Stand Of Honor

by Williams, Cathryn

  He left the gym a little earlier than usual. Melanie was coming over tonight and he wanted to surprise her with a special dinner.

  Things had finally settled down since she found out he and Nick were going to fight. She had accepted that there was nothing she could do about it and that Nick and he both were okay with it. Right now, she was waiting for the test results. She had enough going on; he didn’t want to tell her about Faye calling and stopping by because it didn’t mean anything to him. She was just a damn nuisance.

  When he got home, he decided to shower and get dressed before he attempted to cook. He had told her to pick up a movie on her way over, which probably meant it would be another raunchy comedy. He laughed to himself. He was pretty lucky; he didn’t have to rent the dirty movies, his girlfriend did it on her own.

  After his shower, he heard a noise from the bedroom and assumed Melanie was early. He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door. When he walked into the bedroom, instead of seeing Melanie, he saw Faye sprawled out on his bed. She was wearing nothing except a small wisp of white panties.

  “Hey, Zane,” she said in her most seductive voice. She had loved surprising him when they were together. She would always show up when he least expected it. They’d had an exciting relationship, but looking at her now, he saw how pathetic she really was.

  “Get the fuck out of my bed, Faye.” He looked around for her clothes, but didn’t see them.

  “Zane, please, I’ve missed you so bad. Your girlfriend doesn’t even need to know.”

  Zane’s lips twisted in disgust. He didn’t cheat; when he was with a woman, he was with her. If he fucked around, it was only when he felt the need and not in a relationship.

  “I don’t cheat. How the hell did you get in here?” Zane asked her harshly.

  “I followed you home. You know, you should shut the garage door when you come home. Anyone can follow you in,” Faye said proudly.

  He had left the door open for Melanie and the fucking bitch had taken advantage of it. Zane leaned down to jerk her off the bed and take her to find her clothes, but as he leaned down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him on top of her. As he fell on top of her, the towel fell loose and he felt his dick up against her pussy as she quickly wrapped her legs around him. He immediately jerked away from her, but at the same time, he heard a gasp at the doorway.

  He looked up. Melanie was standing in the doorway, her face pale and her green eyes staring at him as if he had betrayed her. At the same time, Faye moaned, “Oh Zane, don’t stop.” He watched Faye turn to Melanie and smile.

  Zane wished he could hit her. He wanted nothing more than to smack that smile off her face. He got off her as Melanie turned to leave.

  “Get out,” he snarled at Faye as he grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist and then went after Melanie.

  He caught up with her at the front door and spun her around.

  She was like a wildcat.

  “Let me go!” she screamed, clawed and kicked at him, however he wouldn’t let her go. It was everything he could do to hold on to her.

  “You cheating, low life, asshole. I can’t believe you would do this. Let me go.” She continued to twist and try to escape his grasp. The damn towel fell off again, but by then, it didn’t matter, he had to explain.

  “She snuck in here, Melanie. I left the garage door open for you and she was there when I came out of the bathroom.” Zane was struggling to get his words out because she continued to fight him.

  “Oh, so that explains you lying naked on top of her.” She went to bite his forearm. The bite surprised him and he let go for a brief instant, allowing her to put some space between them.

  “Stay the hell away from me, Zane. I don’t ever want to see you again,” Melanie yelled.

  “Melanie, nothing is going on. She snuck in while I was in the shower.”

  At that moment, Faye walked out of the bedroom wearing one of his t-shirts. He wanted to groan out loud. Faye had done a good job of making herself look like she was at home here.

  He turned back to Melanie, but she was already halfway out the door and he was butt naked. Fuck, he wanted to go after her, but he had to get rid of Faye and put some clothes on. He heard something break a moment later. He thought maybe she had run over one of his landscaping lights.

  He shut the door and finally saw Faye’s clothes lying across the back of the couch. If only he’d found them first instead of trying to get her off the bed. He sighed, this fucking sucked.

  He walked slowly towards Faye until she had backed herself up against the wall.

  “If you ever come near me again, I will make you live to regret it. The only thing you’re good at is fucking up my life. I hate you. I think you are a desperate, pathetic excuse for a person and I will never be with you again. Is that clear enough?” Zane said softly.

  He was satisfied to see the fear in her eyes as she nodded her head. He walked away from her as she put her clothes back on. He didn’t want to see any more than he already had. He quickly dressed himself, expecting Faye to be gone when he went back into the living room. He had to go after Melanie.

  When he went to leave, she was stupid enough to still be there.

  “Zane, I’m sorry. I still love you—” Faye started to say.

  “I don’t care. Just go.”

  “Can I at least get the vase?” Faye asked.

  Why was she so insistent on the vase? he wondered to himself. She’d probably stashed something in it. Right now, he didn’t care. He just wanted her gone.

  “Fuck, Faye. You can’t let anything go, can you?”

  He went to the garage to find the damn thing so he could get rid of her. He ripped open the box and found it sitting on top. He reached inside to see what the hell was in it and found a wad of money at the bottom underneath a cloth.

  He looked through the money. It could easily be about twenty thousand dollars, maybe more. It made sense now. She must have stashed it away in case she got caught. He didn’t care anymore. He was making plenty of money and his life was better now. She could have the stupid money.

