Couldn’t make sense whether it was Kallie calling out for me to save her or if the little girl chasing me in those dreams was the woman who now lay safe in the security of my arms.
Still curled around Shea, I blinked and tried to orient myself to the muted morning light. Last night, neither of us could sleep, so I’d thrown some of Shea’s things into a duffle bag and driven her over here to the house on Tybee Island. I’d told her Anthony would be here, and it’d be good for us to be here first thing in the morning so we could get straight to work on getting Kallie back.
But really, I knew Shea couldn’t be there in her grandmother’s house without Kallie in it. The walls ached with her absence.
Sucking in a breath, I attempted to clear the cloud in my head and the ache clinging to my chest.
Everything inside me demanded I stand up for them.
Stand for them.
It was time.
Careful not to wake her, I untangled myself from her and slipped out of bed. I tucked the covers up over her shoulders.
I pulled on the jeans I’d left discarded on the floor. Tiptoeing as quietly as I could, I edged out the door and softly snapped it shut behind me.
A blaze of reds and oranges lit the horizon where the sun climbed up from the edge of the ocean, the emerging day stretching its fingers through the wall of windows that took up the back of Anthony’s beach house.
And I knew it’d be Anthony’s arrival that had pulled me from my shallow sleep.
I ambled downstairs, trying to rub some of the exhaustion from my eyes. I hit the landing and rounded through the living room to the open kitchen.
In a suit, Anthony stood facing away at the far kitchen counter. He fumbled with the buttons of the Keurig machine as if his life depended on the brew.
Taking in a deep breath, I pressed my hands onto the top of the island separating us.
Had no idea what to expect from my agent and friend.
No doubt, this shit had to be getting old.
Dragging my ass out of every disaster I got myself into.
Taking flights clear across the country in the middle of the night.
Still, he did it time and time again.
When he felt my presence, Anthony looked over his shoulder. “Baz.”
It sounded weary. Just about as weary as the expression on his face.
I forced a grin, needing to break up some of the tension clogging the air. “You look like shit, man.”
Shooting me a smirk, he turned around to lean up against the counter. “And I wonder why that might be?” he drew out, all sorts of incredulous.
With my palms still pressed to the counter, I gave him a shrug. “Dunno. Could have something to do with the fact one of your asshole clients once again got himself in deep and you had to pack it up and race halfway around the world to dig him out of it.”
Although maybe this time…
Maybe this time getting myself in deep was exactly where I was supposed to be.
A short chuckle rumbled from him. “Could have something to do with that.”
Anthony sighed like he knew it was time to toss off the lightness passing between us, because fucking around wasn’t going to get Kallie back. He focused on pouring a shit-ton of sugar into his coffee and dousing it with cream.
“Thanks for being here,” I muttered honestly.
“It’s my job,” he said like there weren’t a whole lot of other options, but then he looked at me seriously as he took a tentative sip of his coffee, his tone changing. “And I want to be here. You know I’m not going to leave you high and dry in the middle of this.”
“I know. You know how much I appreciate you being here, don’t you? I don’t expect any of this from you.”
Yet, he was always willing.
There as a friend.
“Of course I know that.” He pushed out a strained breath and set his coffee aside. “This is messy, Baz.”
“You think I don’t know that?” It came out sounding more bitter than intended.
But fuck, this was a disaster.