Chapter 21
ZACH
My phone rings, and I look at the caller ID. As soon as I see my sister’s name, I know I have to answer it. “Hey, sis.”
Abby sighs. “Zach Campbell, if I wasn’t so worried about you, I would be yelling at you right now. Are you okay?”
I tap a pen on my desk. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Fine?” she shrills. “You’re fine? You shot someone! You were—”
I cut her off. “Abby, listen, I’m okay. I was on the job.”
She groans. “I know it was the Brody sister. I heard she was in the hospital. Is she okay?”
Well, the small town gossip is alive and well. “Yes, she’s okay. I mean, she was hurt, but she’s going to be okay.”
My mind starts to race, replaying everything from yesterday, and I have to shake the thoughts out. “So uh, how are my niece and nephew? I need to come and see them.”
Abby huffs. “They’re fine… Zach, are you okay? I mean, you just sound, I dunno, off.”
I hate it. Even with the age difference, my sister and I have always been close, and normally, I’d talk to her about this, but right now, it’s too fresh.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just overwhelmed with…
everything, but I’m okay.” I hate for my sister to worry about me, and she always does.
I should have called her yesterday. “I’m sorry, sis.
I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’m sorry you had to hear about it from someone else. I’m sorry—”
“Stop,” she says. “Stop it right now, Zach. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I just needed to know you’re okay, but it’s obvious that something is bothering you.”
I massage my temples. “Yeah, you’re right, okay, and I promise I’ll talk to you about it, but I can’t… not right now… not yet.”
I just can’t right now. I’m barely holding it together, and I’m afraid I’ll lose my shit if I start telling Abby everything.
She starts a rant. “What is it with you guys? Davis is the same way. He thinks he’s gotta handle everything on his own. Like I can’t handle it.”
I can’t help it; I laugh. “Your husband doesn’t think you can’t handle it. He just doesn’t want you to have to handle it. He wants to take care of you.”
“Zach, I’m worried about you.”
I nod. “I know you are, but I’m okay, and I’ll come over later this week and tell you everything.”
She pauses. “I watch the Cookie Crew, bub, and I saw you on there. Was that real? Or was that part of the job?”
I blow out a rushed breath. “It was real.”
“Was?” she asks.
I stare up at the white ceiling. “Yeah… was.”
“Zach!” Logan hollers as he walks into our new office.
I push my chair back as I stand up. “Sis, I gotta go. Logan just walked in. I love you, and I’ll talk to you this week.”
“I love you too, Zach.”
I hang up as Logan calls my name again. “Zach!”
I should walk around my desk to meet him, but I stand here and wait. “In here,” I call.
He walks into my office, and I take in his disheveled look. His hair is standing up in every direction, he has a few days of beard growth, and his clothes are filthy, letting me know he came here straight off the plane. “What the fuck, Zach?”
He’s angry, and I don’t blame him. “I know. I’m sorry. I fucked up, and I know I did.” I suck in a breath and shake my head. “I think I should take a step back from Stronghold Security.”
Confusion etches his face, and he throws his hands up. “Wait. What the fuck are you talking about?”
I pace across the room and look out the big window. Our office is right on Main Street, and I watch the people going about their lives while I feel like I’m drowning. “I don’t know, Logan. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I’m not cut out for this… Maybe I should go back to the Ghost Team.”
As I peer out the window, all I keep seeing is Skyler with a blade to her neck.
I’m surprised when Logan starts to talk, and he’s standing right next to me. He has his arms crossed over his chest, and he’s looking outside instead of at me. “So, uh, you think this last job was a failure?”
I huff out a breath. “Fuck, yes it was. Of the biggest proportion. I failed…” I clench my eyes shut and open them again. “And this was the biggest mission… This is one I shouldn’t have failed… and I did.”
Logan sighs, and I hang my head. “I’m sorry, Logan, truly I am. Skyler…”
I can’t even get it all out. Since Sky kicked me out of her house yesterday, I’ve been a mess.
There’s so much that needs to be done around here, but I haven’t been able to focus on any of it.
All I can do is worry about Skyler. Is she okay?
How’s her concussion? The bruise on her face?
Her heart? I turn to Logan. “Have you seen her?”
He shakes his head. “No, but I talked to Aria and my brothers. What happened?”
I tense. How do I tell him that I was in Skyler’s bedroom while she was downstairs being attacked? I wrap my arms around my chest. “We were in Skyler’s bedroom.”
Logan’s jaw tightens, and his gaze pierces me. I wouldn’t blame him if he hit me. “She was going down to the kitchen, and Miller called my cell. I stayed in the bedroom to talk to him while she went downstairs.”
He curses. “She’s my sister, Zach.”
I clench my eyes. “I know.”
He shrugs. “So what? You decide you’d have some fun while you were on the job? You just needed to pass the time?”
I put my hand to my chest, rubbing over my heart. “It wasn’t like that, Logan. You know me, and you know I wouldn’t—”
I stop because I shouldn’t be defending myself. Whatever Logan wants to say or do to me at this point, it’s valid, and I deserve it.
“How is she? Is she okay?”
He stares at me. “No, she’s not fuckin’ okay.”
“Fuck, I knew I shouldn’t have left. Is it her head? Is she—”
He cuts me off, taking a step toward me. “It’s not her head.”
