No Returns (The Blankenships Book 6) by Evelyn Glass

angle that made her cry out with sudden, thorough pleasure.
     
    “Because you’re here,” she managed to gasp out as his eyes closed and he soared with her. “You’re right here.”
     

CHAPTER TEN
     
    When Alex woke up for the first time in days, he felt — well, rested was a stretch, a huge exaggeration, but not like he was falling back into a slog that would devour his life and eat his soul. Like there might be an end to this tunnel of horrors.
     
    Thinking of Claire was like dragging fingernails over the open, gaping wound where his heart used to live, but even that was an improvement, in a way.
     
    He leaned over Zoey; she was still sound asleep, her soft curls splashed over the pillow, her lips were tipped up in a quiet little smile. He pressed his lips to her cheek, and she made a sleepy, happy little sound. Her eyelashes fluttered, but her eyes didn’t open. “Are you getting up?” She muttered.
     
    “Yeah,” he said. “Do you want to sleep, or should I have Sophia make breakfast for two?”
     
    She stretched languidly under the sheets. “Sleep,” she said. “But if you need me—”
     
    He leaned over and kissed her again, just a little bit longer. “You’re right here. Thank you.” He took a long, slow breath. “I don’t know if this will ever get all the way better.”
     
    She opened her eyes, then, and turned over to look him in the eye more evenly. “Your sister died,” she said, and he saw wetness gathering on her lashes. He brushed it away with the tip of his little finger. “I’d think less of you if you were ever the same after that. But I’m still here. If you could try not to go so far away, I’d appreciate it, but I understand.”
     
    He nodded slowly and then said something much scarier than telling her that he loved her. “I had a therapist, a few years ago. I saw her a lot about — well, a lot of things. I’m going to call her again. Make an appointment.”
     
    “Okay,” she said.
     
    He waited for a push back, irritation, or some sort of insinuation that a real man would get through this on his own. Nothing came. “Last time, she suggested that I go on meds. That may happen again.”
     
    She gave another shrug and turned all the way towards him. “If you’re waiting for me to tell you to buck up, buttercup, or something, you’ll be waiting a long time. Better living through chemistry, my friend.”
     
    Obviously, the only solution was to kiss her until she whimpered.
     
    When Zoey rolled over to go back to sleep, he slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a dark t-shirt. He wasn’t up to going into the AEGIS building itself, but he could do some work in his office, make a few phone calls, and conduct a few meetings if necessary. But first, some coffee and something to put into his stomach. He had that odd, hollow feeling in his midsection that meant that once he ate, he might end up very, very hungry.
     
    Sophia was in the kitchen, leaning against a counter, staring off into the distance. Her gaze snapped up when he stepped towards her, and he watched the woman who had kept his home running for several years brush away whatever wetness had collected around her eyes and push a calm and businesslike expression back onto her face. “Good morning,” she said. “Just yourself for breakfast this morning? The others are still asleep, I think. Just coffee, or—”
     
    He touched the back of her hand carefully, and Sophia froze, her gaze locked on the point of contact. “How are you? I’ve been so wrapped up in my own pain, I didn’t ask. Do you need to take a few days? Go see your children? Hug your grandbabies?”
     
    Sophia lifted her eyes and gave him a watery sort of smile. “No, thank you. It’s worse to have nothing to do. I would rather be here, be myself. With them, I would just be in the way, an old woman sad about someone they do not know.”
     
    He nodded. “If there’s anything you need, please. Just say the