The Knight (Stolen Duet 2)

“Where you headed, princess?”

My head turned sharply at the sound of Z’s voice. In a hidden corner a few feet away, he stood in front of the nurse who had been attending to Angel. Her back was against the wall, and only a few inches of space separated them. I could see the blush that had yet to fade from her cheeks and took a guess at what I’d interrupted. I refrained from an eye roll at Z’s lack of shame. The glossed over look in the nurse’s eyes told me she was far from thinking clearly either.

“I’m taking a walk, Zachariah.” His gaze narrowed at my use of his full name. “I need some air.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“I prefer to be alone.”

“I’ll come with you,” he repeated. He was already backing away from the nurse who was now pouting. She made her displeasure known when her pout turned into a frustrated glower.

I nodded to his companion. “Don’t you need to finish up?” I should have been appalled that he could flirt with a nurse while his best friend was in critical care, but I had been around them long enough now to know she was somehow a pawn for something.

There was a twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his kissable lips before he turned back to the nurse. “I’ll call you, Carly.” He didn’t waste time taking my hand and leading me past three of Angel’s men and to the elevator.

“I can walk and breathe on my own, you know. I don’t need you to hold my hand.”

“What are you saying?” He waggled his eyebrows. “All the girls wanted to hold my hand in school.”

“Look around you, Zachariah. This is real life.” I pulled my hand from his and stepped inside the elevator.

He followed me in and said, “Then I should tell you that I never got to finish school. My mother was a druggie and needed to be taken care of more than I did. The system came and took me, and when I met Lucas, we ran away from the group home and lived on the streets until Art took us in.” He stopped walking and turned to face me with a pitiful look in his eyes that I suspected was all an act. “So you see, I never got to hold hands with a girl and walk the school halls or steal kisses between boring classes or feel her up in the girl’s—”

“Seriously, Z? All of that just to hold my hand?”

“Whatever it takes.” He winked. “Besides, it’s all true.”

“And so you share your sad story, so girls will pity you and let you touch them?”

“Of course not.” He frowned deeply, and this time, I had the feeling it was real. “I let girls touch me. Not the other way around.” His voice had dropped to a whisper at the end. He kept his past buried deep, but it still tortured him. His easygoing nature was nothing but a camouflage for his pain.

I placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort, but the flinch he tried to hide made me drop my hand and wondered what demon rode the back of someone seemingly carefree. As the elevator descended, he backed away when he didn’t think I was looking, putting an infinitesimal amount of space between us.

I was all too willing to give him the space he sought when we reached the ground floor. Witnessing him so vulnerable made me feel like I stepped out of my own skin. Surprisingly, though, he walked next to me until we stepped into the sun. “Don’t stray,” he ordered in a thick voice. “I need to make a phone call.” He walked away assuming I’d obey. I watched as he stepped under the shadow of a tree and lifted his phone to his ear. Turning away, I drunk in the fresh air, ignoring the feel of his gaze following me.

Breathe and walk.

One breath and one step at a time.

My mind sent my life scattering in pieces for me to sort through.

Angel had framed my father.

As hurt and angry as I was at his betrayal, it was my father’s betrayal that festered in my heart.

It had been hard to forgive my father for giving up even when a part of me had been afraid he really was guilty. But to find out he’d given up knowing he was innocent?

I wasn’t sure how I could forgive him a second time.

He’d left me to the care and mercy of two people who hated me. Most of all, he’d lied to me. Somehow, I’d figure out how to visit him soon. I needed to hear the truth of his betrayal from him. I spent too many years enabling him and telling myself grief was the reason why he couldn’t love me after mom had died.