Chapter Forty-Four

Zach had drifted off to sleep, lying on his side, creases of pain smoothed from his face, his bare chest rising and falling strongly and steadily under the thin covering of the cotton sheet. Perched on the edge of the bed, Kendall watched as he slept and wondered why—here being proof the planets could align so spectacularly—they didn't demonstrate the ability more often and with less egregious fallout.

To the world at large, of course, every planet and star in the heavens remained in its traditional orbit and position: The upcoming Hart/Slater wedding was already last week's news no matter how it came about. But to Kendall, everything had changed beyond recognition. Though the ache in her heart over Bianca's and Erica's loss would never abate and the gnawing worry over Miranda's survival was constant, having a partner like Zach to share the ordeal with was the difference between floundering, self-defeated, in never-ending darkness, or having a cleared, lit path to follow.

Coming on the heels of so many tragedies, it almost appeared an invitation to tempt fate. Kendall tried to shake off any superstitious fears and take it as a good sign. But if Bianca and Erica were here, how would they feel about it? If they were here—if Ethan were here—Kendall realized with almost a jolt, she would never have had reason to approach Zach for any reason, much less propose to him. Most likely she would have continued in the erroneous assumption, together with her sister, mother, and ex-lover, that Zach was a miserable excuse for human being at best and a diabolical figure at worst.

Instead of the inestimable cache of buried treasure you discovered when you dug not even all that deep.

"Hey." Zach's eyes opened. "You're still here. Thought you were going back to the hospital."

"And you're supposed to be asleep." Kendall looked at her wristwatch. "Twenty minutes isn't much of a nap, Zach."

Raising himself up on an elbow, he replied, "Got too much on my mind to sleep."

"Zach, a few hours' rest won't make much difference to it, will it?"

"I suppose not. But hear me out. Been thinking about the Cambias offer, in light of everything that's happened since they made the offer."

"The Cambias offer? Oh, please, Zach—Cambias isn't your problem," Kendall protested.

"Even if I turn down the board's offer, half of Cambias is now mine. And half is Miranda's. As her de facto parents now, that makes it my—our—problem in two different ways," Zach said very slowly.

"Shit. You're right." Kendall went over to the maple crib she and Myrtle had bought for Miranda, still standing in the corner of her bedroom, and ran her hand along the top rail. She'd become so accustomed to its presence, yet so resigned to its remaining empty for the time being, that the crib, along with its matching changing station, had receded into the background as something she saw, but stopped noticing.

"I said shit about Cambias," Kendall clarified. "Not Miranda—it's just hard to believe after everything Greenlee and Ryan put me through that we really get to have Miranda after all. But if all goes well…if all goes well, Miranda is going to be right here in this very crib that Greenlee turned her snooty nose up at. That's what I care about, Zach, not Cambias. Look what it did to your father, Michael, and Ethan," she shuddered. "I don't want it dragging either you or Miranda down too."

Curiously, Zach asked, "Do you believe it would drag me down?"

Kendall returned to the bed to sit down again, this time on Zach's side, facing him. "I used to be skeptical of what you called the Cambias Curse. But when I add up the body count…I think you were on to something."

"Michael and Ethan were both insecure men who used Cambias to overcompensate for their limitations. Do you think the seeds of that weakness are in me too?"

"No!" Kendall cried vehemently. "Oh, hell, no! You are nothing like them, Zach, nothing. But I'm afraid somewhere deep inside of you, you still believe Cambias would affect you the same way, no matter what I say. So does it really matter what I think?"

"And become a self-fulfilling prophecy?" Zach tilted his head. "Of course it matters what you think, Kendall. That's why I told you before I wanted your input—your insights—on the offer."

"Well, the offer is tempting in a lot of ways, and I'm not afraid taking the reins at Cambias would go to your head the way it went to Ethan's, if that's what you mean. But Cambias needs you way more than you need it now. I don't want you to feel trapped in the cycle again when you don't have to be."

"Unfortunately, the cycle's come full circle again," Zach said quietly. "If I accept the board's offer then I would at least have something I never had before—control over it."

"Would you really feel that you had control? You'd always be looking over your shoulder. You'd always be aware how Cambias chewed the rest of your family up and spit them out like some kind of horror movie monster on the rampage." Kendall shuddered again.

"You have a good point there, Kendall," he conceded. "A very good point."

"Zach, in the end it's only a big company with your ex-family name on it—and you changed your name a long time ago. You got away from it. Why should you go back and surrender to it now?"

"All right, say I don't. What about Miranda?" he asked intently. "Cambias still enters our lives through her. I can't undo the terms of my father's will leaving half of it to her, Kendall, any more than you and I can ignore the responsibility we'll bear for shepherding that inheritance until she's of age."

Zach's hand was lying outside the covers, his fingers fitfully drumming on them. Kendall reached down to take them between hers as she carefully tried to choose her words. "Miranda isn't even two years old. Why couldn't we hire 'shepherds' to manage her half of Cambias for the next twenty years? Then you and I could forget it even exists except when we have outside audits performed just to make sure she's not being robbed blind."

"We could do that, I suppose. But I presumed we'd emulate Bianca in that respect, stepping in for Miranda ourselves." Zach gripped Kendall's hand in return at his mention Bianca's name.

Kendall closed her eyes, appreciating the sensitive warmth of his touch, before responding. "You're just determined to stick us with Cambias, aren't you, Zach?"

