Mick nodded.
Reece kept going.
“You don’t hit kids, you don’t hit women, and you only hit men when they give you call to do it. What would move a man to strike a pregnant woman is beyond me but he did it. Then again, he did the same to his baby girls and we could argue all day which one of those is more twisted with no answers since they’re equally fucked up.”
“This is true,” Mick murmured.
Reece went on. “Xenia told Zara she got flashbacks, terrified of the state of her life, havin’ a kid, not breakin’ that cycle, not able to get away from that motherfucker. Zara left, shit kept twisting in Xenia’s brain, and she made very wrong decisions that means she’s been alive for a long time, same time she was good as dead. Think she paid a high price for her dick of a father bein’ an asshole so, due respect, maybe you’ll have a care, shiftin’ blame to a dead woman.”
Mick lifted his chin to acknowledge the rebuke but stated, “We’re goin’ over history.”
“History doesn’t live and breathe and that boy is doin’ both one county over,” Reece fired back.
Shaughnessy locked eyes with him.
Reece kept talking.
“Zara was in no place financially to fight them for custody. She was twenty-fuckin’-four years old and workin’ nights, waitin’ tables at a bar. She’d started with nothin’ and worked her ass off since she was eighteen for everything she had. Not to mention, she had their promise that they’d find a good home for her sister’s son.”
“Not sure what either you or I can do about that. We can’t rewrite history,” Mick noted.
Reece stood and looked down at the man. “Yeah. You’re absolutely right. But we can write the future and that chapter’s gonna be written in blood.”
Mick stood too and warned softly, “Son, you’re talkin’ to an officer of the law.”
“Then you want this to go smooth, you start pokin’ around, ’cause Zander Cinders is gonna be livin’ with his aunt as soon’s I can pull that shit off and it’d help if you did what you could do to see that kid out of that viper’s den,” Reece returned, putting his mug down on Shaughnessy’s desk. “Obliged for the coffee,” he muttered. Turning on his boot, he stalked out of his office.
When he left the station, he didn’t go to his truck. He walked down the boardwalk, fury and adrenalin coursing energy through his frame that he had to burn off because it felt like his fucking head was going to explode.
His thoughts were assaulting him, an onslaught that caused a piercing pain to shoot through his right eye.
Zara was going to lose her mind when she found out her nephew was that close, being raised by a Cinders. He’d just guided her to getting it all together and now, fuck it, it was going to come flying apart.
He hated that for his girl but that wasn’t what sent that pain stabbing through his eye.
He’d left her.
Back then, after that shit went down and he got her to the other side, he’d left.
Because of his own fucked-up history, his vow not to get tied to another woman, not to get tied to anything, he’d walked away from her.
He knew he’d go back. Even at that age, Zara was the kind of woman you went back to. Hell, even back then, Reece knew she was the kind of woman you stuck to. He just wasn’t that kind of man back then and that was why he let her go, so she could have a man like that.
But he never knew he’d be where he was right then and go back.
It was no consolation that the baby had been taken by C-section by that time. The deal struck. Zara getting out of her end the knowledge her nephew would go to a couple who wanted a child desperately and couldn’t have one so they’d treat the one they got right and a promise from her father and mother that she’d never see or speak to them again.
He’d had no idea that baby was handed off to an aunt.
He’d just taken Zara’s pulse, saw she was moving on, healing, and he’d left.
He’d fucking left.
He could see it in his head, the image burning deep, that first good-bye, standing by his truck, her in his arms, smiling her sweet smile, her pretty brown eyes sad that he was going but understanding that was him. Giving him that. Giving him up. Letting him be who he was and taking him as he came.
He’d been her one. It took him years to realize she was his.
And she’d let him go so he could be who he had to be.
And he’d let her go so he could be a motherfucking asshole.
His girl, his cookie, abused by her father for as long as she could remember, having a mother who was so checked out, it was a wonder that bitch wasn’t in a coma, too. Zara had broken away, forged a life for herself. Then when her sister essentially bites it, the baby Zara was looking forward to helping Xenia raise gone, she found it in her to move on and start to heal.
He told himself he could go. She was strong.
What really happened was he told himself what he had to hear so he could cover his own ass, deny the depth of feeling he had for a woman, and run away from history so he wouldn’t have to learn one day she was a bitch like all the rest.
Even if she had given him no indication whatsoever she would be. There were no signs. No red flags.
Nothing.
He just left her.
The fury not subsiding, he wanted to punch something, and on that thought, mindlessly scanning as he beat back the pain in his head and tried to breathe through the weight in his chest, his eyes fell on a sign.
The instant they did, his feet took him there.
He walked through the door and saw that Nina Maxwell’s law offices weren’t swank but they were comfortable and understatedly plush. They were also professional. They were such that you walked in and instantly felt whoever worked there could sort your shit.
For it being such a shit day, it was still his lucky day because there was a receptionist behind the desk and Nina was standing at her side.
Both of their eyes came to him, Nina’s immediately concerned, the receptionist’s welcoming.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.
