Zach was seated in his office conducting a meeting with Edie and his pit boss, Gordon when the door to his office swung open and hit the wall with a bang. Zach looked up in surprise as the others turned to see Bianca Montgomery striding into the room carrying her daughter and pushing an empty stroller.

"Bianca. What a… pleasant… surprise," Zach said dryly. Without waiting for a response he continued, "If you'll excuse me for a moment." He then turned to Edie and Gordon and addressed his remarks to them, "That's all for now."

With nods of assent, Edie and Gordon rose and left the room quickly without speaking to Bianca. While this was happening, Bianca stood just inside the doorway watching Zach and his employees with her mouth slightly ajar as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Zach stood silently behind his desk until Edie had pulled the door closed behind her. When they were alone, he walked from behind the desk and pulled the stroller out of the way before offering Bianca a seat.

"Can I get you something to drink? Or something for Miranda?" Zach asked solicitously as he helped himself to a cup of coffee from the side table.

"No thanks. We're fine. What you can do is explain what the hell you're doing at the casino instead of the hospital," Bianca answered indignantly.

Zach sauntered over to his desk and seated himself before responding quietly, "Running my business?"

"Don't be evasive with me, Zach. We've worked side by side for weeks helping Kendall to recover and suddenly you're concerned about your business? Erica Kane herself couldn't get you to back off when you thought something was in Kendall's best interests… and now you're nowhere to be found? I thought you cared about my sister, Zach!" Bianca said, her voice rising with each sentence.

Zach leaned back in his chair and took a drink of coffee. This was not what he had expected. He had been certain that Bianca was part of the conspiracy to have him removed from Kendall's life… but here she was berating him for abandoning his wife… and carrying her beautiful daughter – his niece – in her arms. That didn't make any sense… unless she was trying to find out what his next move would be. Well, that was easy enough. The truth should certainly suffice and then she'd probably be out the door without having to play her bargaining chip of allowing him to hold his precious niece for five minutes. He was sure that would be a relief to her.

"Kendall is my business partner… and I am running our business so that she has something to recover for," Zach said simply.

"You don't put your life on hold, move into the hospital and spend every waking moment with your business partner, Zach," Bianca answered just as simply.

"I do," Zach said before taking another drink from his coffee mug.

Bianca looked into the face of her daughter, "Would you like to see your Uncle Zach, sweetheart? I know he'd love to hold you!" She rose and walked around the desk and held her daughter for Zach to pull into his arms… and despite his suspicion that it was a ploy on Bianca's part, he could not resist holding her for at least a few moments. After all, who knew when he'd ever have another opportunity to be with her?

Zach pulled the little girl to him and she laid her head on his shoulder, snuggling up beneath his chin and emitting a deep sigh of contentment. Zach was so overjoyed that he almost sighed himself with happiness. Instead he rubbed her back gently with one hand as he played with her dark curls with the other. After a moment Miranda lifted her head and studied him very seriously and he met her gaze with equal intensity and interest.

"You don't remember me, do you? I got to see you a long time ago before your mom took you to Paris. Didn't I tell you that it was a pretty cool place?" Zach said to her quietly.

Miranda lifted her hand and patted his cheek, and he felt tears prick his eyelids as he was overwhelmed with such a sense of love and longing for this child intermingled with the knowledge that he had already lost her and her mother and her aunt… the three women he loved more than he had known he was capable of loving. He wanted to hold onto that moment and freeze it in time, never having to let go of the beautiful child or relinquish that little piece of love that had so completely overtaken his heart. He finally let loose with a deep sigh as a single tear traced a path down his cheek and he looked over the head of the small girl into the surprisingly compassionate eyes of her mother.

"I'm sorry I kept her away from you for so long. I should have brought her to the hospital to see you… pictures just don't do her justice," Bianca said in a whisper.

"No. A hospital is no place for Miranda. You were right to keep her away," Zach said with a shake of his head. He looked back at the baby with a smile of pure joy as she busied herself trying to unknot his tie.