  He walked back into the living room and watched her eyes widen when she saw the money in his hand.

  “Zane, I can explain,” Faye stammered.

  “I don’t care. You can have the damn money as long as you stay the fuck away from me.” Zane threw the money at her. “Glad you can still profit from ruining my life.”

  She bent down to pick up the money and watched him set the vase down on the end table. She walked over to get the vase and put the money back in it.

  “Thanks, Zane.” Now that she had gotten the money, she seemed more relaxed. “We belong together. That bitch is standing in our way. You two will never have what we had, and you know it as much as I do. Don’t go after her. Think about the good times. We can have it all back.” Faye sounded much more confident now. “You need a woman, not a girl.”

  Zane stared at the woman and finally realized that she was never going to get his message. To her, he was still that young kid she had led around by the nose, the one who had been so enthralled with her tits and pussy that he couldn’t see her for the conniving bitch she was.

  She started to say something else, yet the look on his face stopped her. When she went to pick up the vase, he snatched it out of her hand and threw it against the wall, shattering it and then scattering the money on the floor. She screamed in surprise, starting to go pick up the cash.

  “I gave you three chances to leave. I’m done being nice, you fucking bitch. Stay away from me, or the next time, I’ll call the cops.” He took her arm, jerking her towards the door. Opening it, he pushed her outside and locked the door. Zane wished it was the last he would see of her, but Faye had proven herself to be an idiot more than once.

  He dressed as fast as he could then grabbed his keys to go to Melanie’s apartment. He knew damn well she wouldn’t answer if he tried to call her. As he walked into the garage, he noticed
the door open and cussed at himself. He should have just given Melanie her own key. He had wanted to wait until he had his shit straightened out, though. Now, if he lost Melanie, it would be for nothing.

  She was the one responsible for giving him a reason for turning his life around instead of being too proud to admit he had lost his way. It had taken Melanie to show him that he could have his life in the cage back again.

  He reversed out of the driveway and drove towards her apartment. She would calm down eventually. As he was thinking about how to make her believe him, he looked up and saw flashing lights behind him. He hoped the cop just needed to get around him. He pulled onto the shoulder, expecting the cop to pass him. Damned if the cop didn’t pull in behind him. He had no idea what he had done.

  He rolled the window down as the officer approached.

  “License and registration,” he barked.

  Zane leaned over to get the registration, silently glad he didn’t have his gun in the glove compartment like he usually did. Once he handed him the registration, he pulled his license out of his wallet and handed it over.

  “Zane Phillips?” the cop asked in a friendlier voice.

  “Yes, Officer,” Zane replied as respectfully as he could.

  “Shit, man, I’ve seen all your fights. Sorry about what happened, but glad you’re back. It wasn’t the same without you.” The officer continued, “I especially enjoyed the one with Tobias.”

  Zane breathed an inward sigh of release. The cop sounded like he might let him slide for whatever he had been pulled over for. “Thanks, Officer, that means a lot. Do you mind telling me why you pulled me over?” Zane still didn’t know what he’d done.

  “Oh, sorry, you have a busted taillight.”

  “What?” Zane was surprised. “Do you mind if I get out and look at it?”

  “Sure thing.” The cop walked towards the back of the vehicle as Zane followed him.

  Sure enough, his taillight was busted. It didn’t take long for him to remember the crashing sound as Melanie had left. And now it made sense why he vaguely recalled seeing the hammer on the ground near his back tire, but he hadn’t thought too much about it at the time. He looked more closely as the officer shined his flashlight. Well, at least Melanie only broke the light, she didn’t damage the vehicle. Zane shook his head. She was a hell cat.

  “I’ll make sure to get it fixed first thing in the morning. Thank you for pointing it out, Officer...” Zane went to look at his name badge and continued, “Lawson.” Zane then reached to shake his hand and Officer Lawson seemed surprised, but shook his hand as well.

  Zane walked back to get in the vehicle, and as he slid into the front seat, he heard the officer yell up at him.

  “Give me a moment to write up the ticket.” Officer Lawson walked back towards his vehicle.

  Zane stuck his head through the window to look at the retreating officer. “Oh, you’re giving me a ticket?” Zane was stunned.

  “Of course, that’s a hazard to other drivers.” Officer Lawson shut the door to his vehicle and Zane saw him on the radio as he wrote the ticket.

  Zane dropped his head against the back of the seat. He wasn’t sure if this night could get much worse. After what seemed like eternity, the officer finally gave him the ticket.

  “Good luck. I’m rooting for you to win the championship.”

  “Thanks, Officer,” Zane replied politely, but inside, he wanted to yell at Faye for being a pain in his ass, at Melanie for believing he would cheat on her, then at the officer for doing his fucking job.

  The cop finally got back into his car and pulled out ahead of him. Zane pulled out next and continued the drive to Melanie’s apartment. When he finally pulled into her parking lot, he didn’t see her car. He went to knock on the door and Trish answered.

  “Hi, Zane. What are you doing here?” Trish asked him.

