Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (16 page)

“Does
Travis know where he’s at yet?”

Zane
and Beau spent hours talking about what happened while Zane was in the
hospital. Beau had been at Anderson Croft’s that day and he saw the whole thing
play out, but according to him, he hadn’t known about the assault for a couple
of days after it happened. At some point, Zane’s mother had called him.

“If
he does, he’s not telling me.” Zane had no idea whether Travis knew where Jake
was. It wasn’t likely that he did because Zane knew his brother. Travis wasn’t keen
on forgiving and forgetting and as far as Zane was concerned, Jake had likely
signed his own death warrant for what he’d done. At least as far as Travis was
concerned. Of all his brothers, Travis and Zane were the ones with the
explosive tempers. Somewhere along the way, Travis had learned to keep his
under wraps, but Zane was still working on it.

“Why
the hell didn’t she tell me?” Zane knew Beau’s question was rhetorical.

While
he’d been confined to the hospital, Beau had taken to watching out for V.
Considering what had transpired between the three of them – twice – just a week
before Zane was attacked, he’d initially wondered whether that was a good idea
or not. But, other than his brothers and his parents, there wasn’t another
person Zane trusted more than Beau.

Based
on what Beau had told him, V wasn’t happy about him hanging around, but she’d
gotten used to it. Especially after Beau refused to go away.

“Did
you know she was having panic attacks?” Zane figured he’d go for broke. This
time Beau looked away, breaking eye contact, which was a telling sign.

“I
didn’t know exactly what it was. I followed her home one night from
Moonshiners. I noticed she sat in her car for an unusually long time, so I got
out and checked on her. She was shaking, pale, and gripping the steering wheel
for all she was worth. It took me a while to coax her into the house, but once
I did, she seemed to calm down. You know V, she wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

Having
known wouldn’t have made a difference, Zane knew, but he still hated that she’d
been going through this alone. Everyone had been so focused on his recovery,
and it pained him to know that V had been left behind. She’d endured just as
much that day. Maybe not the broken bones, or the cracked ribs, or the head
trauma, but the emotional effect was just as devastating. If not more so.

Looking
at his best friend now, Zane wished like hell the man had been around the day
he’d been attacked. Zane was a big man and before the attack he’d been even
bigger, but Beau Bennett almost made him look small in comparison. At
six-foot-six-inches, Beau had been their claim to fame in high school. He’d
been the star quarterback, and up until their senior year, everyone thought
Beau would be in the NFL one day.

An
unfortunate car accident ended that dream after Beau’s throwing arm was
crushed. The doctors managed to repair it, using metal plates and screws, but
Beau had never been able to throw the same after that.

“Mother
fucker.”

Zane
smiled. Beau was just as temperamental as Zane, but it was almost comical to
hear him curse. He was a good ol’ boy in every sense of the word. The girls
referred to him as an oversized teddy bear, but Zane never understood that one.
There wasn’t a damn thing soft or cuddly about Beau.

Zane
dropped to the bench and laid back while Beau instinctively moved over to spot
him. “Why don’t you stop by my house tonight?” he asked his friend as he lifted
the weight from the rack and down onto his chest.

Focusing
on his set, Zane didn’t expect Beau to answer until he was finished, and that
didn’t take long. Damn his body. He knew it was going to take some time to get
back to his former strength, but shit, he hated how weak he was.

Rather
than making it worse, Zane waved Beau off rather than starting another set. He
stood up, grabbed his water bottle and his towel before turning back to Beau.
“What do you say?”

“Sure.”
Beau smiled. “I’ll stop by.”

Zane
knew Beau didn’t need further clarification. Ever since the last time, he knew
Beau had been looking forward to the next invite, and although he didn’t say
that V would be there, it was clear.

“I’ll
see you later then.” There was no way he’d be able to do much more and Beau
probably had another hour or two on the weights.

“See
ya.”

Zane
almost laughed at the broad grin that split Beau’s face. The man was something
else. But hell, Zane couldn’t blame him. Thinking about V put that same smile
on his own face. Every damn time.

Zane
decided to stop by to see his mother before he went home. He’d texted V, and he
learned that she and Zoey headed into Austin for the day, taking advantage of
having the day off. He didn’t question her. He simply told her to let him know
when she was back.

“Hey,
Dad,” Zane greeted his father when he walked in the back door. Curtis Walker
was sitting at the kitchen table, a laptop and a cup of coffee in front of him.

He
didn’t get a formal response, just a wave in the direction of the living room
and a grunt. Zane laughed as he made his way past him, slapping him on the back
as he did. “Good to see you too.”

Zane
found his mother sitting in the living room on the couch, an e-reader in her
hand.

“Mama.”
He tried not to scare her, so he kept his voice low, but she jumped anyway.

Then
she dropped her e-reader and flew up off of the couch, throwing her thin arms
around him. His mother was the touchy feely type, unlike the men in the family.
She was always hugging and kissing them, and being the good sons they were, not
a single one of them gave her shit about it. She complained that she had to
spend the last fifty years being the only source of estrogen in the house, and
she insisted that she be granted that one reprieve.

“You’re
sweaty,” she scolded him, taking a step back, but cupping his face with both of
her small hands. Zane looked down, meeting those sparkling blue eyes and
waiting for her to let go. No one rushed Lorrie Walker.

“Just
came from the gym,” he told her, then thought better of it.

“Did
your doctor release you to go to the gym?” she questioned, sounding just like
she did when he was a kid and he did something he knew he wasn’t supposed to.
Before he could answer, she backed away, sitting back down and patting the couch
cushion.

