Chapter 24 #2
At this early juncture I didn’t think contacting Vinnie G was a good idea either—hell, I didn’t fully understand how Kira had linked him to my brother, but I didn’t get the vehemence in Easton’s response.
Nebraska frowned. “Easton, I’ve met with him plenty—”
“There is no chance you’re sitting at a table with a mob boss while you’re carrying my baby.”
Carrying his baby?
Nebraska was pregnant?
I felt something unpleasant slither down my spine while a conflicting emotion filled my chest.
I was happy for my friend, who wasn’t really my friend in the sense we shared our secrets—or even the truth about who we really were—and very clearly, I wasn’t a friend she’d share good news with.
Cash’s hand on my thigh barely registered as the sting continued to act as a reminder that I was an outsider.
I didn’t mean anything to any of these people.
“Listen,” I said as I swiped Cash’s hand off my thigh and pushed back my chair.
“Easton’s right, you really shouldn’t put yourself out there, especially for me.
And congratulations, I’m really happy for you.
” By some miracle I’d managed to keep my tone light.
Now if I could keep myself steady through the rest of what I had to say, I’d be golden.
I waited until I was on my feet before I locked eyes with Zane and went on.
“I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, for us, for me and Cara.
So please take this as sincere when I say thank you, but I think it’s time for me to pack…
” I swept my hand in the direction of the file-covered table.
“…this shit up and get out of your way.”
I heard and ignored Cash’s growl from beside me. It was harder but I ignored the looks Nebraska was casting down the table at me. What I couldn’t ignore was Zane’s intense scrutiny.
Sometimes, though it was rare and it was always when I’d caught him on the phone with his wife or when he was talking about her or his kids and his manor would change—soften, morph into something very un-Zane-like.
To a lesser extent this happened when he was joking with his team—guard down, the real Zane Lewis peeking through.
But something told me it was me being in his proximity that held him back from giving himself freely, something he’d do if I wasn’t around.
In other words, there were times it was easy to forget that Zane Lewis was all that he was. But right then with his gaze sharp on me, those eyes of his like a blade ready to slice me to shreds, I remembered all that was behind the friendly smiles he gave his team.
Thus, I braced. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken into account I’d yet to fully find the armored fortification that Lore provided.
I’d also forgotten that I’d spent the last six months telling Cara fanciful stories about magical powers and dragons, so I was wholly unprepared for the Viper coiled and ready to strike.
“I’m gonna say this once,” Zane stated in a deceptively even tone. “Get over yourself.”
There was another growl coming from beside me along with the sound of Cash coming to his feet. A second later his hand was on my hip. Zane’s gaze dropped to Cash’s hand and stayed there while Cash’s palm slid around to my belly, and he moved me two feet back before he started to step around me.
Cash had yet to maneuver himself between me and his boss when Zane continued, “This isn’t about you and you damn well know it.
The second you took on that little girl, life stopped being about you and you know that, too.
What you haven’t clued in on yet is the minute you fixed Cara’s records claiming Cash as her daddy, she became ours.
We protect what’s ours. I protect it. But more, and woman you better clue in quick about this, Cash will protect what’s his.
“You gave that girl his name. You took that name for yourself. Then shit got extreme in a way I’m sure you never predicted, but like a good mom you planned for it and you gave Cara the tools she needed to get help.
Not only by making sure she was covered if you died, but her knowing how to reach Cash if she ever needed him.
As a backup to that, you gave her Nebraska.
You might’ve unintentionally given that girl a family, but you did it all the same.
I’m thinking for you adding my name to that list was an end-of-the-world-only situation.
The world might not be on fire but yesterday for that little girl it was.
And something you should already know about me, no one fucks with my family without feeling the full weight of my displeasure.
“Six months ago, before you walked out, you told me Lore was dead. I reckon in the last twenty-four hours you’ve been doing your best to resurrect her. But, Stella, she is well and truly dead. Lore was left behind when Cash carried his woman’s bloody body out of that basement.
“Advice. Learn and learn quick—whether you meant to or not, you got yourself a family. Now sit your ass down and help your family track the piece of shit who put the fear of God in your girl.”
You got yourself a family.
Family.
I’d never had one of those.
I had parents.
I had a brother.
But never a family.
I was so stuck on what Zane had said, I hadn’t realized I was shaking until Cash tucked me to his chest. Then I was shaking in his arms, which only intensified when Zane once again spoke.
Only this time there was no false calm in his voice. He was straight up pissed and let his anger be known.
“And you. I don’t know what the bullshit was when you got here. But I see our talk yesterday wore off.”
“Zane,” Cash rumbled. And since I was plastered against his chest, I felt that hostile growl vibrate through me. I tried to push away to instigate some sort of damage control. But I got approximately a millimeter away before Cash carefully locked his arms around me.
“Yesterday,” Zane spoke over Cash. That was to say, if Cash had more to say—which I wouldn’t know because I couldn’t see his face but I could see Nebraska’s and she was smiling.
Since that freaked me out, I glanced at Kira.
She wasn’t smiling, she was scowling, and that frown was aimed at Cash.
“You wouldn’t let anyone get within five feet of that little girl.
And more than once you looked like you were gonna take someone’s head off even suggesting she go with them.
One of those people was my wife. I let that shit slide because I thought you found it. ”
“Found what?” Cash asked.
“The person who you’d burn the world down for.”
Cash went solid. His arms around me had not loosened yet still managed to get tighter, making it hard to breathe for a variety of reasons. Some of which had nothing to do with how hard he was squeezing me.
“Hate to break this up,” Kira cut in. She was no longer frowning at Cash but instead at her laptop screen. “But we have a problem.”
Great.
I knew Cash had the same thoughts as me when he muttered, “Fuck.”
But he didn’t let me go, at least not fully. Even though he unwrapped his arms, it was only so he could tag my hand and guide me back to my chair.
Once we were both seated, Cash moved our still-connected hands to his thigh, mine on the bottom, and he kept it there with an unyielding grip.
I didn’t know what to make of this mainly because I’d yet to process all of what Zane had said.
And now according to Kira there was a problem, and if the look on her face was anything to go by, it was a big one.
So I did what I did best and pretended Zane hadn’t blown my world apart, and filed all those messy emotions away into my never-to-be-opened folder.
Unfortunately, that folder was overflowing.