room falls painfully quiet.
Then suddenly, she throws herself against me hard enough to nearly knock me backward on the mattress.
I catch her automatically.
And the second she curls against my chest, shaking, every protective instinct inside me turns absolutely lethal.
I know Landon can’t get to her here.
But I’ll be damned if I let anyone else get close enough to hurt her again.