CHAPTER FORTY
Zach picked up a chair and placed it on the other side of Mia’s bed. I watched his every move. I wasn’t sure what to think of him. Of what he’d done.
He lied to her. Deceived his family. Put them through hell. Then tricked me into a horrible position. Yet, I couldn’t condemn him for it.
He sat down across from me and carefully took her free hand. “I know you might judge me for what I did. But you must understand. I’d do anything for my family. ”
“It’s not up to me to judge you. But you should be aware she,” I tipped my head toward Mia, “might not be as generous. Now I understand your insistent interest in her.”
He chuckled but then closed his eyes and sighed in pain, shaking his head. “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. Now I might just as well.”
I squeezed her hand in mine and ran my free hand through her hair. “You won’t lose her. The Spitfire can be tough, but she’s fair.”
He raised one eyebrow, just like his sister did. “‘ Spitfire ?’”
I shrugged and kept caressing her hair, torn between wanting her to wake up so I could fix my wrongs, and wanting her to sleep so she could rest…and not hate me. “Am I wrong?”
Ben and Danny were seated on the couch across from Mia, while Aaron and Ariel talked quietly in the corner, all of them giving us the space we needed.
“What’s going on between you and Mia?”
My hand on her hair paused for a moment before I resumed my stroking. “What’s happening between me and your sister is none of your business.” I stared into his eyes and couldn’t ignore my respect for him. “But even with your deceit and lies, I know you were thinking about her and your family. I don't condone your decisions, but I respect your protection. So, I guess you earned the right to know.” I looked at Mia again. “I love her. And I understand the urge to do absolutely anything to keep her safe. A world without her isn't a world worth living. Even knowing she just might hate me after this,” I whispered.
After a few more minutes, the medication started to wear off, and Mia began to fidget. She hustled her legs under the light blanket, and her eyelids fluttered open. It took her a while to recognize where she was, and she looked around the room in confusion.
Until her eyes landed on her brother.
She gasped, recoiled, and pulled her hands back from ours. Judging by the pain in Zach's eyes, he felt the same hurt I did. She was withdrawing. And none of us could blame her.
Her eyes turned shiny, her nose became red, and her chin trembled as she whispered, “I can’t believe it.”
Zach opened and closed his mouth, trying to come up with something to say. “Mia—”
“You had no right to do that!” She struggled to get out of bed, still drowsy with the medication and the crisis she endured. Zach and I tried to help her, but she leaned away from our hands. “I can do that! I cannot believe the level of betrayal you could reach.”
She threw her legs on the other side of the bed, away from me, and tried to steady herself up. Mia squeezed her eyes, and I wasn’t sure if it was in dizziness or emotional pain. “I mourned you. I grieved for you. I had to hear Haley crying over you and Gabe asking when you were coming back, while I berated myself for having killed you.”
“My God, Mia! You shouldn’t have blamed yourself—”
“ And who the hell would I blame? ” She ran a shaky hand on her forehead and glared at Ben and Aaron. “And to know you weren’t alone in it.”
“It was a strategic decision—”
“Strategic my ass, Aaron! It was a lie. A big fucking lie.”
Aaron had the common sense to stay quiet, while Ben shifted his weight between his legs. “You must’ve known on some level. I mean…think about it. Maybe you’re mad because you didn’t figure it out sooner?”
She threw him a look so nasty, he recoiled and stepped back shutting his mouth. “Are you implying I’m only angry because I wasn’t smart enough to have realized your deceit? Is that something you want to have said to me, Benjamin?”
“No, I…I don’t want to have said…anything,” he murmured.
She gazed around the room with round and overwhelmed eyes, and I hated that my strong Spitfire was so vulnerable. “I need to get out of here.”
Visibly agitated, Mia pulled the IV hastily from her arm.
Ariel raced closer. “You can’t do that. Let me just—”
Mia raised her palm between them. “I think you’ve done enough. You knew, didn’t you? ”
At Ariel’s silence, Mia pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Fire?” I called her quietly, trying not to spook her. “You’re bleeding. Please, lie down.”
She glanced at her arm, which was bleeding from where she’d pulled off the needle, and frowned as if noticing it for the first time. She rummaged through the drawers closest to her until she found gauze. With little finesse, she ripped the foil, pulled on the tip of the gauze, and rolled it around her arm haphazardly, letting the rest roll down to the ground by her side.
“I need—”
The door was thrown open, and what was already an emotional reacquaintance turned even more intense. Mia and Zach’s parents stormed inside with Gabe and Haley, barely containing their shock.
The moment the kid spotted him, he screamed, “ ZACHY! ” and ran to the man, who was already on his knees waiting for his boy.
The two of them embraced in the middle of the room. Zach tightened his arms around Gabe, kissing his hair and cheeks, and rocking them both back and forth. “My boy. My boy. I missed you so much.”
Mia was leaning against the wall, struggling to keep her composure at the heartwarming sight. Haley was paralyzed by the door, covering her mouth with her hand, and letting her tears run down freely.
Gabe placed his little hands on Zach’s face. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting forever !”
Zach caressed the boy’s cheeks. “I had a lot of things to solve. But I’m back now.” He kissed Gabe’s forehead and looked up pointedly at Haley. “For good.”
He stood up with Gabe in his arms, and since Haley was unmoving, his parents strode to him and pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing Gabe between them. Rosie sobbed into her son’s chest, and Jackson hugged the three of them while bawling.
“I’m so sorry,” Zach chanted.
They broke the hug, and Rosie touched his cheek. “I’m just happy my son is back.”
Noticing Mia was stuck in the corner and Haley was still by the door, Jackson waved them over. “Mia? Come here, honey. We can deal with our issues later, but we were granted a miracle.”
