Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
I just grunt. Yeah, the office is nice, but there’s no way I’m going to give her any credit for anything. “What do you want, Zach?”
He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “I thought after last night, we were okay. I mean, you seemed okay last night.”
I glare at him. “You were asking my baby sister to marry you. What was I supposed to do? Challenge you to a fight in the front yard? Or hell, maybe I could have punched you in that pretty boy face for the camera.”
Zach nods. “I know. You’re mad, and I get it. Thank you for not ruining last night. It’s killing Sky that you’re pissed at me. She wants us all to get along.”
I move to the edge of my seat. “First, she’s my baby sister, and I’d rather cut off a limb than have her upset. You can tell her that we’re good, but you need to know that what you did is fucked. I mean, so fucked. If you knew… if you knew what she did, you wouldn’t have hired her.”
He doesn’t seem surprised. Calmly, he nods his head. “I know what she did. She told me.“
My mouth falls open. “And you still hired her? You hired her knowing that she…” I let my voice trail off because I can’t even say the words.
Zach clears his throat. “I hired her without knowing anything. I knew you loved her, and then I knew you broke up. That’s all you told me. I didn’t know… until after I hired her.”
I glare at him. “And what? She just give you a sob story and you forgave her?” I hold my hand up. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t even want to talk about her.” I point between Zach and me. “We are not going to talk about Bree Banks any more. Not now, not ever. I’m going to look at this contract, and if there isn’t a loophole, at the end of the nine months, she’s gone. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
He opens his mouth to say something but stops suddenly. “Fine. I did what I thought was best, and just so you know, after talking to her and hearing her side, I knew it was the right thing—”
”We’re not talking about her, Zach.”
He blows out a breath in frustration. “Fine. Well, I came in here to let you know that I’m taking some time off. I’m going to work from home, so you and”—he points toward the door—“she are going to hold the fort down.”
I lift my chin. I want to argue, but I pretty much deserted him these last three months, and I don’t blame him for taking some time off. He deserves it. “Fine. What about the party or whatever the hell you have planned?”
He laughs. “You mean the sponsorship we did for the community center? It’s next Friday night, and we bought three tables.”
I look at him blankly until he continues. “We’re all going. That was a big job for us, and King is a good connection to have. We all need to show up.”
I scowl at him. “Black tie?”
He nods and is smiling even though I know he feels the same way. He doesn’t like to dress up either. “Yes, black tie. I can’t wait to twirl Skyler around the dance floor.”
I scrunch my nose at him. “Who the hell are you and what did you do to my best friend?”
Before he can answer, I ask him another question. “What about Bree? She going?”
Zach gives me an exasperated look. “Yes, she’s part of Stronghold. She’s going.”
We stare at each other. There’s so much I want to say to him, but I don’t dare open my mouth. There’s something going on here, and I don’t know what it is. If Zach knows that Bree cheated on me, he wouldn’t have kept her around. Hell, contract or not, he would have gotten rid of her. Something is not adding up.
Without another word, Zach gets up, but before he gets to the door, I say his name. “Zach.”
He turns with a smile on his face.
“Thank you.”
He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “What are you thanking me for?”
I stand up and walk around my desk. I should have done this last night, but there was so much happening that I didn’t. Now I can’t let another second go by without saying it. If anything, with my history in the military and working for the Ghost Team, I know you don’t leave things unsaid. “Thank you for loving my sister. I know you will always protect her, and she couldn’t ask for a better man than you.”
He opens his mouth but then closes it as I continue. “You’ve always been like a brother to me. Now it’s going to be official. Welcome to the family, brother.”