“I know him, Nance,” Nina murmured to her receptionist as she walked around the desk, a welcoming smile on her lips but it was wary. “Reece, this is a surprise.”
Her eyes were scanning his face and he knew what she saw seeing as he wasn’t hiding it.
“You got a second?” he asked when she stopped close.
Her head tipped to the side. “I’ll make one.”
“Neens, I’m sorry, but you have an eight-thirty appointment,” the receptionist reminded her and Nina looked to her at the same time she wrapped her fingers around Reece’s bicep and moved them to a side hall.
“Do me a favor. When they arrive, get them coffee and ask them to wait a spell. I’ll try not to take long,” Nina told the receptionist and led Reece into the hall.
She dropped his arm, guided them to a door, and moved them through to an office with a decent view of the mountains and the biggest desk he’d ever seen in his life.
He heard the door click and Nina ask, “Is Zara okay?”
Reece turned to watch her walk to the desk, not behind it, in front of it where she leaned her hips against the edge. She wasn’t assuming a position of authority or dominance. Her position was open, friendly; this was a chat among friends.
Said a lot about her.
What said more was that she wore a tight skirt, stylish blouse, sexy spike-heeled pumps, and nice jewelry that added personality to a sexy but professional package. She wasn’t a knockout but she was very pretty and with that hair, those eyes, those clothes, all of it screaming high-maintenance, she was a challenge many men would accept.
But getting to know her last night, she was a whole lot more. Nina was so goddamned smart it was borderline scary and she was able to speak her mind. A fact she’d demonstrated repeatedly.
In other words, not easy. Not even close. Attractive. Sexy. Stimulating. Cute as all fuck.
But not easy.<
br />
Reece knew it’d take a man like her husband to accept that challenge. And watching them together last night, Holden Maxwell lucked out he got hold of that spitfire and his wife lucked out she’d landed a man who got off on her not-unappealing brand of shit.
“She is now,” he answered. “She’s sleepin’. In a couple hours, she will not be.”
“I’m assuming you care to explain that since you’re here,” she noted in her also not-unappealing voice with its English accent.
“And I’m assumin’ with you two thick as thieves last night that you’re tight with my woman,” Reece returned.
She nodded. “We’re close, yes.”
“Then you know about her dad and her sister.”
“Yes,” she replied.
“All about it?”
“Yes, Reece.”
“Do you know about her dad?” Reece pushed.
It sounded like the same question, but if she knew, she’d know it wasn’t.
She studied him carefully. It took her a moment to trust him and he saw her body go tight with awareness before she spoke cautiously.
“If you mean about the physical and mental abuse, then… yes.”
“I mean that,” Reece confirmed.
Nina nodded.
“You know her sister was pregnant?”
Her face softened, sadness came into her eyes, and she replied, “Yes, Reece, I know that, too.”
Zara had shared, which meant she was still torn up about her nephew.
Back then, he’d held her as she cried. They’d stayed up past dawn, drinking beer, shooting vodka, and processing what she was going to do about it and, when she came to the realization she had no money and no power, he’d helped her accept that. Helped her accept her sister might still be breathing with the aid of machines, but she was still gone. Then he’d helped her figure out how she would move on.
And she had moved on.
But looking at Nina, he knew she also hadn’t.
“Xavier Cinders, Zara’s father, did not put that boy up for adoption. He placed him with his sister one county over. And right now, I’m hiring you to start proceedings to get custody of her nephew.”
He kept talking through her gasp as she straightened away from the desk and her eyes got big.
When he was done talking, she asked, “He didn’t put him up for adoption?”
“No, he did not.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed.
“Yeah,” Reece agreed. “Now you know that, you and me gotta get down to it. Life I led, didn’t need money, made it and saved it so I had a lot of it. Coupla months ago, Zara’s old house came up to auction from the bank. I bought it.”
Her mouth dropped open.
Reece ignored that and kept talking.
“Needed cash to make that buy, used nearly all I had. So we’ll need you to help us out and let us pay installments.”
“I… you… of course, but”—her mouth quirked—“you bought her house?”
“Appreciate if you don’t tell her that. It’s taken some time for her to sort out her head, we just got where I want us to be. We still got things to get through, we need time to get used to each other again, and I’d like to ask her to marry me there, so it would suck, you fucked that surprise.”
She shook her head quickly side to side. “I… no, I would—” She stopped abruptly to swallow a giggle, and then she went on. “I would never do that, Reece.”
“Obliged,” he muttered. “Now, this kid’s name is Zander Cinders. I know he’s in a private school one county over and he’s with a woman named Wilona. Her maiden name will be Cinders but I don’t know if she’s married. I learned this shit from Mick, so you might wanna have a chat with him. But whatever legal shit you gotta do to start this ball rollin’, do it. I’ll be in with Zara after I break this news and some other fucked-up shit she’s gotta know.”
“What other fucked-up shit?” Nina asked and Reece drew in a deep breath.
His voice was quieter when he said, “Her sister finally passed.”
Nina closed her eyes.
“Yeah,” Reece murmured.
Nina opened her eyes.
“Poor Zara,” she whispered.
