by J. M. Walker
“He sat up, complaining that he wasn’t feeling well. He’s been working hard this week, helping the guys get the center expanded. I wish I could help too but I only design. I don’t build.” Mom shook her head. “Anyway. I offered to get him a glass of water. When I came back from the bathroom, he was on the floor.” Her eyes welled. “I’ve done some things. Bad things. Scary things. But none of that compared to what happened tonight. If I lose him…Zach, I’m not strong enough to live without him.”
“Don’t say that.” But it was easier said than done. I knew it too. My parents had a love that you didn’t see in a lot of people anymore. I envied them and strived to have that of my own one day.
Luna .
I cleared my throat. “Listen to me.” I kissed my mom’s knuckles. “Dad’s strong. He’s the strongest man I know, in fact. And so are you.”
When she went to pull away, I only held on tighter.
“I’m serious. How many times have I heard you put dad in his place because he was being a grumpy ass or how many times have I seen you put the guys in check when they weren’t building what you designed.” I remembered one of the times my mother called Asher out because he wasn’t following her instructions.
Mom laughed, wiping the tears from under her eyes. “I remember Angel and Dale stood back and laughed while I yelled at Asher. Which would have been funny to see I’m sure, since he’s so much taller than I.”
“Exactly. And look what you’ve done for me. Hell, the shit I put you through when I was younger. And, you’ve stood up to Stone for me.”
She frowned. “You know about that?”
I nodded. “I was in the bathroom and overheard you two talking.”
She sighed, leaned back in the chair, and rested her head against my shoulder. “I understand he’s protective, but I think he worries too much.”
“I would never hurt his daughter,” I told my mom. “She told me she loves me.”
“Really?” Mom sat up. “What did you say?”
“I told her I care for her. Which I do. But I don’t know if it’s love. Could it be? Yes. Even I know it could definitely turn into love.”
Mom smiled. “I’m—” She frowned, glancing past me.
“What is it?” I followed her gaze, finding… “Clara.” I stood from the chair. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to drop lunch off for my mom. She’s one of the nurses on this floor.” She peered around me before looking back at me. “I’m sorry to interrupt. But I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Mom came up beside me. “I’m sorry, we haven’t met.” She stuck her hand out. “I’m Brogan. Zach’s mother.”
“Oh. I’m Clara.” Clara returned the handshake. “It’s nice to meet you. Although, I wish it could be under better circumstances.”
“Right.” Mom held Clara’s hand a little longer than deemed necessary, her dark eyes boring into the woman the twins had tried setting me up with. “How do you know my son?”
“We…uh…” Clara’s cheeks turned pink.
I placed my hands on my mother’s shoulders, pulling her away from Clara. “The twins set us up on a date but that was after Luna and I started becoming closer. So I told them no.”
“But Ashton never told me that it was cancelled.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Ashton’s an ass. Love that kid.” Mom shook her head. “But definitely a shit disturber.”
“We’re just friends,” I told her.
Mom glanced up at me then. “Good.”
“Will you give me a minute?” I asked my mother. “And then I’ll check with the doctors and see what we can find out on Dad.”
Mom nodded. “Okay.” She slowly turned away and headed back to one of the seats.
I grabbed Clara’s arm, pulling her out into the hall. “Listen, now’s not a good time. My dad…”
“Is he okay?” Clara asked, her brows narrowing in the center.
“He had a heart attack and we don’t—”
“Oh, Zach.” She threw her arms around my middle, knocking me back a step. “I’m so sorry.”
“Uh…I…” I cupped her neck. “Thank—”
A gasp sounded.
I glanced up, finding Luna staring directly at us.
Oh.
Fuck .
***
(Luna)
Squeezing the small teddy bear that was in my hands, I stared at the display before me. I didn’t know who the woman was that had her arms around Zach, and I didn’t care. What I did care about was that they seemed to be close and I had no idea who she was. Not that I had to know every single woman he knew of course. God, I was losing my mind. He made me this way. He made my feelings all fucking jumbled and now he was hugging another woman when it should be me consoling him. He called me and yet there he was, standing with…her .
But whoever she was, she was well put together. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her slender but curvy figure fit perfectly in Zach’s arms. The sight of it forced bile to my throat.
Zach released her and stepped back, running a hand through his dark hair.
The woman turned around slowly, her bright blue eyes widening when they landed on me. “Luna?”
“Clara,” I gasped.
Zach looked between us. “You two know each other?”
“Yeah, from the center.” I shook my head, a light laugh escaping me. “Well, this is fucking great.”
I swallowed hard. Clara had always been beautiful but seeing her in Zach’s arms made me see her in a different light. She was stunning. Tanned skin, sapphire eyes, and a perfect complexion. Even her tits were fucking perfect. Although she was covered completely, I could still see the swell of her breasts hidden beneath the white loose dress shirt she wore.
She tilted her head to the side.
Yeah, I’m checking you out.
But much to my surprise, she ran toward me. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I didn’t know. I never knew it was you. I swear I didn’t know.” She pulled me in for a hug. “We never went on that date. I promise we didn’t. Zach said there was someone else.” She held me at arm’s length. “Please believe me.”
