“Let’s be perfectly clear, Tomas. You and I will never sleep together again. And until you get that bogus restraining order, you need to back off. Zane is a guest of the hotel and, therefore, he has every right to be on the grounds along with the boys. Now go back in there and fix this. You saw how much they both care about Zane!”
“Care about him? Don’t you get it? It’s a classic move to buy kids bikes and crap to get into a single mommy’s pants. Every guy knows that game.”
“That’s a game you’d play. Not Zane.”
“Zane’s a man. He’ll do whatever it takes to get laid. I’m leaving.” Tomas turned toward the parking lot and called out, “And the worst choice you made so far was to turn Tyler into a crybaby who only wants to be with his mommy!”
Tyler just has a heart. Unlike you.
Refusing to even acknowledge Tomas’s nasty remark, Casey stomped up the hill to the house, slammed the French door closed behind her, and then laid her head back against it.
What would she do if Tomas really got that restraining order? She needed to call her lawyer and ask him if Tomas could do that. Zane would never cause them any harm. Was Tomas making things up and telling his lawyers lies? She wouldn’t put that past him. He didn’t want her to be with Zane.
She didn’t want to have to choose between Zane and her boys. Because there’d be no choice. Her kids would always win.
A movement outside the guesthouse’s screen door caught Zane’s eye. Maybe it was Casey?
He tossed his e-reader aside and rose from the couch. When he pushed open the screen door, he found Tyler on the porch about to knock. “Hey, Ty. It’s late. Is something wrong?”
Ty nodded. “My dad said we can’t talk to you anymore.”
“Why not?”
Ty looked at his sneakers and mumbled, “He asked a judge for some restraint thing.”
“You mean a restraining order?” That’d be ridiculous. He would never hurt Casey’s boys. But considering the circumstances, maybe he shouldn’t invite Tyler inside. Instead, he went out to the porch. “Have a seat.”
Zane leaned against the railing across from Ty. “What did your mom say?”
“She got really mad and made my dad talk to her outside. Me and Caleb sneaked to the window and listened.”
He probably shouldn’t ask what they talked about. But it involved him. “Did your dad say why?”
“Yeah. He said you got into fights and were probably on drugs.”
“I’m not on drugs, Tyler. And all that matters to me is that you know that fight was a misunderstanding. I’ll ask my lawyers to look into this.”
“Okay. But I still owe you a favor. Caleb and Eric said if someone saves your life you have to do anything they ask. Even if it’s to kill a guy.”
Zane laughed. “I promise I won’t ask you to kill a guy. But I can’t think of anything now, so can I save the favor for later?”
“Yeah. It’s good for the rest of my life. But I didn’t want you to think when I don’t talk to you tomorrow it’s because I hated you or anything. Because I don’t.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you telling me that. Let’s get you back home before you get into trouble.”
“Okay.” As they started down the steps, the door closed to Casey’s grandmother’s house. Zane stopped Ty and pulled him back behind the porch, out of sight. Soft whistling drifted through the still night air. When Zane peeked around the corner to see who it was, he smiled. Seemed the older gentleman was walking away a happy man.
After the coast was clear, they walked toward the lake and along the quiet shore back to the hotel. Ty whispered, “Caleb is sad too because he really wanted to play guitars with you.”
“Yeah. Me too.” He couldn’t be with Casey if her boys couldn’t be with him. And that was not acceptable. “You’re on restriction. So how did you bust out without your mom knowing?”
“She takes these long baths when she’s really mad about stuff. I heard the water running in the big tub in her bathroom, so I sneaked out the door by the lake.”
“Ah. So she’s pretty steamed about something, huh?” The vision that popped into his mind of Casey, naked in the tub, was a tempting one.
“Yeah. She got really mad when my dad tried to kiss her.”
He tried to kiss her? What the hell? “What did your mom do?”
“She yelled at him and he yelled back.” Ty looked up at Zane. “Then my dad said I was a crybaby.”
