Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (39 page)

Zane
knew that Greyson wasn’t referring to a physician. V needed to see someone who
could help her to cope with what had happened. Zane wasn’t able to help her as
much as he hoped he could.

“She’s
showing all of the signs of PTSD,” Greyson said quietly.

V
did look up then. Zane released her but kept his hand on her leg. “I’m not the
one who suffered the attack,” V replied, clearly not understanding just how
much she had been affected by the attack.

“V,”
Kaleb said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “you need to
talk to someone about this. What you saw that day is tearing you up inside.”

“No!”
V exclaimed adamantly, pulling away from Zane completely. “It’s Jake. He’s
stalking me. He’s breaking into my house and leaving notes! He’s... terrorizing
me.”

“And
he’s also throwing bricks through your goddamn window, V!” Zane barked, losing
his shit. He was so fucking tired of seeing how Jake Sanders had affected every
damn person he cared about. V was suffering probably more than he ever had
because the mental strain was so much different than the physical pain. He’d
healed.

Sure,
the anger was still a black cloud that loomed dangerously overhead, and clearly
it was beginning to spread to his brothers.

The
fear in V’s eyes made Zane realize what he’d just done. He’d worked hard to keep
what happened from her, yet he was the one who went and told her.

“That’s
what you and Kaleb were doing? You had my window replaced?” V asked, sounding
oddly calm.

Zane
nodded.

“Why
the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Ok, not so calm anymore.

This
was getting completely out of hand.

“Grey,”
Zane addressed the EMT, also Sawyer’s best friend, “she’s not going to go to
the hospital.” That was more than apparent. Zane totally agreed that she needed
to see a doctor, but tonight wasn’t the time to discuss it.

“I
don’t think she should stay here alone,” Greyson added.

“She’ll
be staying with me.” Zane wasn’t about to leave her here, and they were much
safer at his house, thanks to the fact that his brothers all lived on the
ranch.

“Are
you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Greyson asked V one last time.
When she shook her head, telling him the same thing she’d told him earlier,
Greyson simply nodded and left the room.

“Get
some of your things,” Zane instructed her, trying to rein in some of his
frustration. He was angry at so many things right at that moment – V for being
stubborn, Jake Sanders for being a prick, Sheriff Endsley for not doing his
job. But mostly, Zane was mad at himself. He’d brought this all on them. He’d been
the one who couldn’t keep his temper in check when Jake was mouthing off. He
was the one that Jake was retaliating against, yet everyone he cared about
seemed to be in the middle of it.

When
V didn’t move, Zane glanced over at Kaleb, waiting for his brother to give them
some privacy. Kaleb nodded his head, then stood from his seat on the other side
of V. He, as well as everyone else, disappeared out the front door, leaving
them completely alone in the house.

“Go
get some of your things,” he repeated, looking over at her now.

“I
don’t want to go with you.” V’s words stunned him for a minute.

“We’ll
be better off at my house where my brothers are close by.”

“No,
Zane. I don’t want you here, and I don’t want to go with you.”

His
anger flashed bright and incandescent. So that was the way she was going to play
it. Zane was too damned tired to play her games right now. “You’re not staying
here by yourself.”

“I’m
going to go stay with my mother for a while.”

“What
do you mean ‘for a while’?” Zane stared back at her, noting the determination
in her light brown eyes. She was breaking up with him. He could feel it in his
bones.

“I
don’t know.”

Zane
stood from his seat, too pissed off to say anything more. He didn’t have it in
him to argue with her. Once V made up her mind, it would take more energy than
he had to change it. Nodding his head in understanding, Zane walked right out
the front door and didn’t look back.

♀♂

V
packed her suitcase. Two actually. She would be going to Vegas next week with Zoey,
and she wasn’t about to come back home before then. She’d go stay with her
mother for a little while. Maybe without her here, Jake wouldn’t be so hell
bent on hurting Zane.

Dragging
both suitcases into the living room, V nearly came out of her skin when she saw
Beau standing in the doorway.

“You
scared the shit out of me,” she told him, remembering she hadn’t locked the
front door after Zane left. Beau had still been on the front porch with the
twins, and she wasn’t sure whether they’d need to come back in. Apparently he
did.

“You’re
really leaving?” Beau didn’t sound or look happy with his thick arms crossed
over his even bigger chest, a scowl on his face. For all intents and purposes,
Beau was a giant teddy bear. He didn’t seem so soft and cuddly at the moment.
In fact, he looked a little pissed.

“Just
for a little while,” she explained, knowing it wasn’t going to do any good.

“Why?”

V
should’ve expected the question, but it pissed her off all the same. It was
none of his business why she was leaving.

“As
a point, I do my best not to get involved,” Beau began, “but I’m going to say
this one time. Don’t crush him, V. You can’t even begin to understand what
you’ve got in a man like Zane. He’s loyal, honest, and when he loves, it’s forever.
He’s found that with you. I’ve never seen him look at another woman the way he
does you. Take time to think about what you need to think about, but make sure
you know what you’re doing. If you push him away, he won’t come back.”

V’s
heart felt like it’d been stabbed with an Exacto knife and was deflating
rapidly. She could only stare at the big man in her entry way. The same man
she’d been intimate with a time or two in recent months. The same one who she’d
come to care about because he was there for her while Zane was in the hospital.
The same man who obviously had more feelings for Zane than anyone else would
probably ever know. Beau Bennett was a good man. As good a man as Zane.

V
nodded her agreement, afraid that if she so much as inhaled deeply, she’d break
down. She couldn’t afford to break down. There was too much to think about. And
she fully intended to think. Later. Much, much later.