“He told you about me?” was all I could say.
“Yeah.” She leaned back, cupped my shoulders, and gave me a big smile. “I wish I would have known it was you. I would have kicked his ass in your direction from the moment I met him.”
“You never saw him at the center?” I asked, not that Zach made an appearance there often, but I still needed to know.
“No, I didn’t. I know this is fucked up, but I promise you, I am not that girl.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked her, vaguely aware that Zach was watching this whole exchange between me and Clara.
“I was meeting up with my mom for breakfast. She’s one of the nurses on this floor. And I saw Zach. I would love to get together with you though. Know more about you instead of just bumping into each other at The Dove Project. We could go on a double date.” She shrugged. “That kind of thing.” She grabbed my hand, pulled me toward Zach, and pushed me into his arms. “He needs you.” She started walking away and waved over her shoulder. “I’ll text you.” And with that, she disappeared down the hall.
What the hell just happened?
“Luna.”
The deep voice sliding into my ears, pulled me from my thoughts.
“How’s your father?” I asked Zach, taking a step back and putting some distance between us.
“We haven’t heard anything yet.” Zach’s breath hitched. “He had a heart attack.”
I gasped. “I’m so sorry.” I handed Zach the teddy bear. “This is for your dad. I’ll go see how your mom is.” I went to head into the waiting room when his next words stopped me.
“I didn’t realize you two knew each other. You don’t need to be jealous.”
I glanced at him over my shoulder. “And you wouldn’t be?” I raised a hand when he went to speak. “We a
re not having this conversation here.”
“Did I interrupt something?” Brogan asked, stepping out of the waiting room with a coffee cup in her hand.
“No.” I walked past her and sat in one of the chairs furthest away from him.
“I’m going to go check with the doctors,” Zach muttered. “Maybe they have news.”
I could feel his eyes burning into me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything.
“Hey.” Brogan sat down beside me. “Did you want to talk about it?”
I snorted. “As if you don’t have better things to worry about than my little crush on your son.”
She smiled softly. “I know it’s more than a little crush, Luna.”
My cheeks burned. “But you don’t really want to hear about my…issues. Not right now anyway.”
“I do.” Brogan cupped my hands. “It’ll help distract me until I know what’s going on with my husband. So please, talk to me.”
I inhaled a sharp breath before blowing it out slowly. “I’m in love with Zach. And I told him this, but he never said it back. Which I never expected him to, but I was thankful that I finally had the balls to admit my feelings for him and that he never laughed at me or whatever. Also, I heard the twins set him up on a date, but he never went on it and now, knowing that it was with Clara, bothers me. And then seeing her hugging him…” I winced. “Add to the fact that I know her and she’s beautiful.” I snapped my mouth closed, waiting for Brogan to tell me that I was being unreasonable.
“I get it.”
“Wait…” I shook my head. “You do? So I’m not being unreasonable?”
“No.” She laughed lightly. “Not at all. Let me tell you a story.” She released my hands and sat back in the chair, pulling her legs up onto the seat. “A month before Coby and I got married, we decided to go out one night. We don’t drink but we wanted to dance and stuff our faces with a bunch of good food. We had been eating really well for months before that. We wanted to pig out.”
I smiled, nodding for her to go on.
“Anyway, when we were at the club, I had to use the washroom and I came back to some broad all over Coby. And I hate using that term because I’m all about women empowering women, but this chick was a broad.” Brogan scowled.
“Wow.” My eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“I punched her, went home, and fucked my fiancé.”
I coughed. “Oh…uh…”
Brogan laughed harder. “You all think your parents are innocent. But trust me. None of us are innocent. Not in the things we used to do. Not in the shit we do now. We get by. Coby and I have instilled that into Zach. He’s a good man and that boy loves you.”
My cheeks burned. “He hasn’t said—”
“Doesn’t matter.” Brogan turned to me and placed her hand on mine. “He does. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And yes, he has a past. We all do. But I’ve been around long enough. Sure, he may have been set up with Clara but remember, that date never happened. Besides, I didn’t see her look at him how you look at him. And he definitely doesn’t look at her the way he looks at you.”
“I’m just not used to him being friends with someone outside of our group. I know that’s lame but it’s the truth.”
Brogan sighed. “Trust me. Zach loves—” She turned her head, a deep frown settling between her brows. “Stone.”
“What?” I followed her gaze, finding my father coming toward us along with Angel, Dale, and Asher following behind him. “Daddy?” I rose from the chair and walked up to him. “What are you doing here?” I asked, giving him a quick hug.
“I called them,” Zach said, coming into the room. Lian and Henley, two more men who had been in their squad, joined us.
“How’s he doing?” Angel asked.
Asher and Dale stood off to the side, muttering softly between them.
“I think I can answer that.”
All of us turned as a young man dressed in a white lab coat entered the room. “Mrs. Porter?”
“Yes.” Brogan rushed to him. “Dr. Silvaggio, tell me my husband’s okay.”
“He is,” the doctor answered.
“Oh, thank God.” She reached a hand out.
Zach caught it, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
I moved to the other side of him, linking our fingers.
