Page 106 of Split You Open

“Alright,” I concede. “Want a pillow or⁠—?”

“I’m fine,” he snaps.

With a nod, I shut the door and turn to face Blair. She looks anxiously at the door then back at me. She’s clearly just as confused as I am about his presence there.

With a sigh, I make my way back over to her and climb into the bed. She takes one pillow and I take the other. She lowers herself onto the bed and I curl up around her, nearly crushing her.

“He’ll be okay,” I murmur into her ear. “And if not, I’ll spank him, too.”

Blair’s body shakes as she giggles.

“Goodnight, Wes,” she says once it dies down.

I kiss the back of her neck. “Goodnight, baby girl.”

Twenty-Four

Rhett

Iknow it’s early when I wake from a restless night’s sleep.

Sitting upright, with my knees drawn up to my chest, isn’t the problem—I’d slept like this for years before I came to Gnarly Pines while on the run from the police.

It’s the noises the house makes that keep me alert.

Every small creak and groan was a taunt.

A test.

Will I be ready when trouble comes to take my girl?

When. Not if.

Because it’s only a matter of time until Dixie and his men realize Blair has returned to Gnarly Pines. But he’s not the only threat. Dixie isn’t even the most immediate threat to Blair.

Each time I jerk my chin up from where it rests on my chest—ready to assess any sound that feels out of place—my head swivels in the direction of Ledger’s room. His door never opened and no sound came from the other side last night. Still… I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t come creeping out to get his hands on Blair.

An ache, soul deep—one that I haven’t felt in a while—attempts to surface. I try to push it away but it comes in fast, like a wave crashing over sand and for a second, I feel like I’m drowning. I suck in a sharp breath, scared that I might not be able to breathe ever again if I don’t.

My failure to protect my sister is a wound I’ll never truly recover from.

It’s healed some in these past few weeks—it’s more manageable now and I can think of Abby without the agony that tends to follow—but it’ll always be there in the background. I cannot bear the thought of losing anyone else. And yet, there’s a very real possibility that by the end of all this mess I could lose Blair.

Reaching up, I grab my chest—as if that could stop it from cracking open.

Losing Blair will destroy me.

My eyes flicker to my bedroom where Santiago is sleeping. I could lose him, too. Dixie’s people are willing to kill indiscriminately. I’ve borne witness to their vicious attacks. What if Santi gets caught in the cross hairs of all of this? Or what about Wes? There’s just so much at stake. How the hell are we all supposed to make it out of this alive?

I choke on a groan as a shudder races down my spine. My fingers dig into my chest as I try to hold myself together.

The silence in the hall is broken by the sound of an alarm clock going off.

With a soft groan, I get to my feet.

Just as I do, Ledger’s door opens.

My heart seizes. Terror, unlike anything I’ve felt in a long fucking time climbs up my throat and chokes me.