“Yeah, it’s almost like the last year and a half never happened,” she retorted drily, still glued to the wall.
Realizing he wouldn’t get anything out of her for the time being, he insisted on Haley, motioning her closer.
She stepped inside the room tentatively. Rosie picked up Gabe from Zach’s arms to give the couple some space. Or at least as much space and privacy as they could get in a room full of family.
Zach waited for her to take the first step. When Haley touched his face, he closed his eyes and leaned his cheek into her palm, breathing heavily. He ran his fingers through her face and hair, making her blurt out a sob.
She gently pulled his face down, and their lips met. She treated it carefully, seemingly afraid to disrupt their miracle and turn it into a broken illusion. It was too intimate for any of us to watch. It was the reunion of two lovers who had beaten the odds of death. Their pain was as clear as their relief when they touched again after believing for so long that it’d be impossible.
I looked around the room to see the surprise in everyone’s faces. But it didn’t compare to what happened next.
After they ended their kiss, Haley took a step back, caressed Zach’s face one more time, and slapped him hard across the cheek, before storming out of the room.
Everyone in the room suppressed a collective gasp. Mia stared at his brother with her mouth agape and rounded eyes. Zach touched his cheek in pain, but it was clear in his eyes it wasn’t the sting that hurt him.
“She’ll come around, son,” Jackson assured him. “It might take some time, but she will. You love each other too much; you’ll find a way back together.”
I glanced at Mia again, wishing those words would work for us as well .
Rosie turned to her daughter. “How are you feeling, honey? You gave us quite the scare.”
“I’m fine. But you should check on Haley.”
“Honey—”
“Please, Dad.” She squeezed her eyes. “I need to handle this on my terms.”
“You’re hospitalized, honey. You’ve been under so much stress, and now this big surprise.”
“I’m medicated and got the all-clear to leave.” She raised her palm to Ariel again before the doctor could say anything. “I’m worried about Haley, and I don’t want her to be alone right now. Just go check on her, I’ll be fine.” When they hesitated, she pleaded, “ Please .”
Sighing heavily, Jackson nodded. They hugged Zack again, pleading to him to go to their place for the night, and then they did the same to Mia, who politely declined the invitation, but promised to stop by soon.
To my surprise, they walked to me before going away. Jackson palmed my neck like he would a son. “Please, take care of my girl. She’s a tough one, but she also hurts.”
Rosie caressed my cheek before kissing it and smiled at me reassuringly.
After they left, the room was covered in heavy silence.
“When did you decide to fake your death?” Mia’s voice was almost apathetic as she stared at the wall, deliberately avoiding us.
“Right after the explosion.”
“How did you come up with that idea?”
Zach rubbed his lips. “There were a lot of factors—”
“ How ?”
He gulped and looked at Ben, who nodded at him in resignation. “Ben suggested we should spread the word that I was the Bryant Prodigy, to try and take the heat off you since you were the cartel’s target. It seemed to have worked since they shifted the focus to find me. After the…explosion, with everything that happened, it seemed like a good opportunity to…change the course. So, I left and kept working on the case, away from their eyes.”
She bit her lips and nodded. “How long did you plan on doing so?”
“Until I could get to Carlos Gomes.”
“Why him and not Pablo?”
Zach shifted his weight between his legs and avoided her eyes.
Mia tapped her fingers on her leg. “I guess that one can wait. Have you been working alone?”
“I did most of my investigation by myself. But I passed it along as I went. ”
“To whom?” At his silence, she peered up at him. “Who did you inform about the things you were looking into?”
He side-eyed me briefly. “Mostly Aaron. At first.”
Understanding what he wasn’t saying, she turned her hard and pained eyes at me. “How did you know him?”
There was no reason to beat around the bush. “He was my CI.”
“He didn’t know who I was, I never told him my name,” Zach hurried to explain, and a wave of gratitude engulfed me. Not that it made that much difference.
“But you figured it out eventually, right?” After a bit, I nodded. “When did you find out?” I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. “ When ?”
I rubbed my palms over my jeans. “On the day you turned his picture up.”
Mia squeezed her eyes and placed her fist on her lips, trying to control her tears at my betrayal. She opened her eyes to stare at me, and a stubborn tear broke the dam. “You assured me it was safe to fall, that you’d catch me. I asked you not to hurt me.” She bit her bottom lip to control her quivering chin. “So much for being my faith.”
My chest felt too small for my thumping heart. My insides froze, and I felt useless and out of breath. Mia was in pain, but I couldn’t hug her so we could breathe together until she felt better. Because I was also the cause of her turmoil. My Spitfire was hurting, and there was nothing I could do.
She sniffed and hastily cleared a tear away from her face as she walked to the door.
She looked back at her brother and then at me. “This isn’t a break-up, but I need to…I don’t know. I need to process this day.” She gazed at everyone but Danny. “There’s just too much betrayal in this room.”
Mia marched out, and Zach and I called after her, only to be stopped by Danny by the door.
“She’s in pain and has every right to feel hurt and betrayed. Haley and Mia need space right now.” He pointed a beefy finger at me and Zach. “And you’re both giving it to them. I love that you’re back, man. My wildest prayers were answered. And we’ll find the time to be together again once things cool down. All of us, like the family we are. But right now, I need to look after them.”
Zach’s shoulders dropped as he tipped his chin. “Thank you. I know you’ve been doing that this whole time.”
“I’ll keep doing it as long as I live. And don’t worry. Both of you. Things have a way of working out.”
Before he could leave, I called his name. He turned to me, and I ran my fingers through my hair. “Just…just tell her I love her.”
He smiled in compassion. “I will. But she knows. And she loves you, too. ”
I could only hope love was enough.