Disclaimer: see chapter 1
She tossed around, staring at her ceiling, unable to sleep. 'I'm a Kane' she told herself – 'I can deal with anything, including Zach only being 30 feet away'. She laughed out loud, knowing this was the farthest thing from the truth. She was finding it harder and harder to stay mad, be angry, stay away from him, but then, she had always found it hard to stay away from him…
"So you were there when the shot was fired?"
"Were you trying to kill me, too, or only Julia?"
"No, neither of you. She ok?"
"She's fine, no thanks to you." Why you son of a…
"Well, who shot at Wildwind, the police? No, of course, big Mr. Dragon and his goon squad. Well, maybe if I'd gone to the cops ten minutes earlier, Julia would be safe in witness protection by now."
"She's not going back into the program."
Bitch! "My only mistake was waiting as long as I did."
"Your mistake was sticking your nose into something that doesn't concern you!"
"No, I almost saw you get killed, Zach! And have you forgotten about Julia's dead friend rolled up in that rug?"
"It's my business, not part of our marriage."
"Oh, really? That's very convenient. So our marriage doesn't involve your private issues, but me, you can get a subscription and read all about mine."
"You can think what you want, but stay out of it."
"So what is my role in all of this? Just wear pretty dresses and watch you get yourself killed?" This man is completely unbelievable…
"What are you complaining about? If I get killed, you get the casinos, a whole lot of money, and Ethan might be in better shape, too. He might be happy and fun to hang out with again -- and I think you look great in black."
"Don't be a jerk."
"It's part of my charm."
"Shut up! I did this to help you."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"Well -- well, you're ok now, and that's all that matters."
"What is that, concern? Don't worry about it. If I bite it, you're covered."
"No, I want you alive." Can't you see that, you moron!
"Why?"
"Because I care about you!"
It still made her mad that he couldn't see that back then, that it had taken him so many months to see that she really did care about him, that she needed him around, needed him to be a part of her life. He tried to let her walk away so many times, but she had refused… and now, now that he seemed to have lost all his fight, the last thing she could ever think about doing was walking away and leaving.
She flipped over on her side and sighed, wiggling her toes. She'd be so glad when she finally had this kid – she was tried of her feet hurting all the time…
"You'd really protect me from Ryan?"
"You really have to ask that?"
"Whoa. Hello? You're touching -- you're touching my foot."
"Shh. There are pressure points in the foot that connect to every part of the body."
"Yeah, I'm not an idiot. I know about reflexology."
"Why don't you just lie back and relax, ok? How's that?"
"Hmm. Mmm."
"Does that hurt?"
"Uh-uh.".
"That's it. Just let it go. I'll take care of you."
That memory brought tears to her eyes and she couldn't have stopped them from falling even if she had tried, which she didn't. The only time she had felt safe in her entire life was when he was taking care of her, lying beside her, holding her in his arms. It hurt to know that he was just a few feet away and she was frozen, that she couldn't do anything about it.
TBC…