“Hold up.” Zane knelt on the sand to Ty’s level. “You probably misunderstood what he said. Any kid who falls in the river with a broken arm, slams into rocks, and still holds it together is no crybaby. You’re the bravest kid I know.” Zane held up his fist. “Pound it out and let’s forget about that, okay?”
Ty nodded and slammed his good fist against Zane’s then they started walking back to Ty’s house again. “My dad also said you only bought us bikes to get in Mom’s pants. Caleb said that meant you were just being nice to us so you could be my mom’s friend.”
Thank God Caleb hadn’t told Ty what that really meant. “People do that to me all the time because I’m famous. But I’d never do it to anyone else because it’s a rotten thing to do.”
“Yeah.” Ty was quiet until they reached his front door. He laid his hand on the knob and looked up. “I guess since I won’t be able to talk to you for a while I should maybe . . . give you a hug or something?”
A huge lump formed in Zane’s throat. Now who was the crybaby?
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” He picked Tyler up off the ground and hugged him, unable to imagine never talking to him again. Casey and her boys made a nice family. One like he’d often wished he had after his father died.
As he dropped Ty back to the ground, he said, “I’ll do my best to fix this, okay?”
“’Kay. Bye, Zane.” Ty quickly disappeared into his house.
When Tyler’s bottom lip had quivered when he’d said goodbye, Zane had nearly lost it too. Ty had just won a permanent place in his heart—especially if the kid was willing to kill a guy for him.
Casey, all tucked into bed, smiled as she read Zane’s sexy goodnight text. She’d forgotten how fun flirting could be. But it was late, so she reached to turn off the light to go to sleep just as a knock sounded on her door. “Come in.”
Caleb stuck his head inside. “Hi. I didn’t know if you were asleep yet or not.”
The guilty look on Caleb’s face made her sit up against the headboard and pat the mattress beside her. “What’s on your mind?”
Caleb circled to the other side of the bed and sat next to her. “I think it’s my fault Dad is so mad. That’s why he’s getting that restraining order against Zane.”
She’d made it a policy to tell the boys the truth as much as she could, and she’d not stop now. “No, it’s not your fault at all. Your father is doing that to Zane because he doesn’t know Zane like we do. Dad is using the hotel and the celebrities as a reason to take you away from here. He thinks growing up in a hotel always filled with rich people is bad for you guys.”
“It’s no big deal. We know that some of them are jerks and some aren’t. Grandpa Anderson can be a bigger jerk than some of our guests.”
She wanted to shout out “Amen” but restrained herself. She’d always contended that kids knew more than adults gave them credit for. “Yes, my dad is a difficult person. But the rest of my family loves you and misses you guys every summer when you’re gone.”
Caleb nodded, then his gaze dropped away. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings at dinner when we talked about moving.”
It must’ve shown on her face. “It just came as a surprise that you wanted to move. I thought it was your dad’s idea, not yours.”
“I don’t really want to live in France unless you do. Dad told me you used to want to move there, so if I told the judge I wanted to live with Dad, then maybe I’d get to go and then you and Ty would come too. I don’t want you to think I like Dad more than you. I just like y
ou both differently.”
Tomas putting Caleb in the middle stirred up all of her earlier anger at her ex again. “First off, no, I don’t want to move to France. And it’s perfectly normal to have different feelings for your mom and dad. We know you love us both and that’s all that counts. But I was a little surprised when your dad talked to me about you boys maybe going to boarding school. Is that something you’d want to do?”
Caleb’s eyes grew wide. “No way. I’d hate that!”
So, as she’d suspected, Tomas hadn’t told Caleb all of his plans so he and Marie could have fun year-round. “You should mention how you feel about that to your dad, then. And if you’re ever unhappy, please talk to me, and we’ll try to work it out. Okay?”
Caleb’s brave attempt to blink back tears made her eyes grow misty too.