  He knew by her reaction that she hadn’t talked to Melanie; otherwise, in his experience, girls banded together when a guy did one of them wrong. She would have been mad at him, too, if Melanie had told her what had happened.

  “I was just looking for Melanie. Has she called or stopped by?” He tried to act casual, no need in getting Trish riled up, too.

  “No, I thought she was going to your place tonight?” He could hear the concern in her voice.

  “We had a disagreement and she went for a drive,” Zane explained. No need in telling Trish that Melanie had walked in on him while he had been naked and on top of another woman.

  “I’ll call her.” Trish pulled her phone out of her pocket to call Melanie. Zane hoped Melanie would answer with it being Trish instead of him, but no luck, she didn’t answer.

  “She’s probably at the beach. She likes to walk a lot. I’m sure she just needed some space.” Trish eyed him curiously. She obviously wanted to know the story, however he sure as hell wasn’t going to explain.

  “Thanks, Trish. I’ll find her.”

  “I’ll keep calling and let you know if I get her,” Trish said.

  Zane nodded his head and walked back to the 4-runner. He kicked something with his foot as he approached the parking lot and looked down to see what it was. It was Melanie’s phone. He picked it up and saw the missed call from Trish.

  He looked around to see if there was anything else of hers, but didn’t see anything. She must have either dropped it or purposely tossed it to the side to be found. He knew she must have done it on purpose.

  Suddenly, everything started to fall into place. First the pills, now this. He had refused his last job and they were doing what they did best—going after a loved one. He had done his best to protect Melanie, but he should have been ready for something like this to happen. He knew how they worked because he had been doing it himself for years.

  Without a second thought, he took out his phone to make a call.

  Chapter 23

  “You’re going to pay for this,” Nick yelled as he shoved the man against the side of the house. They had waited outside of his house until the man had finally shown up. Luckily for them, he’d only had one other man with him as a guard. Zane had taken care of him while Nick had grabbed the one responsible for Melanie’s disappearance.

  Zane looked to make sure no one was coming then motioned for Nick to keep his voice down. If he kept it up, someone might call the police, even though it was unlikely in this neighborhood. It was one of those places where people knew to keep their mouths shut and mind their own business, but you never knew when someone was finally going to break down and take a chance at calling for help.

  It was late and they were on a dead end street deep in downtown. He had gone to Nick after he had been certain Melanie had been taken. They had both known who had her.

  “Where the fuck is my sister?” Nick toned it down a notch, however his voice was full of menace.

  The man being held by his neck was known as Dragon. It would have been humorous if not for the fact that he was the head drug lord in the area and earned his name because he was known for tying up his victims and setting them on fire. He enjoyed watching the flames consume the body as they screamed for help. He was a crazy motherfucker who had no value for human life.

  Over the years, Zane had seen what Dragon did to punish those that were disloyal. He always attacked the innocent family member instead of going after the ones that had done the wrong. Dragon wanted to inflict his own pain on all others. It was harder to live in pain than to be killed. Death was the easy way out, and Dragon had wanted to ensure they all suffered.

  He laughed in response to Nick’s question. “I have waited all these years to find a way to hurt you both,” the man boasted. “You just made it easy by being attached to the same girl.” The man stopped laughing. “Now, you’ll both feel the pain of losing someone you love.” He stood still and looked Nick straight in the eyes.

  “You knew I was the one responsible for Matthew’s death?” The surprise in Nick’s voice drew Dragon’s contempt.

  “Of course I kn
ew. I’ve been waiting all these years for my revenge, but have held my hand.”

  Zane and Nick had never let themselves get attached to anyone for too long. They both had known that, if they did, something like this could happen. Melanie had no clue how much she had been watched over. Nick had finally convinced her to quit walking everywhere while Zane had always planned things to where she would only be out alone during the days, and he did his best to ensure she was with him the rest of the time. Her leaving so abruptly earlier in the night had left her unattended after dark.

  He and Nick had always believed that they would be the ones attacked at some point in their lives, but once he’d started seeing Melanie, he had begun fearing for her safety more than his own. She was the common link between Nick and himself, and they both had realized that they had to consider her safety as well when Zane had begun a relationship with her.

  He had been the one to rock the boat when he had told Dragon he was quitting, but he had hoped that Melanie would be covered well enough that he would strike out at him first. He had known all along what it was going to come down to between Dragon and himself.

  “My mother is dead. He deserved to die.” Nick’s voice was deadly; he was ready to kill Dragon. Zane wanted to kill him, too.

  “Matthew was just a kid—he didn't deserve to die,” the man snarled back.

  “Your brother had no remorse. I watched him laughing the next day on the street—the murder meant nothing to him. He took my mother’s life and laughed. He laughed!” Nick was strangling Dragon and losing what sanity he had left.

  Zane pulled him off and then took control of the situation. Dragon had no fear for his own life. Nick couldn’t get to him by threatening him.

  Zane grabbed Dragon then shoved him inside his house and out of sight. Zane had disarmed the alarm while they were waiting. Dragon must have been aware that they would come after him, but he’d had no fear because he’d known they wouldn’t do anything until they found Melanie. He hadn’t even been surprised when Nick and Zane had attacked them as they had emerged from his vehicle.