Author's note: Special thanks to Alina for giving me the idea for Zach, Kendall, and a desk chair.
Chapter 14
Greenlee flew into the emergency room. She pounced on a harried-looking doctor. "Jonathan Lavery! The prisoner that was brought in – where is he?" He pointed towards a room, and she rushed over. She looked into the window and froze. There was Jonathan, lying on a hospital bed. His head was shaved (probably from the brain surgery), and his eyes were closed. She felt a chill run through her as she looked at the man who had caused such suffering. Ryan and Erin were holding each other. Erin was sobbing, and Ryan looked shell-shocked. "He's dead." Greenlee turned around and saw David standing there, leaning on a mop. He nodded towards the room. "About 5 minutes ago. He was alive when he left surgery, but didn't last long. You know, I would love to be the one performing the autopsy on him – just to make sure he stays dead this time."
Greenlee turned back and stared at Jonathan through the window. It was over before it had begun. She'd been in fight mode ever since finding out that he was still alive, had made it her mission to make sure he rotted in prison. She'd psyched herself up for the prospect of battling her husband as he tried equally as hard to free his brother. Now the whole thing was moot. "Greenlee!" She turned and saw Kendall rushing towards her, Zach coming up behind. "Well?" Kendall looked in the window. "He's dead. Jonathan is dead, and now Ryan has to grieve for his brother all over again." Kendall looked at her with sympathy. "We all know how it went the last time Ryan mourned his brother. Why is this happening again? It was horrifying enough for you to go through it once…but twice?"
Greenlee turned to Kendall. "No. Not just twice, Kendall. Three times. Before Leo died, we had to contend with his crazy mother. She was unbelievably horrible, and yet Leo somehow couldn't sever his connection to her. David!" David looked up from mopping. "David, I need to talk to you. I need to sort some things out in my head. You might be the only one who can help me." His eyes filled with tenderness for his former sister-in-law. "Of course. Lets go to the chapel." He set the mop aside and took her hand.
Kendall watched them go off. She looked back in the window at Jonathan, chills running up her spine. She felt an arm around her. She looked up at Zach. "This has to be so conflicting for Greenlee. One the one hand relief that Jonathan is really dead this time. On the other hand, she has to watch her husband deal with it. How does it work? How do you help a person grieve for someone you hated?" Zach raised one eyebrow. "Do you really think Greenlee is going to try and help him grieve?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I saw the compassion in her eyes. She loves Ryan, and doesn't want to see him hurting." Zach nodded at the window. "What do you feel about what you see?"
Kendall sighed. "I see the ruins of a family that was laid to waste by a horrible man – their father. Its like…like driving past the wreckage of a deadly car crash." Zach urged her away from the window. "Then don't look. Sit down. Why don't I get you some hot chocolate?" She smiled. "The next best thing to coffee?" He smiled back. "And more comforting, I imagine." She nodded. "Thanks, I would love some." She watched as he walked away. She supposed that if she had to, she could raise their child alone. She would have tons of help from people who loved her. But she didn't want to. She wanted Zach. And not for their baby's sake, but because she wanted him in her life, ached for him. She didn't know why he wanted a divorce all of a sudden, but she was going to change his mind. She was going to fight for him.
Zach came back with the hot chocolate and saw that Kendall had been joined by Erica and Jackson. Erica was holding Kendall tightly and crying. "When I think of you in that prison, with those horrible women, I get chills all over again." Erica looked up at his approach. "And its all your fault! I knew that when Kendall married you she was going to be in danger. I still don't know why you went after him, dear, you should have let him rot in that cell and then you would be a filthy rich widow." Zach decided not to hand the hot chocolate to Kendall, because she looked like she would probably throw it on Erica at the moment. Her furious expression did wonders for his ego. "Mother, if you say another word about Zach, I swear I will…" Zach interrupted her. "No, no. Your mother's right. I think you would have done so much better as a filthy rich widow. The world would have been at your feet. As it stands now, no one wants to come visit you because they're worried they might run into me." His cell phone rang. He handed the hot chocolate to Kendall. "Excuse me."
He went off a little ways and answered it. It was Edie. After welcoming him back, she delivered him a stern lecture on all the things that needed taking care of at the casino, and his next stop better darn well be the casino or she would come find him and kidnap him. Zach looked over at Kendall, talking with Erica and Jackson. She would be okay for now. He didn't want his assistant to blow a gasket, so he assured her he would be there immediately. He hung up and went back to Kendall. "I need to placate Edie and go to the casino to put my name on a few documents. I'll be back later." Kendall stood up. "I suggested before that you get yourself checked out. You really should make sure you're okay before you jump into work." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine. I promise I won't cramp my hand with too many signatures." He turned and walked out the door.