“Okay. But for now, I want to be with you and Ty. Maybe when I’m older I’ll think about moving with Dad.” He closed the distance between them and gave her a hug. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.” When he tried to pull away, she held on for just a few more moments. He hadn’t voluntarily given her a hug in a long time and she wasn’t quite done. “Now no more guilts, okay? Leave that for me and Dad.”
He leaned back and smiled like a person who’d just had the weight of the world taken from his shoulders. “Okay. Goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.”
After Caleb closed the door, she let out a long breath. If her boys ever went to live in France, she wouldn’t know how to make her heart stop hurting for the nine months they’d be gone. How do parents ever let their kids go?
Hopefully she’d have eight more years to figure that one out.
Casey had just gotten the boys off to school and she’d finally settled into her office to tackle a growing stack of paperwork when her brothers and sister showed up at her door. “Did we have a family meeting I forgot about?”
They all shuffled in and took their usual spots. Meg and Ryan sitting in the guest chairs and Ben on the corner of her desk. Their serious expressions made her apprehensive of what was to come.
Meg said, “No, we didn’t have a meeting planned. But after you and I talked on the phone last night, and you said Tomas grabbed you, called you names in front of the boys, and yelled at you, I figured it was time for us to show Tomas who he’s messing with.”
Ben added, “Dad hired a private investigator in France. He’s hoping to find dirt on Tomas to make him back off this ridiculous plan to steal the boys from us.”
Surprised that her dad would do that for her but grateful for the support, Casey said, “Ryan, do you really think Tomas could get a restraining order just because of Zane’s reputation? That doesn’t seem right.”
Ryan shrugged. “If they have the right connections with a judge, maybe. But Zane doesn’t need any more problems like the paternity bullet he just dodged.”
Ben added, “And it isn’t helping that you’re seeing Zane, Casey.”
She sent Ryan the evil eye until he finally squirmed and said, “I wasn’t going to say anything, until I heard about the restraining order from Meg. It’s an important factor. And none of us will tell anyone.”
That was true. She could trust her brothers and Meg to keep her secret. “I know that seeing Zane isn’t helping things, but I really like him. And he’s good to the boys.” She wanted to tell them about Zane’s brother but that wasn’t her story to spill. “I called my new lawyer this morning and he’s looking into putting a stop to things. But he warned that judges are pretty quick to issue temporary restraining orders when there are kids involved. Then sometime later there’d be a hearing so all the facts could be straightened out.”
“Or maybe we could straighten things out quicker by having Ryan beat the crap out of Tomas,” Ben said with a smile.
Meg nodded. “Or maybe we’ll sic Grandma on him. He’s even more afraid of her than he is of Ryan.”
Casey laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I’m so mad at Tomas right now it’s hard to be in the same room with him. I wish he’d just go away, but he told the boys he’s staying until after Labor Day.”
Ben stood to leave. “You don’t have to let him see the boys. Say the word, and I’ll make it my job to remind him of that. And that if he lays a hand on you again, Ry will throw his ass in jail.”
Casey’s heart warmed for her protective brothers and sister. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate it, but I can take care of myself.”
Ryan rose and moved beside Ben. “Are you sure, Casey?”
“Yes. Now go. I know you’re both busy.”
Her brothers filed out of her office but Meg stayed behind. “Are you really okay? Because with you it’s hard to tell. You never ask for help.”
Casey plastered on a smile. “Yes, I promise. I just have a lot on my plate right now. Things will be even better after I see you and Josh finally married next month.”
“Thank you for all the hard work on that, Casey.” Meg beamed a mischievous smile. “You’re still my favorite half sister.”
“Funny. Call me that one more time and I’ll make sure Sue Ann sits next to you guys at the reception.” Even though they had different fathers, Casey would never think of Meg as anything but her sister.
“Okay, I take it back. See you.” Meg started to leave then stopped. “So is Zane as good at hot monkey sex as Beau was?”
“Ten times better. Now get out of my office, I’m busy.”
“I knew it!” Meg’s laughter slowly faded as she walked down the hall. But Casey’s smile lingered as she thought about Zane and their hot monkey sex.
