“What!” she screeches. Her breathing becomes impossibly faster, hyperventilating. She moves backward, again knocking over another glass figure. I wrap myself over her to protect her from flying shards. Fuckin-A. How many stupid figurines do I have? I can feel Brooke shaking as she pushes against my chest. She is terrified.

Brooke

The minute my glasses fall, my world becomes shadows—dark, lonely, miserable shadows. Shadows that haunt my memories. My ears fill with the sound of my dad’s cackle. I want to curl in on myself, protect my ribs from the kick I know is coming.

“Brooke. Beagchaithnini sneachta, calm down. You’re going to hurt yourself some more. Brooke!”

I take a deep breath and pull in Landen’s intoxicating smell. He smells like pine trees and lust and man. Landon won’t hurt me. Not physically, at least. I know that to be true. He is my hero, my shelter. I glance up to where it sounds like his face is.

“It’s going to be okay, Brooke. Just calm down.”

My breathing slowly evens. “I need my glasses,” I whisper. I feel his hand cradle my cheek.

“Okay. Do you have a second pair?”

I nod.

“Where are they?”

“In the bathroom.”

“Okay, I’ll go get them, but first let me help you to the sofa.”

I start to panic. I grab his shirt front. “Don’t leave me alone, Landon. Please, I cannot see. I can’t see.”

He moves the thumb of the hand on my cheek in a soothing, circular motion. “I know, Beagchaithnini sneachta. I know.”

I feel a fat hot tear slowly trickle down my cheek. “Please. I hate the dark.”

I can feel Landen’s eyes on me, assessing me. I wonder what he saw. His crazy wife having a panic attack because of a pair of broken glasses?

Suddenly, I am being lifted into the air. I latch onto Landon’s shoulders, my stomach fluttering at the unexpected movement. We are walking. Out the office doors, down the hall to the left.

“No, Landon. My bathroom,” I say when I realize he took me to his room. He pauses, and his grip on me tightens before he turned and continued down the hall, turning right into my room.

He gently sets me on the bed, and I can hear the light switching on. He digs around for a while and then he is in front of me again. He gently slides my glasses on my face and my world becomes light again. I stare into Landon’s stormy eyes, taking in the beauty that can so easily be taken away again.

“Let’s get your hand cleaned up.” He goes back into the bathroom and came back with a first aid kit. He kneels in front of me and gently picks up my hand. There are glass shards embedded in it and a gash running across my palm. I have not even realized I cut myself. We do not speak as Landon works on removing the glass.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur.