“You sure? You can take all the time you need,” I assured him.
Zane nodded his head. “Yes, I’m sure.” I saw the same determination from earlier come back into his eyes and I winked at him. I turned back to the door and rapped my knuckles against it twice.
“Come in,” Micah’s deep voice rumbled from the other side.
Micah was sitting behind his desk and Landon had pulled a chair over to sit next to him. There were several empty containers of food spread out on top of the desk and the two of them looked up as the door opened, and I popped my head inside.
Micah’s jaw dropped open when he saw it was me and a smile spread across Landon’s face. I’d always liked Landon. He had thick brown hair, broad shoulders, and hazel eyes that could’ve easily landed him on the cover of any magazine, but it was his friendly nature that pulled everyone in. I’d never seen the man when he wasn’t smiling.
The best part, however, was how he made Micah smile. Micah tended to be more serious, probably from the years he’d spent as a Navy SEAL, but he was always more relaxed and happier when his husband was near. It was obvious to everyone that they were meant for each other and I couldn’t be happier for them.
“Jeremy, what…?” he asked. I knew he was happy to see me, but he was equally confused about me showing up unannounced. Landon’s gaze slid back and forth between the two of us, most likely picking up on the fact that this was more than just a friendly visit.
“Micah, I have someone I want you to meet.” Micah’s eyes went wide, and he stood behind his desk, his chair kicking out behind him. Landon seemed to catch on then and he stood too, an unexpectedly hopeful look on his face. I wondered how much Landon knew about the situation. By the way he was acting, it was definitely more than I did.
“Before we go any further, I want to make one thing clear,” I said. Micah looked at me curiously, but he nodded his head once as if to tell me to go on. “No matter why you wanted him brought back here, I will be staying with him. I won’t leave his side unless he asks me to,” I insisted.
Micah’s eyes narrowed. “I have no problem with that, Jeremy. In fact, I’m happy to hear it,” he said.
It was my turn to be surprised. I’d been expecting a lecture on letting the clients handle their own issues and how I shouldn’t stick my nose into things that weren’t my business. Micah’s gaze shot to his husband though and the two of them shared a knowing look as if they were privy to some secret. They turned back to me, wearing matching grins.
“Will you bring him in already?” Micah asked. My brow furrowed, but I stepped inside. Zane followed in after me and I watched as he moved in closer to my side as he faced Micah and Landon.
I looked at him. “This is my boss, Micah, and his husband, Landon,” I explained.
“Guys, this is Zane Wilkinson.” Micah looked Zane up and down and then looked back at me.
“Are you positive?” he asked. I started to answer, but Zane beat me to it.
“Yes, he’s sure. I’m Zane Wilkinson and I want to know how you could let that bastard hire you to come find me,” he hissed.
“Who exactly do you think hired me?” Micah asked, his head tilting as he looked at me. Jeremy’s boss was an extremely handsome man, but I could see the soldier beneath the surface. He had a protective air about him that I’d seen on Jeremy and I suddenly felt more at ease.
“The only person I can think of that would want me found. My father,” I answered. Micah’s brows dipped in confusion as he stared at me.
“It wasn’t your father who hired me,” he said.
“It wasn’t?” Jeremy asked. We shared a look and I could see the confusion I felt mirrored in his eyes.
“Who was it then?” I turned my attention back to Micah.
“I think it would be better if I showed you,” he answered cryptically. He turned to his husband. “Would you mind calling…”
“I’m on it,” Landon answered, obviously reading his husband’s thoughts.
“What’s going on?” Jeremy demanded. He sounded exasperated and I put my hand on his arm. I didn’t want my situation causing trouble between him and his boss. Micah didn’t look angry though as he walked around his desk, coming to stand in front of us.
“I know this seems really confusing to both of you, but I honestly don’t have all the answers. That’s why I think it would be best if we went to the person who hired me. He can explain everything.” His eyes moved back and forth between the two of us and finally settled on Jeremy. “Trust me, Jeremy. I know just enough about the situation that I can promise you that no one wants to hurt Zane.”
Jeremy released a loud breath beside me and I could feel him relax. Still, he turned and looked at me. “Micah is a good man, Zane, and I trust him with my life, but this is your decision. I’ll stand beside you, whatever you want to do.”
My eyes darted to Micah, wondering if he would be angry that his employee was willing to defy him just to stand by me. There was no anger on Micah’s face though. Instead he was smiling at Jeremy. Jeremy didn’t notice though because his focus was trained on me.
“Well, I’m even more curious now that I know it wasn’t my father looking for me. Let’s go see who it is, then,” I told him. Jeremy smiled at me and the pride I saw in his eyes made me feel as if I were ten feet tall.
The three of us left the office then. Jeremy and I followed Micah as he led us out of the city and into a neighborhood along the outskirts. The houses there looked expensive and were spaced far apart. I squinted out the windshield as we drove down a long driveway to a beautiful English Tudor-style home. It was made of gray and tan bricks interspersed in an intricate pattern. Flower boxes hung from the large upper level windows and the front door was made of a rich mahogany wood which curved along the top.
