He was startled. The way she screamed shattered something inside him. He couldn’t decide what hurt more— her being in pieces like this or hearing another man’s name escape her trembling lips.
He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as she clung to him like a lifeline, her fists buried in his shirt, her head resting against his chest. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair, sitting beside her on the bed, his embrace tightening as if trying to hold together the fragments of her soul.
She slowly tried to open her eyes, still consumed by fear. Even as she hugged Mike, her mind refused to let go of HIM. Her fists clenched tighter around Mike’s shirt as she tried to ground herself in the warmth of his arms, forcing herself not to think of HIM.
Once the storm inside her calmed, sh