Greenlee sat down in a pew, and David sat down next to her. "Tell me why Leo couldn't let go of his mother. I want to…I want to understand Ryan. Understand why he was so devoted to helping his brother. I just don't understand how anyone can be so attached to someone who is so awful." David stared ahead for a moment. "Leo…for a long time it was just him and Vanessa. She made him dependant on her, made him adore her, just like she would do to her marks. There was a co-dependency there, and Vanessa took full advantage of it. She made sure she was Leo's world. She made sure he would feel guilty if he ever left her or stopped dancing attendance on her. As he grew older, and realized just what she did and the things she made him do, it became so much harder for him. On the one hand, he loved his mother. On the other hand, she hurt people.
"Eventually, when it came out that she was homicidal, it was still hard for him to let go. When she pretended to be crazy, he held on to that. It was easier to believe that his mother wasn't a cold-blooded killer, that she was just messed up in the head. In Ryan's case, he was also dealing with the failed responsibility of helping to get his siblings out of the danger zone. I think he must have felt even more desperate than Leo to believe that his brother could be redeemed. I've heard the rumors that Jonathan had a brain tumor removed. I'm sure Ryan held onto that hope as tight as he could. I'm glad that Jonathan is dead now, because he can't hurt anyone else. I just wish someone had put a knife in Vanessa before she had the chance to take Leo with her over that bridge. I wish I had been the one to do it." He reached out and hugged Greenlee. She cried against his shoulder, glad that he didn't take the opportunity to blast Ryan. He had given her just what she needed.
Zach arrived at the casino and took care of the decisions that needed to be made, much to the relief of Edie. When she left his office with his admonition that he didn't want to be disturbed, he sat there awhile and stared at his desk. He looked at the telephone, and remembered Kendall shoving it off the desk. Like a toddler having a meltdown, she had picked up every item on his desk and flung it to the floor. He'd prevented her from destroying his computer – he didn't want to have to explain to his tech guy why his wife was having a tantrum. Heck, he didn't know why his wife was having a tantrum - until he looked into her eyes and saw that beneath the anger and the tears was a burning desire.
He was completely stunned. He had been so preoccupied with controlling his longing for her that it never occurred to him that she might feel the same way. Over those previous weeks, he hadn't been able to keep his hands off her. He was always touching her, always looking for an excuse to give her a massage or put his arm around her. The effort it took to keep from taking the next step left him depleted. The only positive spin had been the savings in hot water bills.
"I'm not going to beg you, Zach. I've done that before. I won't do it for you." With that, his self-control snapped completely. He pulled Kendall to him and kissed her. Unlike their previous kiss, which had been a joke for the benefit of Erica and the press, this one was entirely serious. To finally have her lips touching his, after weeks of building frustration…Zach realized he would need to slow down or it would be over with before it began. He broke the kiss and, his hands shaking, he cupped her face. "Are you sure about this? It will kind of wreck the whole 'business arrangement' aspect of our marriage."
She shook her head. "You know, I used to think you were such an opportunist, that no one would ever mistake you for a gentleman. Now I see that I was wrong, tragically wrong. Here you are, asking permission to sleep with your wife. Just shut up and do what feels right!" He decided that she had a very good point. He reached around, grabbed her ass and lifted her against him. She responded by wrapping her legs around him. He grinned at her triumphant expression. "Never let it be said that I don't obey my wife." He carried her to the desk and plunked her down on top of it. While she busied herself with ripping off his tie and pulling impatiently at the buttons on his shirt, he was running his hands underneath her top, reveling in the feel of her skin that he had ached to touch all those times he massaged her. She finally got his shirt open, and he responded by pulling off her top. "This is taking too much time," she panted. "I'm sick of waiting." Feeling constrained once again to obey his wife, he unzipped his pants and lifted up her skirt. He slid into her over and over and they both quickly came in an explosion of hot breath and sweat.
Kendall punched in the code to enter his office. She walked in and stopped a few feet from his desk. He was staring down at his desk, his hands clenched into fists. She was either very quiet, or he was very lost in thought. She knew it was the latter. She knew he was thinking about that night. About the torrid sex they had on his desk. It had been swift, it had been powerful, and it had left them both exhausted and shaking. When they'd regained their energy, they quickly dressed and went upstairs to his private suite and made up for lots and lots of lost time. It was no wonder she got pregnant – her egg never stood a chance.
If nothing else, Zach desired her. If she was going to fight for her marriage, she needed to start somewhere. She walked up to him, and as she got closer, he became aware of her presence. She came around the desk and climbed in his lap, straddling him. Gripping the lapels of his jacket with her hands, she whispered, "I think its time for an encore." She pulled him against her and kissed him. Wrapping his arms around her, this time avoiding her bruise, he once again obeyed his wife.