Zane sank to the couch as he talked to Kip on the phone. “What do you mean he just walked away?”
“They said they went to check on him when he didn’t come for breakfast and Nick was gone. He’d packed up his stuff and left during the night. They suspect one of the nurses he’d been sleeping with might have helped him do it.”
“What does that do to me legally?”
“It means you could have a bench warrant out for your arrest for contempt. Your lawyers convinced the judge that since the damaged parties dropped their charges and because you/Nick were already in rehab, community service was a fair deal. The judge agreed but verbally told the lawyers to be sure you stayed in rehab the whole time or he’d look into reopening the case. But it gets even worse.”
Zane closed his eyes and laid his head on the back of the couch. “How could it get any worse?”
“One of the rehab employees called the police, as is their protocol if someone goes missing, so it’s public record now. The media will know about this within minutes, Zane.”
Dammit!
Zane found the remote and turned on CNN, then muted it. As he watched the headline scroll he said, “I’ll call my lawyer and see what they think is best for me to do. Then I’ll call Mandy and ask her to check my house. She still has a key and Nick likes her. Maybe we’ll get lucky, find him, and she’ll talk him into going back to rehab before this blows up in our face.”
“Whatever you do, make it quick. But I’d have a solid plan B, Zane. I don’t think any amount of spin will fix this one.”
“Yeah. Maybe I’d better call Mandy first. I’ll get back—wait. There’s something about me on CNN. Turn it on.”
Zane upped the volume as the anchor came on air. She said, “Zane Steele’s estranged brother, Nick, will make a statement at noon Pacific time in front of Zane’s home. Nick Steele is alleging that his brother has been in rehab but walked away from the facility this morning. And that Nick has kept quiet long enough about their father’s death just over twenty-three years ago. Nick alleges Zane murdered their father. Stay right here as the details unfold.”
Zane leapt to his feet. He’d like to beat the living crap out of his lying brother.
Kip said, “What the hell is that about, Zane?”
“It’s a lie. I have to go.”
“Wait—”
Zane punched the “End” button on his cell. He neede
d to tell Casey about it before she saw the news reports.
He tucked his phone into his back pocket and took off at a run. When he hit the hotel’s lobby he called out to Jeannie, “Where’s Casey?”
She looked up from her cell with widened eyes. “You murdered your own father?”
Zane sucked in a breath for patience. “No, I didn’t murder anyone. Where’s Casey, please?”
“In the kitchen with Dax.”
The look of disgust in Jeannie’s eyes made Zane’s gut ache. It was probably just the beginning.
He turned and jogged toward the swinging kitchen doors. After he stepped inside, his hopes of getting to Casey first fell away. She and Dax were both watching the report on TV.
“It’s not true. And you both know I didn’t walk away from rehab. I’ve been right here the whole time. Casey, please give me a chance to explain.”
The sadness in her eyes when she finally tore her gaze from the screen sent a direct stab of pain to his heart.
She said, “Let’s go to my office.”
They walked in silence down the long hall. Once inside her office she closed the door, and then sat beside him on the other guest chair in front of her desk.
He took her hand and told her the details of Nick’s rehab cover-up. When he was done, she stood to pace. “That explains the black eye you didn’t have the first day you arrived. But what about your father? What’s the real story there?”
Zane hated to think about that day, but she had a right to know. “My father, brother, and I went hiking often to keep Nick out of trouble on the weekends. Despite that, or maybe because of it, Nick wasn’t very close to my dad.
“When we stopped for lunch that day on the hike, my father said he had some bad news. That he had met another woman, and he was going to ask our mom for a divorce. Nick and I were just twelve and I didn’t know what to do with all that emotion. Then Nick said something snide about how it was probably because our mom was getting old, and I lost it. I was so upset by what my dad was doing to my mom, and then for Nick to talk about her that way, I just let Nick have it.”
It Had to Be Fate (An It Had to Be Novel Book 3) Page 18