Zane
dropped down beside her, leaned back and propped his feet on the coffee table.
That was one of the reprieves the men in the house had earned. They didn’t give
her crap about the hugs and kisses, and she didn’t say anything about their
feet on the furniture. Although, she’d probably given up on that all on her
own.

“They
released me from the hospital. That’s all the permission I need.” Zane had
talked to his mother twice since he’d been home, both times by phone and she’d
begged him to take it easy. He promised her, as much as he could promise anyone
that he would try.

“How’s
Vanessa?” Lorrie asked.

“Good,
why?”

“Just
worried about her.”

His
mother’s comment got his attention, and he turned to look at her, still resting
his head against the back of the couch. “Why’s that?”

“Zoey
seems really worried about her,” Lorrie replied, glancing down at the floor.
That was an obvious partial truth and Zane sat up, turning to face his mother.

“What’s
going on?”

His
mother sighed dramatically and then met his gaze. “Kaleb told your dad about
the phone calls and texts she’s been getting from that Jake person. I don’t
know what I’m going to do about you boys.”

Zane
bit back the urge to curse. That was one thing his mother didn’t approve of and
all eight of them, his father included, had a hard time controlling themselves
from time to time. He wasn’t interested in being scolded, so he didn’t say
anything until the anger passed.

“What’s
Dad doing?” Zane knew there was a reason his father was on the computer. His
father wasn’t fond of technology. At least nothing past his beloved television
and satellite. The man didn’t even have a smart phone because he said there was
no need. If anyone wanted to talk to him, then they would call his basic,
easy-to-use, cell phone.

“He’s
been emailing back and forth with Sheriff Endsley.”

“Shit.”
Zane couldn’t keep that one in if he had to.

“Zane
Michael Walker.” His mother’s stern tone and the way she used his full name
made him laugh.

Standing
up with every intention of going to speak to his father about what he was doing
getting the sheriff involved, his plan was smoothly thwarted when his mother
pulled him back down to the couch. Relenting, he dropped back down, huffing his
defeat in the process.

“Why
is he talking to him?”

The
last thing Zane needed was for the law to be breathing down their necks. He’d
just gotten out of the hospital, and as far as he knew no one had seen or heard
from Jake, aside from Zane’s brief phone call with the man the night before.

Zane
didn’t want the law involved with this. Hell, he didn’t even want his brothers
involved, and now his father had gone off and invited the damn sheriff into
their business.

“Everyone’s
worried about her,” Lorrie stated, her face lined with concern. “And you.”

“I
can take care of myself, Mom,” Zane answered a little more carelessly than he
intended.

“Honey,
we don’t want anything to happen to you.”

He
understood that. He really, truly did. Zane was well aware of the hell his
entire family went through when he was attacked. He knew they were all trying
to make sure he didn’t end up dead somewhere because of Jake and his homicidal
tendencies. “Mom, I’ve got it handled. Please don’t let Dad get involved.”

“Too
late for that, boy,” Curtis’ voice boomed through the living room, and Zane
closed his eyes and dropped his head. This was the last thing he needed.

Just
when Zane was going to chastise his father for getting involved, the screen
door opened and then slammed shut, and Zane turned around to see Travis
storming through the kitchen.

“What
the hell is going on?” Travis barked the question and Zane had no idea who he
was talking to. From the look on his mother’s face, she didn’t either.
Surprisingly enough, his father looked sheepish, but true to form, he crossed
his arms over his chest and stood up straight. At six-foot-five-inches, he was
a formidable man, even at sixty seven.

From
the look on Travis’ face, he didn’t care much for whatever their father had to
say.

“I’ve
got the fu – uh... the damn sheriff breathing down my neck. What did you do?”

Luckily,
Travis saw their mother sitting on the couch before that little word got loose.
It would’ve earned him a palm to the back of the head by their father. Even as
grown men, Curtis still took to smacking them upside the head when they did
something to show disrespect to their mother.

“What
are you talking about?” Zane asked Travis, standing so he could face his
brother. He was so damned confused about what was going on. Seriously, a couple
of phone calls and texts shouldn’t have caused this type of uproar. They knew
Jake wasn’t around, so at this point, it wasn’t a direct threat.

Before
Travis could answer, the screen door slammed again, and the sound of footsteps
stomping across the tiled kitchen floor had echoed in the house.

Kaleb.

Great.
This should get good. Zane was tempted to fall back onto the couch and watch
the show, but he had already gotten himself riled up. He had no idea what was
going on, but he knew one thing: his family was keeping things from him.

“Sit
down, all three of you,” Curtis demanded, moving back to allow Travis and Kaleb
to come into the room. “I want to know what’s going on, and I want every
detail.”

Zane
peered over at his father before dropping back to the couch. He felt like a
fucking whack-a-mole with all the up and down. He also felt like a damn child
being punished for doing something wrong. He watched as Travis and Kaleb moved
to the opposite side of the room and took seats on the other couch, neither of
them looking at Zane.

“I
want to know why the sheriff’s knocking on my door asking questions about Jake
Sanders,” Travis demanded, although his tone had cooled significantly since he
walked in.

“I
emailed him,” Curtis answered, not bothering with taking a seat and crossing
his arms across his thick, brawny chest again as though he were daring Travis
to argue with him.

“For
what?” This time Kaleb asked the question. He actually looked genuinely
confused.

That
made two of them.

“He
needs to know what’s going on. If Sanders is back and he’s terrorizing Vanessa,
I want him arrested. He damned near killed my boy.”

“We’ve
got it handled, Dad. We don’t need you and the sheriff interfering,” Travis
replied, still not bothering to look at Zane.