Chapter Sixty Six
Raleigh
“What happened?” Ro asks as he wraps both hands around mine, his voice low and gentle.
I stiffen, and even though the nightmare that I’d lived through is on a constant loop in my mind, I don’t want to have to keep going over it, retelling it, *reliving* over and over again.
Glancing around for my phone, I ask, “Where’s my phone?” when I don’t see it anywhere within sight.
“Why?” Ro asks, his brows knitting together in the middle in confusion.
“I don’t want to have to go over this multiple times. I just want to call Lincoln and have him come here.” I can tell that my saying this irritates him but he doesn’t understand what I’ve gone through. “Once he gets here, I’ll tell you guys everything, I promise. I just-I can’t…”
He nods, then squeezes my hand. “Lincoln is already on his way. Your phone must have been left back at that place when you were rescued.”
“We’ll get you a new one,” Ryker says, placing his hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “Your phone can be replaced. *You* cannot be, Little Sister.”
“And for fuck sakes, don’t ever scare us like that again,” Ryler says through an exasperated breath.
“Yeah, because I meant to get myself kidnapped,” I snap, my eyes filling with tears. Pulling away from my brothers, I curl in on myself, turn on my side, my back towards the twins and wrap my arms around my belly, guarding the growing baby in there as the building tears begin to fall. “Can you just leave me alone for a bit…please?” I plead, my voice weak and full of emotion as I try to hold back the onslaught of tears that are trying to pour out of me.
“That’s not-I didn’t mean-“ Ryler starts but cuts himself off. Silence permeated the room until a moment later when I hear him mumble a resigned “Okay,” just before he and Ryker get up from their seats and leave the room.
Ro leans forward and places a gentle kiss against my temple and then murmurs, “I’ll be just outside the door if you need anything.” I don’t respond with anything more than a sniffle. “I love you, Raleigh. We all do, never question that.”
I nod and even though I can’t bring myself to look at him, I still manage to mumble, “I love you, too.”
As soon as the door closes behind him, the floodgates open and I can’t hold back my tears any longer.
I’m still a sobbing mess ten minutes later when the door opens again, the sound of footsteps leading my direction announcing that I’m no longer alone.
“Please, Ro,” I plead, my face still half buried in the blanket surrounding me. “I just want to be left alone.”
“Raleigh,” his voice comes out as more of a choked whisper but I’d recognize it anywhere.
“Lincoln?” I ask, finally looking up to face the person standing halfway between the door and the foot of the bed, stopped as if he’s afraid if he takes a step closer I’ll either fall apart, disappear or maybe both.
“I’m here, baby,” he reassures, closing the distance between us and dropping down into the open chair at my bedside. Immediately, he reaches out and grasps ahold of my hand, tangling his fingers with mine and squeezing.
“I thought I was never going to get to see you again,” his voice is rough, choked with emotion and it’s then that I realize that his hand is trembling, his entire body nearly vibrating with how badly he’s shaking.
“Oh, Lincoln, baby,” I gasp as more tears gather in my eyes, a few managing to find their way down my already damp cheeks. Adjusting myself in the bed and then pulling the covers back, I tug on his hand and say, “Come here.”
Lincoln gently eased his large body into the hospital bed next to me, taking care to make sure that he doesn’t hurt me as he does and wraps his arms around me, pulling me firmly against his trembling chest as he buries his face in my neck, and with a sob he says, “Fuck, baby. I was so scared that I had lost you.”
I hold him tightly, doing my best to comfort him as I reassure him over and over that I’m really here in his arms right now, that he’s not dreaming, and that I’m not going anywhere.
Pulling back, Lincoln cups my cheeks and looks me straight in the eyes as he says, “I love you, Raleigh. So fucking much,” I open my mouth to respond in kind but he stops me. “I need you to hear me when I say this, okay?” He drops one of his hands to my own and then brings my hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it. “I know you went through some horrible things while you were gone, but nothing will change how I feel about you.”
Then he takes our hands and places them on my belly, “No matter what, you and this baby are mine. Do you understand?”
“Really?” The single word comes out as a whisper and it’s probably the stupidest thing I could have said but it doesn’t seem real. *He wants to claim the baby as his even if it isn’t his? Even if it’s Brady’s?* I can’t help but look at him in confusion. *Why would he do that?*
“Really,” his eyes are full of sincerity and I can tell he means what he’s saying but I can’t help but wonder if he’s thought everything through. He doesn’t even know who held me captive all this time and he and Brady were archenemies like Batman and The Joker.
Tears well in my eyes once more and I want to believe him, I do but there’s a pit in my stomach and I can’t help but think, *He’s going to change his mind and leave me, leave us, when he finds out the truth about everything…*
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
