Zani moved down the hospital corridor as if she was supposed to be there. She had gotten Seth's room number from the receptionist who had also told her visiting hours were over. She had pretended to leave, only to sneak her way back into the hospital. She found Seth's room and looked at him lying in bed. Her heart broke for him with the bruises that were starting to form. He felt eyes on him and opened his eyes to look at her.
"You came," he said.
"Roman tore me a new one," she said.
"He shouldn't have," he said.
"Yes, he should. I deserved it," she said.
He reached a hand forward and she walked over to the bed. She took his hand and smiled sadly at him.
"You look like shit," she said.
"I've been banged up before. Luckily I don't have a concussion so I can go home tonight. I'm waiting for my ride so you caught me just in time," he said.
She gave his hand a squeeze and sighed.
"This is my fault," she said.
"No, it's not. Your brother is not right in the head. It will never be your fault," he said.
"You don't understand," she said.
"Then make me understand," he said.
Her lip quivered and tears formed in her eyes. He had never seen her like that before. The tears spilled over and she let go of his hand to wipe her face clean. She shook her head and let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Seth. What I did to you was fucked up but it ends tonight. I will never come near you again. You have my word," she said.
"No!" He protested.
"It has to be this way," she said. "I'm so fucking sorry for everything."
She turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist. He held on to her and groaned in pain as he tried sitting up.
"Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself even more," she said.
"Zani, I'm gonna chase you down this entire hospital if you don't tell what the fuck is going on. I deserve some answers, don't you think?" He asked. "Tell me the truth. Did I ever mean anything to you?"
He let go of her wrist and she sighed again. At least she wasn't trying to walk away from him. He meant it when he said he would chase her down. He needed to know what was going on inside her head.
"Randy had a friend named Portobello growing up. We fell in love. Randy told me if I ever hurt Portobello that he would hurt me. The kind of talk he should have had with his friend about hurting me. Anyway, he cheated on me. I overheard them talk about a threesome they had with another girl. I went out and cheated too. Not to hurt him back but because I wanted him to leave me so that Randy wouldn't blame me. It was such a backwards way of thinking but I was hurt," she said.
She paused for a moment and he subtly nodded for her to continue.
"Portobello lost his shit. He hit me and then stormed off. I found out later that day that he killed himself. His parents found him dangling from a robe in their garage. It was horrible," she said.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"After the funeral Randy made me a promise. If I ever got into a relationship..." She sniffled. "If I ever fell in love with anyone again, he would hurt that person beyond belief. That's why I only fuck with people I don't care about. Normally I only see them for a short while but I can't seem to walk away from you," she said.
He took her hand and gently caressed the top of it with his thumb. Tears started running down her cheeks again. This time she let them fall.
"Do you feel something for me?" He asked.
"I feel everything for you," she said.
He pulled her down for a kiss and felt his heart skip a beat. This kiss was so different from any other kiss they had shared.
"I can't seem to walk away from you either. I love you," Seth said.
"I love you too," Zani said. "I'll call Hunter right now and quit my job for you. Randy will never allow us to be together but if I'm gone from the company and we never go public with it, he won't have a reason to hurt you inside that ring again."
"Absolutely not," Roman said.
Seth and Zani looked towards the door where Roman stood with two cups of coffee.
"Were you listening in on us?" Seth asked.
"I came to pick you up. I didn't want to interrupt before the big L word had dropped," Roman grinned. "Sorry for calling you coldhearted earlier, Zani."
"I deserved it," Zani said.
"Accept my cappuccino as an apology," Roman said.
"You know it's huge when he gives up coffee for you," Seth said.
Zani chuckled and accepted the cop of coffee.
"I hate speaking ill of the dead but Portobello is a butt ugly name," Roman said.
Zani laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Okay, doctor said it's okay for me to break you out of here," Roman said.
"What's the plan?" Zani asked.
"I brought his things with me. I'm gonna take him home and look after him for a couple of days," Roman said.
"Let me do it," Zani said.
"Zani?" Seth asked.
"I wanna do it, Seth. Let me go home with you and help you back on your feet. No one but Roman will know. I will still do my job as normal, and people will assume you're home resting alone. It will give us some time to really get to know each other without any threats hanging over our heads," Zani said.
Seth broke out in a smile and gave Zani's hand a squeeze.
"I'd love for you to come home with me," Seth said.
"I'll help you down in the car," Roman said.
Roman helped Seth out of the bed and they all left the hospital. Roman moved Seth's things over in Zani's car, and soon they were on the road together. Seth sipped his coffee and looked over at Zani who had her eyes planted on the road. He couldn't stop smiling. She was his. She had always been his. Right now they didn't need to worry about Randy. They could deal with that when Seth was ready to go back to work.