After a few moments of watching the man and the child interact, Bianca spoke again, "You probably think that I brought Miranda with me as some sort of ploy. I did… but it's not what you think."

"You don't know what I think, Bianca," Zach answered quietly, his eyes never leaving the face of Miranda.

"You get no argument from me on that point, Zach. I've never understood how you think… and I guess I've never given you much chance to tell me either. But I'm here now, and I'd like to understand. I was beginning to believe that you were falling in love with my sister – and then you just walked away when things got tough," Bianca replied.

"It was a restraining order," Zach said in the same quiet tone.

Bianca looked hard at him but couldn't detect any sarcasm, "I know. But I thought you'd fight it… not just roll over and accept it. I went to see Livia. I thought maybe she would tell me that you had filed a motion to have the restraining order lifted. I even offered to testify on your behalf at the hearing… but she wouldn't even talk to me about it. Instead she told me to talk to you… so here I am… doing all of the talking."

"I'm not challenging the restraining order. Kendall doesn't need me. She's better off without me around," Zach said as he stood up and handed the baby back to her mother.

Bianca placed her daughter in the stroller with a sippy cup and some toys and then seated herself once again in a chair, "That's not true. She misses you."

Zach shook his head, "I don't think so."

"Zach. You have to trust me on this. I know that Kendall wants you to come back. She wants you to fight the restraining order. You're her husband… you owe that to her," Bianca said passionately.

Zach nodded his head, "I do owe your sister. She got the gaming licenses so that I could reopen the casinos. And the best way that I can repay her is by making sure that they make her a lot of money."

"My mother has already stopped Kendall's therapy. If you don't do something then she may never get better. She needs you more than she needs the casinos to make money," Bianca answered. "You were so stubborn about staying with her. Why are you now being stubborn about staying away?"

Zach was beginning to believe that Bianca really did want him to come back into Kendall's life and that she had not been part of Erica's plan to get rid of him. He shook his head. Kendall was better off without him… every time he tried to do a right thing, he screwed up somebody's life. Not Kendall's. He couldn't do that to her. If Kendall was going to recover, it had to be without him. And if everyone was focused on a legal battle for the right to control Kendall's life, she could end up being hurt more in the long run. No… it was time for him to walk away. That was what Kendall needed now… a clean break.

"Please, Zach? Call Livia and tell her to file the papers. Kendall needs you," Bianca pleaded.

"Bianca. Thank you. Not just for bringing Miranda here to see me… but for asking me to be part of Kendall's life. But you're wrong… she doesn't need me. She's better off without me," he answered her.

"Mom is going to end up making her a dependent child. Miranda has more freedom now than Kendall will ever have the way Mom is suffocating her. Kendall needs somebody to fight for her!" Bianca cried.

"She already has someone, Bianca," Zach said. He walked behind her chair and laid his hands on her shoulders. "You."

"Me? You want me to fight for Kendall?" Bianca asked in confusion.

"Who better? You are the champion she needs. File a petition for guardianship of Kendall. Then you can direct her care and you can ensure she recovers," Zach said, squeezing her shoulders gently before relinquishing them and turning to face her as he seated himself on the edge of his desk.

"Will you help me?" Bianca whispered with a shocked look on her face.

Zach nodded, "There is a doctor who can help Kendall. Call Livia. Fight for your sister… and then I'll give you the information that will make it happen."

Bianca swallowed hard and shook her head, "I can't believe that I'm considering this. You realize that you're asking me to take on Erica Kane?"

"Who better than her daughter? Are you telling me that you… after all that you have survived… cannot use that strength to help your sister? The sister who was willing to protect you with her life?" Zach picked up the mug and drank deeply as he watched Bianca process his words.

"Okay. Say I agree to this. What then?" Bianca asked after a long silence.

"Then Kendall gets better," Zach answered with a smile.