“I’m
going to follow you until just outside of town. I want you to call me when you get
to your mother’s.” Beau took a step closer, then pulled her up against him in a
hug so fierce, it threatened her resolve in an instant.

“He
loves you, V. I’ve never seen him love someone that way before.”

The
tears began streaming down her face, but V held back the sobs. She wrapped her
arms around Beau’s trim waist and buried her face in his chest for just a minute.
When she managed to dry up the water works, she took a step back and reached
for her suitcases. Before she could get them, Beau hefted them both in one hand
and carried them out the front door.

V
hurried through the rest of the house, shutting off the lights and grabbing her
purse and her keys. Just when she thought she’d have to face the terror of her
front porch alone, Beau was back, taking the keys from her hand and helping her
the rest of the way to the car, locking up behind them.

When
V noticed the headlights of Beau’s truck disappear from view just a few miles
outside of Coyote Ridge, she reached for her cell phone and dialed her mother’s
number.

“Can
I stay with you for a few days?” V listened to the welcoming sound of her
mother’s voice, grateful when she said she’d be thrilled to have V there for as
long as she needed to be there. With that, V hung up the phone and drove.

♂♀

 Vegas
was exactly as Zane expected it to be: loud, flashy and crammed with people.

After
checking in at the hotel, Zane and the rest of the crew, except for Kaleb and
Gage who were waiting for Zoey and V to land, left their luggage in their room
and spontaneously went in search of food. That idea was effortlessly squashed
as soon as they noticed the more than plentiful bars that dotted Las Vegas
Boulevard. Within minutes, they were inside Diablo’s Cantina, listening to some
kind of loud, screaming music and laughing about the trip in.

It
didn’t take long before they were flocked by a group of women who looked barely
old enough to drink, but more than eager to party it up in Las Vegas with their
small group. Zane glanced around, laughing at his brothers who were eating up
the attention as though they didn’t spend most days inundated with strange
women. Travis, Sawyer, Greyson, Brendon, Braydon, Aaron, CJ, Jaxson, and Blake
didn’t seem to mind the attention at all.

Zane,
Beau, and Ethan were managing to keep their distance, although he wasn’t sure who
Ethan was staying away from. He had a feeling his brother had absolutely no
interest in the women, although he did seem to show quite a bit for Blake. Not
that he was going to ask. No, Zane was quite satisfied with the idea of getting
drunk for the next two days and staying that way.

Surprisingly
enough, Zoey and V took a separate flight from the rest of them, and that meant
Zane hadn’t seen V for almost an entire week. He hadn’t talked to her or texted
her either. She hadn’t reached out to him at all, and the thought still hurt
like an anvil sitting on his chest. He was doing his best to pretend he wasn’t
affected by the easy way she’d shunned him, turning her back on him at a time
when he thought she might actually need him.

He’d
been wrong.

Somehow
Zane managed to keep himself busy though. When Travis returned from Dallas, he
did as he promised himself he would, meeting with both Travis and Sawyer to lay
out a plan for the new clubs in the resort. They agreed to work with Sierra
Sellers on the design, and they put a rough drawing together of the layout for
both of them. That’s what he spent most of his time doing.

Another
pain filled session with the physical therapist could also be scratched off,
and he was pretty sure that one had been worse than the first. Obviously his
little therapist wasn’t fond of being ignored. Twice. Why the woman would’ve
thought telling Sawyer and the twins that she was mad at them would’ve made a
difference, he wasn’t sure. Hell, the twins hadn’t even remembered who she was.
Not that he told her that.

He
and Beau had spent countless hours in the gym, which aside from detailing out
his plans for the resort, was the only thing Zane had looked forward to.
Somewhere along the way, he’d managed to gain four pounds and was working his
way up to the standard three hours a day workouts. At least for the time being.
Once he packed back on an additional sixteen, or so, he’d be happy. Until then,
he had frequent dates with weights and protein.

 Stopping
in to check on Ethan again had been an exercise in futility. His brother was
clearly still pissed, but Zane was glad to hear that Blake had asked to come on
full time. Things were working out well because of it. Not that Ethan would admit
it.

Although
it hurt like hell, Zane also kept an eye on V’s house while she was gone,
making sure Jake didn’t pull any shit. After a couple of follow ups with
Sheriff Endsley, Zane learned they hadn’t seen Jake at all. Zane knew he was
still there. He could feel it. He just didn’t let it bother him. The man would
have to show his face eventually, and when he did, Zane was going to be ready
for him – tire iron or no tire iron.

Zane
even managed to score a wedding gift for his brother and his soon to be wife. That
was saying something because Zane was not one to shop, even if it was all done
online.

“How’s
it going, man?” Beau clapped Zane on the back, effectively breaking him out of
his thoughts and reminding him that he was in Vegas to have a good time.

“Never
better. You?”

Beau
frowned at him, then busted out with a smile. “So, this is Vegas, huh?”

“That’s
what I hear.” Zane looked around at the small bar and restaurant. They’d
commandeered most of the bar, or at least one entire side of it anyway. With a
beer in hand, although it was barely noon, Zane watched the hordes of people
moving along the sidewalk on the strip.

A
deep laugh had Zane turning to face Sawyer as his brother moved closer. “Hey,
bro. That was Kaleb.” Sawyer was referring to a phone call if Zane had to
guess. “He’s bringing Zoey and V over here in a few minutes. Just thought I’d
let you know.”

Zane
nodded his head in understanding and then glanced over at Beau. “You interested
in gambling?” Downing the rest of his beer, Zane knew he wasn’t willing to
stick around. Not right now. He wasn’t ready to see V. He wouldn’t be able to avoid
her later, but for now, he had no intention of getting all worked up for no
reason.