“Give me the day, but, you got time, come around tonight. She won’t be workin’. She just got the day off. But I’ll have to go in, at least for a little while, and it’d be good she wasn’t alone while I’m gone.”
She immediately reached to a cell on her desk. “We’ll exchange numbers so you can call me if she doesn’t and I can call you to check to see if she’s okay without disturbing her.”
“Thanks,” he muttered. They exchanged number as he continued. “You got any idea why your sister-in-law would run interference on Zara learnin’ about her sister?”
“I don’t right now but I will as soon as she picks up her phone,” Nina replied.
He figured that was true. He suspected Nina Maxwell didn’t let anyone in her life get away with shit.
And he was hoping that she did the same thing professionally.
“You’re asking her to marry you?”
Fucking shit.
He didn’t want to discuss this with a woman he barely knew and a good friend of his girl’s.
“Yeah,” he said shortly.
“Please take no offense, you know Zara and I are close. She means a lot to me, she’s a good friend, she watches our kids.” She pulled in a breath, then laid it on him. “Are you sure you’re ready to settle down?”
Reece held her eyes.
He didn’t answer to anyone. Spent years not doing that. Hated doing that shit. He didn’t like her question and, eight months ago, he would walk right out the door without answering it.
But this was Zara’s girl.
So he answered it.
“I knew when I drove away from her the first time, I shouldn’t be doin’ it. I knew when I let her walk away from me three and a half years ago, it struck deep. I found out she lost her house, I sunk everything I had into buying it back. Never owned a piece of property in my life. Was once tied to a woman but never owned a house. Got myself loose from that woman and learned. What I learned after years was how to spot a good one. And what I learned seven months ago was that I was never gonna watch a good one walk away again. So yeah. I’m sure about settlin’ down and I’ll answer the question you didn’t ask. I’m also sure about Zara.”
Nina was silent and held his eyes through all that.
When he was done, she remained silent.
Then, slowly, her eyes lit, and she smiled.
And when she did, she smiled huge.
* * *
After finishing with Nina, Reece walked to his truck, angled in, and slammed the door.
Then he pulled out his phone, tamped down his still coursing anger, found the name, and hit go.
It rang three times before a man answered, his voice guarded. “Hello?”
“Greg, this is Reece, Zara’s man, and before you get pissed and hang up, I just found out Xenia passed away two days ago.”
To this he got silence.
So he spoke through the silence.
“It’s fucked up I’m tellin’ you before I tell Zara but once I tell her, I’m gonna need to be there for her so I won’t have time to deal with you.”
“Deal with me?” Greg asked, his voice unsteady and Reece didn’t know why, anger or emotion for Zara about her sister.
Since Reece didn’t give a fuck about this guy, it didn’t matter.
“Deal with you,” he confirmed. “I talk straight and I don’t got a lot of time so suck it up, man, ’cause here it is. Last night was fucked up. When you came to the bar was fucked up. Zara knows I’m gonna be doin’ this, havin’ this conversation with you, but she doesn’t like it. That’s because she cares about you. If you give a shit about her at all and want her in your life in the limited way you can have her, you end this shit. Now. You want to piss on my patch, we got problems. You followin’ me?”
?
??Sorry, I’m still back at Xenia dying. I’m finding it hard to keep up through your threats,” the fuckwit replied.
“Right, it’s good you brought that up because I should make that clear. These aren’t threats, Greg. When you pull that shit, it guts her. I’m not gonna let you do that and I’ll find a way to make sure you stop. The way I’d prefer it to be is if you’d give the tiniest fuckin’ shit about her and not make me do that because I got no problem fuckin’ you up, but if I gotta go outta my way and lay the hurt on you that would fuck her up. Now are you followin’ me?”
“It guts her?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know you so I don’t know if you sound happy because you can do that to her or pissed at yourself you’re doin’ it to her,” Reece told him.
“I’m not happy I’m hurting, Zara. God,” he clipped.
“Then stop doin’ it,” Reece returned.
This was again met with silence.
“I gotta go lay a different kind of hurt on Zara now, man, so tell me this was a productive conversation so I can get that over with for her,” Reece prompted when the silence stretched on too long.
“I never wanted things to get ugly between us,” Greg shared.
“You don’t want that, stop doin’ what you’re doin’,” Reece advised.
“It was just a shock, seeing her with you last night.”
“I get that. So does she. Doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t play that right.”
“I didn’t think. I guess I was mad.”
Jesus. What kind of guy was this guy?
“I’m sensin’ we’re comin’ to a positive end to this discussion so I don’t wanna piss you off, but I’m not your counselor. I’m your ex-wife’s man. You need to process shit, do it with one of your boys. I got shit to do.”
“Right, that was… I’m being…” He trailed off and before Reece could end this and get on with his shit day, Greg kept going. “I… this is weird to have to ask but, I mean, I probably should but, later, I’d like to call her. About Xenia.”
“Give it time. I’m lettin’ her sleep until she wakes up. Then I’ll lay that on her.”
“All right.”
It was time to end this.
“Thanks for givin’ a shit, Greg, now I gotta go,” Reece stated.