My eyes jerk to his. “What is it? Fuck, I should have refused to leave. I should have stayed and—”
He points at me. “Yes, you should have stayed with her.”
Stunned, I look at him, and he throws his hands up.
“Look, my sister is strong. She’s going to survive the stalker, the assault, all of it.
What she’s having trouble with is you leaving.
I’m not sure what happened when I left, but I do know that right now, her heart is broken, and it’s because of you.
” He takes a step toward me. “You hurt my sister, Zach.”
I jut my chin at him. “She’s better off.”
He laughs darkly. “Better off how? Better off without you? Better off with some other man? How exactly is she better off?”
I lift my chin. The thought of her with another man makes me crazy. “She deserves better than me.” I slap my hand to my chest. “Look at me, Logan. I couldn’t even protect her. I couldn’t—”
He interrupts me. “You fuckin’ saved her life!”
I grit my teeth and fist my hands at my sides. “He shouldn’t have been able to touch her. That’s on me. That’s my fault.”
Logan laughs. “Zach, we’ve been friends for a long time, but ever since that incident in Afghanistan, you’ve been different.
Any time you’ve had a chance at being happy, you’ve fucked it up.
You act like Randall dying that day, our friends getting hurt…
I don’t know. You carry that shit like it was your fault.
Like you were the one that set the bomb off. ”
I turn away from him, not wanting him to see how much just thinking about that day still devastates me. “I was the only one not hurt that day. I was—”
He throws a hand up. “You are alive and uninjured! You helped save them, Zach, but I’m tired of seeing you punish yourself, and now…
Now you’re punishing my sister. You think she deserves a better man?
Well, I don’t think there is a better man.
You think I would have you protect my sister if there was someone better? I wouldn’t.”
He takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. “Listen, Zach, we’re partners in Stronghold, and you’re not going anywhere, regardless of whether you’re with my sister or not, but listen, do something for me.”
I turn and look at him. “What?”
He puts his hands on his hips. “I’m going to say this, and I need you to believe me. That accident years ago was not your fault. This with my sister was not your fault. You saved her.”
I want to argue with him, but I stay silent, and he continues. “Do you love my sister?”
I nod as the ache in my chest intensifies. “Yes, but—”
He doesn’t let me finish. “Okay, you love her. Well, she’s young, beautiful, smart, talented, she’s all the things.
Do you really think she’s just going to be single forever?
Alex told me about all the men dropping in her DMs. This is Whiskey Run.
You’re going to run into each other. You going to be okay seeing her with another man, seeing her pregnant with a child that’s not yours? ”
Anger fuels me until I see red, and I’m shaking my head. “No, no, I won’t be okay with it. I’ll lose my damn mind.”
Logan slaps me hard on the chest. “I know you will. Figure this shit out, Campbell, and you better figure it out quick. I don’t like knowing my sister is sad.”
Before I can answer him, the front door jingles, letting us know someone has come in. Logan looks at me, and my stomach drops. Shit. I should have warned him. I should have prepared him for this, but I’ve been caught up in my own shit. “Logan—” I start just as Bree walks up to my open door.
Logan tenses next to me, and I watch as he and Bree stare at each other. Logan’s voice is thick. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Bree lifts her chin and walks into the office, setting down the folders in her arms on top of my desk. “I mailed out the forms you asked me to send and opened a PO box.” She looks between Logan and me. “I’ll be at my desk.”
Without another word, she walks out, and Logan turns to me. “What the hell was that? What’s going on? What is my ex-girlfriend doing here?”
I brace myself. “I hired her.”
“You did what?” he bellows.
I nod and decide to just give it all to him at once. “And there is a contract. She’s guaranteed a job for a full year.”
His mouth drops before snapping it shut.
“You know what?” He shakes his head. He’s practically trembling with emotion, and I want to tell him why I did it, but he’s not ready to hear it.
He holds a hand up. “I came straight from the airstrip. I need to shower and get my shit together before I do something I’m going to regret.
I’m going home, Zach. I’ll be in tomorrow, and hopefully, you have shit fixed by then. ”
I follow him through the office, and we pass Bree on the way. She’s looking down at some papers on her desk as if she doesn’t even see us. “I told you there’s a contract, Lo. Bree is employed at Stronghold Security for a year.”
He stops and glares at Bree and then back to me. “I mean my sister. Fix this with my sister.” He waves his hand toward Bree. “I’ll deal with her tomorrow.”
He slams his way out the door, and I turn to Bree.
She’s still looking at the door Logan walked out of.
I’ve wondered if I made the right decision hiring her, but seeing the look between the two of them earlier, I know I did.
Whether they fix it or not, they need to deal with it.
I try to reassure Bree. “It’s going to be fine. ”
She blurts out a laugh. “No, it’s not. It’s going to blow up in all our faces.” She sits up a little taller. “But I can handle it.”
I nod. “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything.”
I walk back into my office and drop into my chair, exhaustion pulling me down.
I lean my head back and close my eyes. For the first time since yesterday, it’s not Skyler with a knife to her throat that I see.
It’s Skyler with a swollen belly, carrying a child…
our child. The sight hits me hard. I want her.
I want us. I may never be enough, but I will spend the rest of my days trying to be.
I have to because a life without Skyler is no life at all.