Safe at Last (Slow Burn 3)

And so she had to ask. Because she had to know. It was suddenly the most important thing in the world to her.

“Zack?” she said softly.

“Yes, baby, I’m here. Are you all right? Are you hurting?”

She shook her head but stopped when that did hurt.

“Where did you go?” she asked in a quiet voice.

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand, nor did he ask for clarification. For a moment his eyes went so hard that she shivered. His hand trembled around hers and he swallowed several times as if trying to compose himself.

“I intend to tell you all about it,” he said in a controlled voice. “There’s a lot we need to talk about, Gracie. A lot you have to know. But not here. Please give me that much. The doctor said you’ll be discharged soon. They aren’t keeping you overnight. Just sending you home with antibiotics and pain medicine and instructions to rest and not aggravate your wound, which I fully intend to ensure you do. I swear to you, I will tell you everything when we’re alone.”

There was a pleading look in his eyes and for a moment he looked so very vulnerable. Her heart clenched and she squeezed his hand just to have an anchor.

“Okay?” he whispered.

“Okay,” she whispered back. “How is Eliza? And Ari?”

His lips quirked into a half smile. “Eliza is raising hell because they want to keep her overnight for observation and she’s not having it. However, Wade has threatened to sit on her and they’re currently in a standoff and neither is budging. The rest of us are just staying the hell out of the way. I think Wade is going to win this one.”

Anna-Grace smiled, imagining well the clash of those two stubborn wills.

“And Ari?” she prompted.

“Beau took her home,” Zack said. “She was okay. Just very weak.”

Anna-Grace heaved a sigh of relief.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he said starkly, abruptly switching the focus to her. “Don’t ever do that again, Gracie. My heart can’t take it. Do you have any idea how helpless I felt knowing I couldn’t get to you in time? Why in the hell did you do it?”

She shrugged. “It was the right thing to do.”

Zack closed his eyes. “Jesus.”

“I couldn’t not do anything,” she said defensively. “Eliza helped me. She was there because of me. Being tortured because of me.”

She couldn’t control the pain in her voice and she broke off, averting her gaze from Zack.

“For whatever reasons, my powers reasserted themselves when Eliza needed us the most. Maybe it was God’s way of saving her. I don’t know. But I knew that between me, Ramie and Ari we could find and save Eliza, and I was not going to just sit there while they killed an innocent woman. Especially a woman who has given so much of herself for others.”

Zack smiled ruefully. “I shouldn’t have even asked. Of course you would. You’re incapable of turning a blind eye to anyone in need.”

He caught her gaze and again she was consumed in a wave of so much love that she trembled under its force.

“You’re still my Gracie,” he whispered. “You haven’t changed a single bit from that beautiful girl I fell in love with so many years ago. That I still love. Will always love.”

She stared at him in shock, incapable of responding. How could she respond? What was she supposed to say?

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It just remained open as she stared helplessly at him.

He pressed a gentle finger to her lips. “Shhh. Not now. You don’t have to say anything right now. It will wait. Until we’re home and I can explain everything.”

The door to her room opened and a nurse came in smiling at Gracie. “Are you ready to go home? I have your discharge instructions and your prescriptions. As soon as I take out your IV, you’ll be all set. Just make sure you go straight home and rest. No strenuous activity whatsoever. If you put any strain on those stitches, they’ll come out, and we don’t want that happening.”

The rest was a blur because all Anna-Grace could focus on were Zack’s words. The vow in his voice. The utter sincerity ringing in his words. And how very close she’d come to telling him she loved him too.

And if that wasn’t messed up, she didn’t know what was.

THIRTY-FOUR

THE drive home was silent and strained. Anna-Grace kept looking sideways at Zack but he stared straight ahead, his hands clenched tightly around the steering wheel. His anxiety was palpable and once again she was struck by the vulnerability he displayed.

The crazy thing was that she wanted to reach over, take his hand and tell him it would be all right. That everything would be all right. But she couldn’t tell him what she didn’t know to be absolute truth.

And so she sat, as silent as him, and willed the drive to go faster.

She recognized the safe house as they pulled in. The same place they’d taken her after she’d been abducted. No other cars were there, which meant they would be alone. She swallowed nervously as Zack firmly told her to stay put. Then he got out and walked around to her side and opened the door.

He helped her out, careful not to jar her shoulder, and then he wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked slowly to the front door. Once inside he led her into the living room and settled her at an angle on the couch so she wasn’t leaning back against her stitches.

And then he began to pace. For a long while he was silent as though he were collecting his thoughts and deciding what to say. Sensing just how important this was, she waited quietly, watching for when he would begin.

He dragged a hand through his hair and finally turned to her, his eyes raw and ravaged with grief and sorrow.

“I shouldn’t put you through this right now. God knows it’s the worst possible time. You’ve been through hell and here I am about to put you back through hell all over again. But I can’t wait, Gracie. Because every day that passes that you believe I did something so repulsive and . . . evil . . . a part of me dies. I’m a bastard for doing this and I hope you can forgive me when all is said and done, but I’m a bastard who loves you with every breath in my body. And I can’t, I just can’t let you believe the worst of me a minute longer.”

She sucked in her breath because yes, now she could read his mind, when before she couldn’t. And she could sense undying sincerity. And love. His thoughts were chaotic, a jumbled mass of pain, anger and regret. But at the forefront of everything was love. For her.