“Do you know who lives here?” Jeremy asked.
“Not a clue,” I told him. “The neighborhood I grew up in was nowhere near as nice as all of this.”
Micah parked his Jeep and Jeremy pulled up alongside him, shutting off the engine. The front door swung open as we walked up to the house and a very tall, good-looking black man stood in the archway, his broad shoulders filling the entire doorway. He was dressed in gray slacks and a plum-colored dress shirt as if he’d just arrived home from an office job.
“Hudson, how’ve you been?” Micah said, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand.
“I’m good. We’re good,” he said with a grin then his eyes landed on me and he tilted his head. “I’ll be damned,” he mumbled. I looked over at Jeremy who shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, where are my manners,” Micah said. He placed one hand on the man’s arm and then gestured to me and Jeremy with the other. “Guys, this is a very close friend of mine, Dr. Hudson Westley. Hudson, this is my friend and employee, Jeremy O’Brien, and this is Zane Wilkinson.”
The doctor’s eyes darted to Micah. “Are you absolutely sure? I mean, I think I can tell already, but are you sure?”
Micah smiled at his friend. “Jeremy is positive so that means I am too,” he answered. I looked back and forth between the two men, trying to figure out what they were talking about, but it was as if they were speaking in riddles.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on here?” I nearly shouted.
I’d been patient about as long as I could, but I’d reached the end of my rope. I’d spent most of the day thinking I was going to be coming face-to-face with my father, only to find out it wasn’t him looking for me after all. Since then it seemed as if I’d been running around in circles with everyone understanding what was going on except for me. Well, and Jeremy because he seemed just as confused and annoyed as I was.
“I’m sorry. I know you must have a million questions and I didn’t mean to make this more stressful on you. I just needed to see you, to be sure of who you were first,” Dr. Westley said.
“What do you mean first? Before what, Dr. Westley?” I asked.
“One of them?” I mouthed to Jeremy. He shrugged his shoulders at me again.
Micah didn’t hesitate to follow the man inside his house so with a deep breath, Jeremy and I made our way in as well. The interior of the house was something out of a magazine. Original hardwood floors, cream-colored walls decorated with original pieces of art and beautiful archways in every doorway. It was sophisticated and elegant, yet it had that comfortable lived-in feel to it too. It was obvious that while this place looked like it could be on a movie set, it was a home to the people who lived there.
Hudson led us into a large living room and told us to have a seat then he shuffled off to get drinks for everyone. Micah moved to one of the single leather chairs and Jeremy and I sat down next to each other on the matching leather couch.
Jeremy’s palm went to the small of my back. I could feel the warmth of his hand, seeping through my shirt and I gave him a grateful look. I hadn’t realized how adrift I’d been feeling until he reached out and tethered me. Jeremy always seemed to know what I needed without me even asking. It was part of the connection we’d always shared, and I was relieved to see that it hadn’t disappeared.
Hudson came back carrying a tray with glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. He set it down on the coffee table and began pouring drinks for each of us. I accepted but held the glass in my lap. My stomach was too tied up in knots to try and ingest anything. Jeremy sipped at his but left his other hand on my back.
“Is he here?” Micah asked, disturbing the silence and I jumped, nearly spilling my glass of lemonade. I couldn’t remember the last time I was so jumpy. Jeremy gave me a sympathetic look and slid the glass out of my hand, setting both mine and his on top of two coasters on the table next to him. His hand returned to the small of my back and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“They should be here any moment. I called them as soon as I spoke to Landon,” Hudson told Micah.
No sooner had he finished speaking when the front door burst open and I could hear footsteps running towards us across the hardwood floor. I tensed, and Jeremy stood up, instinctually moving in front of me, as if to shield me from whatever was about to happen. I stood too, but Jeremy kept his body angled in front of mine, blocking my view. The footsteps got closer and then stopped. Jeremy gasped in front of me.
“Where is he?” someone asked breathlessly.
I felt the blood drain from my face and I began to shake all over. I knew that voice. I’d heard it a million times in my dreams. It was the most beautiful voice in the world. A voice that, to me, had always meant love and trust and family.
I was afraid to look, afraid that I was about to wake up and realize that this was all just a dream, like I’d done so many times before. Only this time it felt so true, so real that I was sure if I woke up right then, my heart would never recover. There was only one person I could count on to tell me if it was real, one person who I trusted would hold me together if it wasn’t.
“Jeremy?” I whispered weakly.
I could barely hear my own voice over the sound of the blood rushing through my ears, but Jeremy heard me, and he turned. I held my breath when I saw the tears pooling in his eyes, but then slowly, he nodded his head.
I swallowed hard and then peered around his shoulder. There, in the middle of the living room, was the one person I’d loved my entire life, but never thought I’d ever get to see again. His blue eyes, so much like mine, filled with tears when he saw me.
“Zane?” he whispered.
“Isaac?” I whispered back.