His stiff body relaxed at that.
“Do you know what happened?” Brogan asked, her voice shaking.
The doctor glanced around the room.
“You can tell me in front of them. They’re his brothers. We’re all family,” she explained.
“Okay.” The doctor nodded. “Your husband had a mild heart attack that was caused from a heart defect that we can only assume, he’s had since birth.”
“Really?” Brogan shook her head. “He’s never said anything about that.”
“He said he wasn’t sure what medical conditions ran in his family.” The doctor flipped through his file.
“He’s awake?” Zach asked, pulling me closer.
The hairs on the back of my neck burned. I chanced a glance at my dad. His eyes were locked on us, that tick in his jaw jumping.
I quickly looked away.
“He is but right now he’s resting.” Doctor Silvaggio closed the file. “Bottom line is, with lots of rest, he’ll be back to his old self in a matter of days. And to answer your question, anything could have caused this. Stress. An unhealthy diet. Strenuous activity.”
Brogan’s cheeks reddened. “Can we see him?”
“Of course. But just you and your son right now. I’ll wait for you out in the hall.” He turned and left the room, barking orders at staff.
“Let’s go see him.” Zach hugged his mother. “He’ll need you.”
She nodded, wiped under her eyes, and turned to the group of large men who were currently sucking the air out of the room.
“Thank you for being here,” she said softly.
“Of course.”
“No need to thank us, Brogan.”
“We’re family,” that was my dad.
While Brogan talked to them, Zach pulled me out into the hall.
I stared up at him. So many questions fell between us, but it wasn’t the right time, so all I could do was wait and hope for the best that we could continue moving forward.
Zach cupped my nape, leaning his forehead against mine. “Fuck, Luna.”
“I know,” I whispered, wrapping my fingers around his biceps. “Go see your dad. I’ll be here.”
“You don’t have to stay,” he murmured.
“Yeah.” I tilted my head back. “I do. I’m not leaving you.” I stood on tiptoes and placed a soft peck on his mouth. “Go to him and I’ll be in the waiting room.”
Before I could pull away, Zach grabbed my arm and crushed me to him. His big body shook, his hands roamed down my back, hugging me tight.
“Spend the night with me,” he pleaded, pushing his face into the crook of my neck. “Please, Luna.”
“You don’t have to ask me,” I told him, leaning back and cupping his face. “Unless this isn’t as real for you as it is for me.” I didn’t expect him to tell me he loved me. I wasn’t that kind of girl. But I needed to know that we were doing more than just sleeping together. Or else for sure my father would kick his ass.
“Yes, Moonbeam. It’s real for me. It’s very fucking real.” He grabbed my hands and kissed my fingertips. “We have to talk but I promise you, this is very real.”
He kissed my knuckles and pulled away from me just as Brogan came out of the waiting room. He hooked an arm around her shoulders, and they walked down the hall with Doctor Silvaggio.
“Luna.”
I stiffened, turning slowly to greet the judgmental eyes of my father but he just looked at me with a furrowed brow instead. “What?”
“Nothing.” He pulled me in for a hug. “I’m going to head home and fill your mom in on the good news.”
“Okay,” I said, thankful that he
didn’t say anything about Zach and I.
Dad squeezed me one last time before pulling away. “You’ll be fine here by yourself?”
“Yup. I have my phone. I can read and play games while I wait.”
He nodded. “Be safe, Piccola .”
Knowing my father was only keeping his opinions to himself because it wasn’t the right time, I had to wonder what would happen when he finally revealed exactly how he felt.
Zach
WITH MY MOM’S ARM hooked in mine, we walked with Doctor Silvaggio to the room my dad was staying in. A heavy weight had lifted off of my shoulders when the doctor said that he would be fine. My mom was strong, but I knew that if she lost her husband, it would break her.
“He’s in here,” Doctor Silvaggio said, stopping in front of a door. “I’ll give you some time alone, but he needs his rest. There’s a cot beside him for you, Mrs. Porter. He already said that he wasn’t spending the night if you couldn’t be with him.”
Mom laughed lightly. “Yeah. He won’t even let me sleep on the couch when I’m sick and hacking up a lung. He said that we’re married, so we sleep together even when we’re sick.” She sighed. “He’s a stubborn man, that husband of mine.”
Doctor Silvaggio only smiled and headed back down the hall we just came from.
“Ready?” I asked Mom, unlinking our arms and taking her hand instead.
“Definitely.” She led the way with me following behind her but kept her hand in mine. As soon as we entered the room, Dad looked our way. He held out his arms, his eyes locking on his wife.
She released me and ran to her husband. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” she cried, crashing into him.
He grunted, wrapping his arms around her small frame. “I’m sorry, little one.”
“You scared the shit out of me.” She sobbed into the crook of his neck.
“I know.” He murmured something else to her that only she could hear.
Her shaking body relaxed but she continued to softly cry. “Don’t do that again.” She released him and sat on the edge of the bed. “You hear me, Porter?”
Dad nodded, cupping her face. “I hear you.”
I waited at the edge of his bed, not wanting to interrupt their moment.