Page 73 of Please Open Me
Goddammit.
Three hours. Three goddamn hours until I had to put on clean clothes, pretend I wasn’t half-dead, and go deal with whatever fresh hell the day had in store—probably more grunt work at Lucian’s shop, more cult drama, and, if I was lucky, an iced coffee the size of my head.
Or a sugar-free Red Bull.
Maybe both, seeing as I’d get maybe an hour of sleep.
I pushed open the glass door that separated Rosie’s room from the kitchen. All the windows in her nursery were covered with gauzy white curtains. Between that and the soft twilight, the space felt ethereal.
First, I turned on the white noise machine. Then I grabbed a soft pink blanket on my way to the glider. Finally, I collapsed into the chair and placed Rosie on my chest. She popped her thumb into her mouth, and her long lashes fluttered shut.
I rocked us gently. One hand patted her butt, the other rested on her back. I hummed under my breath, just like Mason did when lulling her to sleep.
Rosie’s breathing evened out almost instantly. My eyelids burned. I wiped at them with my free hand and, for the first time since I’d started my apprenticeship, I seriously considered calling off. I mean, part of my job involved handling sharp objects around people’s bodies. That wasn’t safe on forty-five minutes of sleep.
Lucian could survive without me. I typed out a message telling him exactly that but never hit send.
Somewhere between cuddling Rosie and debating whether to text Lucian,“Don’t fucking wake me up,”I dozed off.
It wasn’t graceful. Or safe. Rosie was still on my chest. But unconsciousness crashed over me mid-breath, like my own body finally said,that’s enough, idiot,and dragged me into blissful sleep.
And that bliss shattered the second I heard a clatter near the front of the house.
I jolted upright, gasping. Rosemary barely stirred, she just grunted, smacked me, and went back to sleep.
My eyes burned from the sudden wake-up. I looked around to make sure I hadn’t dreamt it.
Then came a jingle. Definitely real.
I gently laid Rosie in her crib and crept out of the room.
I expected to see Cameron getting ready for the day. Instead, a small, muscular figure was up near the foyer.
“Goddammit, where are my keys?” Mattie mumbled.
Fuck. Seriously?
She couldn’t sleep in just long enough for me to not feel like death?
I blinked hard, forcing myself to exist again, then cleared my throat.
Mattie jumped, dropping the keys she’d just dug out.
“Jesus fucking Christ! Is there any reason you’re watching me like a creep?”
“Is there any reason you’re sneaking around my house at—” I checked my watch. “—half past five?”
Holy hell. I’d gotten one hour of sleep. How? My body still felt like it was made of lead.
Mattie looked at the floor and shoved her hands into her pockets. Her shoulders hunched, making her already short frame seem even smaller.
“I’m not sneaking around.” Her voice was low, like I’d just stomped on whatever pride she had left. “I just… I wanted to surprise Mason, that’s all.”
Shock smacked me across the face.
No way she actually wanted to surprise Mason. She had to be up to something. But, maybe?
“Surprise her with what, exactly?” I asked, skeptical. “Are you going to kidnap her and chain her in the basement forDale?”
