They both caressed her back and kept close to her. “Is she okay?” Billy asked. Now he and Salvatore were there, too.
A tear rolled down her cheek and she swallowed over and over again.
“Get her some water,” Antonio ordered.
Billy jumped up and walked to the bathroom. He came back with water and climbed on the bed. “Here, baby, take a few sips.”
She took it from him and then she nodded. “I’m sorry I woke you guys.”
“Shhh, don’t be sorry. We’re right here with you,” Billy said to her, taking the glass from her hands.
“Did I hit you?” she asked Finn.
He squinted his eyes at her. “No. Why do you ask that?”
“No reason. I’m sorry. I’ll be fine,” she said and lowered back down to the bed and curled up into a ball.
Antonio locked gazes with Finn. He wasn’t happy.
Antonio pressed up against her body and kissed her shoulder.
“You’re safe here with us. We’ll protect you.”
“I’m fine,” she snapped at him.
“You’re not fine. You’re scared and you’re angry.”
“I’m not scared, just angry.”
“About the bad dreams?” he asked her and caressed her shoulder so she would roll onto her back.
She moved the sheets up over her bare breasts and then turned to face him.
He caressed her cheek as he leaned up on his forearm.
“Why angry?”
“Because they won’t go away. I can’t keep them from coming back. Those men, their hands on me, the look in their eyes. I can’t take it,” she admitted and he felt angry, too.
Finn pressed up against her back.
“It’s going to take time, baby,” he said and ran his hand over her arm and caressed her.
“How long?”
“As long as it takes. We’re here with you, Missy Ann. We’ll never let anything bad happen to you. Focus on that. On the feel of our arms wrapped around you and how perfect we are together,” Salvatore said to her. She glanced down at him and Billy.
“I don’t like being afraid at night. When I’m home alone and every sound, every little noise puts me on edge. It’s not until I’m completely exhausted that I fall asleep. Some nights I sleep through fine and then others it’s nightmare after nightmare. I just want them to go away. I mean I’m happy now. I feel safe with you guys, yet my mind remembers that experience and it won’t let it go. I want to let it go,” she said and her eyes filled with tears.
Antonio pulled her closer and he kissed her forehead and her cheeks.
“With time, Missy Ann, they’ll become fewer and fewer,” Salvatore said to her.
“You asked if you hit us? Are your nightmares usually worse?” Finn asked her.
She nodded her head. “I wake up and find everything on the floor, the pillows and even the lamp and clock on the nightstand. I think I’m fighting them off of me and I probably scream. I wake up in a cold sweat and I’m shivering and shaking so hard my teeth are chattering.”
Antonio felt sick. He pulled her closer and on top of him. She hugged him, laying her head against his chest and he caressed down her back and over her ass. “Move in here with us. Live here, stay in our bed and we can always protect you,” he said to her.