We both moved at once, quickly closing the gap between us and holding onto each other as if we were both afraid to let go in case the other vanished into thin air. He was taller, stronger than I remembered. Gone was the skinny, waifish teenager I remembered; in his place was a grown man. I pulled back, but kept my hands on his arms, not willing to let him out of my reach. He looked over my face and I searched his, each of us taking in the changes since we’d last seen each other, me most of all. Tears streamed down both of our faces.
“How is this possible? I thought you were dead,” I breathed.
“What? No, I thought you were dead,” Isaac responded shakily.
“Maybe we all should sit down so we can talk,” Hudson suggested.
I gripped Isaac’s hand in mine and pulled him over to the couch next to me. Jeremy sat on the other side of me. Micah took up the same chair as before. That’s when I noticed for the first time that there was another man in the room. He sat down on the arm of the chair next to Hudson. Hudson laid a hand on the man’s knee and the man reached for him, weaving their fingers together.
“What happened to you after I ran? I know parts of it, but not all,” Isaac said. I turned back to face him.
“So, you did run?” I asked.
“Of course. I didn’t want to, but I promised I would,” he answered. “It was horrible. That night, thinking you had died. I watched him hit you that last time and there was blood everywhere and you quit moving. That’s when he turned on me. I thought it was too late to help you. I thought you were already gone. The last thing you had said to me was to run like I promised, so I did,” he sobbed.
I reached up and cupped the back of his neck, pulling him in close. “You did good, kid. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. All I ever wanted was for you to be safe,” I told him.
“I feel terrible though. I ran and never even tried to look for you because I thought that you were dead. If it weren’t for Hudson and Matt, I still wouldn’t know the truth,” Isaac explained. He gazed adoringly at the two men sitting together. I saw them smile back at him and it was as if I’d walked in on something private. I arched my brow, but that could wait. There were so many other things we needed to clear up first.
“I’m not sure what happened exactly. I was in that kitchen, begging you to run, but then Dad hit me and knocked me out before I knew for sure if you made it out of there. Someone found me a while later, lying outside the emergency room doors. No one saw how I got there,” I explained.
“From what we could figure out, that was your father,” Hudson spoke up. I gave him an incredulous look and then turned to Isaac.
He shrugged. “I don’t know if he had a moment of sanity or grew a conscience or what, but from everything that happened later, we believe that he was the one who drove you to the hospital. Of course, he was too much of a coward to face what he’d done, so he dumped you there outside the doors and took off,” Isaac sneered.
“I was in the hospital for a month. I had a bunch of surgeries to try and fix the damage. When I got out, I went looking for you, just like I said I would,” I told him. “I went to the house first, in case he still had you there. I was going to get you out and get us far away from there. You could’ve gotten your GED or finished high school somewhere else.”
“What happened?” Isaac asked quietly.
“I was peeking through the windows looking for you and Mrs. Sheldon came out. She started going on about how sad it was, and he was too young to die. Those were her exact words. I thought that our father had turned his rage on you that night and killed you. I felt like such a failure as a brother because I hadn’t kept you safe,” I said quietly.
“I took off after that. I felt like my entire world had just caved in and all I wanted was to get away. The nurses had given me some money, so I used it to get a bus ticket and I left town. I’ve been traveling and working odd jobs ever since, until Jeremy found me.” I glanced over my shoulder at Jeremy. He was listening closely, and he gave me a small smile.
“She was talking about Dad,” Isaac said, and I swung my gaze back to him. “The police reports Hudson found said that Dad shot and killed himself not long after
that night. Mrs. Sheldon was older than dirt, so to her, Dad was too young to die.”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I spent all those years thinking you were…” I shook my head. “And it was all just a misunderstanding.”
“I thought you were gone too,” Isaac said, taking my hands in his. “If I’d only stayed and checked on you one more time.”
“You couldn’t though, or he would’ve killed you,” I told him firmly. “The only one to blame is our father, but he didn’t win, because we both survived and we’re here now, together.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Isaac said, grinning at me through his tears.
“So where did you go after you ran that night?” I asked. “You said you ended up in the city?” My stomach coiled with tension as I pictured my brother, still just a kid then, wandering the streets of Chicago. All the ways he could’ve been hurt or taken advantage of, it made me shudder just to think of them.
“I had no idea where I was. I was exhausted and heartbroken because I thought I’d lost you. Then I turned a corner and saw this building all lit up. It was a center…for LGBTQ youth.” Isaac looked up at me, probably waiting for a reaction. I was surprised, but only because we’d never discussed anything like that before. We’d been too busy trying to survive each day and it seemed that neither of us had been able to explore who we really were until we left home.
“I went inside, and this sweet man came up to me. He didn’t pepper me with questions, just offered me some food and a safe place to stay. I stayed there until I graduated from high school, then I began working there. I still work there, as a matter of fact,” Isaac told me.
“That place sounds amazing. I’d love to see it sometime and meet your boss; thank him for taking care of you and keeping you safe,” I said.
Isaac chuckled. “Well, you can thank him right now. Although, he’s not my boss so much as my partner at the center as well as other things. Zane, that’s Matt over there with Hudson and the two of them are my husbands.”
Found_Hamilton's Heroes series Page 17