"No, not really. I suppose the more apt term for it is the one you already used—I feel trapped," he admitted unselfconsciously. "I've seen my share of horror movies too—probably more than you have. The big gaping maw of Cambias seems to be filling up the window."

"Oh, Zach, Bianca may have been willing to take on Cambias but that doesn't mean we have to. I never really understood why Bianca did that, anyway."

"What more can I tell you?" Zach asked. "It's the power of Cambias, I suppose. It sucks people in. If Bianca had had a real chance, perhaps she might have tamed the beast."

Earnestly, Kendall replied, "She might have, but you and I already have enough on our plates—I have a business of my own to run, and so do you. More importantly—we'll have Miranda to raise and keep happy and healthy. Isn't that going to be enough of a challenge without trying to make sure the goddamned business portfolio ill-wished on her by a bitter old man stays gold-plated?"

For several moments Zach was silent. Then he said, "You know what, Kendall? You're a wise woman."

She gave a little laugh along with a sly look directed at him. "I'd like you to write that statement down, sign it, and date it for me. I want to file that one away."

"I'd sign anything for you, Kendall," he smiled at her, but his voice was very sober when he added, "I'd do anything for you."

"Oh, I want that in writing too! Because…do you really want the rest of my opinion on what you should do with your half of Cambias and my final word on the CEO offer?"

Zach nodded. "Lay it on me."

"Okay, then here goes. First, I think you should put your half in a trust for Miranda for when she's of age. We'll already be holding our breaths when she comes into her own inheritance anyway. What's another couple billion or so in the pot?" Holding her breath now, Kendall waited for Zach's reaction.

Again, he nodded. "Done. Go on—give me the rest of it."

Moving close enough to him to snuggle against his side, Kendall said softly, "I want you to tell the Cambias board of directors to go fuck themselves."

Zach laughed. "That's even blunter than I usually am."

"Why beat around the bush?" she insisted. "They need to be told in no uncertain terms to find themselves some other sacrificial lamb. Because I'm marrying a man named Zachery Slater—not Alexander Cambias, Jr."

Zach's arm curved around her shoulders. "Slam dunk, on both counts. And that, my very wise fiancée, is quite a weight off my mind."

"Really, Zach? Just like that? You're following all my suggestions just like that?" Kendall asked almost in confusion at his readiness to heed them.

"Mmm-hmm. Just like that," he agreed. "Care to have that signed and dated and put in writing as well?"

"Signed, dated, and notarized for my collection. No, just kidding. I'll take your word. And now," Kendall said, unwillingly undraping Zach's arm from around her and climbing to her feet, "that I've helped reduce the weight on your mind, Mr. Slater, I have one more order for you."

Lowering himself back to his pillow, Zach replied wryly, "Let me guess. "I'm actually getting pretty good at this being ordered around thing."

"Right." Kendall put her hands on her hips. "Then you don't need me to tell you to get back to resting and healing, so I can go back to the hospital to check on Miranda without having to worry about my other patient."

"I won't argue. Kendall—?"

"Do you need anything before I leave?"

"Give my congratulations to Greenlee. Or Ryan. Or both."

"I will if I see them. Greenlee hasn't been haunting the hospital so much lately." Kendall leaned down to kiss Zach goodbye, and what was meant to be a quick kiss turned into a long lingering one she finally had to break away from with difficulty. But the promise of more was in Zach's eyes as she left the room. A fresh thought occurred to her, and at the doorway, she turned back. "If the Cambias board asks for your opinion on any other candidates, maybe Ryan would be interested again."

"Is that so? Good for him," Zach said levelly.

"Really, though, Zach, he seemed to handle running Cambias pretty well before. And at least…if Ryan's back at the helm, he's a devil we know."

"A devil more than happy to collaborate in depriving you of your niece." Zach's voice took on a cold, hard edge she hadn't heard for awhile, reminding Kendall of the man she'd once considered scary, quiet, and lethal. "You see," he added, his voice softening, "I'm not quite as prepared to be as magnanimous as you."

"Well, it was just a thought. Now that you mention it, I guess it was a pretty lame one," she said sheepishly. "Can't expect you to go for all my ideas, though, huh?"

"It's not a lame idea, Kendall—it's a generous and practical one. But there's too much water under the bridge between Lavery and me for me to extend myself to do him any favors."

"Oh, I understand, Zach. I guess I was thinking more of Greenlee than Ryan. As often as I want to wring her neck, we've been through a lot together and now she's having a baby. She's not hurting for money, but it would give Ryan a foundation of his own."

"How's this for a compromise—I won't put in an unsolicited good word for Lavery. But if the board should approach him independently, as I suspect they might, I won't interfere."

Returning to the bed, Kendall gazed down at Zach, smoothing his ruffled hair back from his forehead and caressing his cheek. "Negotiating with you is fun. You're making it awfully hard for me to leave when I know I should."

"Well, let's see, we've disposed of Cambias and Lavery; what else is there? I could think of another inducement to keep you except I'm kind of indisposed at the moment," he grinned. "But you're right, you should. I only wish I could go with you. But I'll be here when you get back."

"I do like the sound of that. Promise you will be good while I'm gone. No phone calls, no logging on, no television or radio, just plenty of rest, hopefully sleep-type rest, and that's not nagging or orders or bossing you around. That's just me, trying to let you know—" Kendall leaned over and pressed her lips quickly to his brow "—how much I love you."

She felt her pulse throb at the intensity of Zach's gaze on her when she arose. "And you're making it damn hard for me to remember I'm indisposed," he replied gruffly.