Page 59 of Fighting for Lucy

Somehow, with the two of them, it always came back to their parents.

Just because they’d never been physically abused didn't mean there weren't a lot of scars littering both of them. They’d been neglected, lived with strict rules, and been pushed to do things most kids their age had never heard of, like learn to fight hand-to-hand combat, shoot weapons, use a knife, and survivalist training. They’d been shoved into the foster system, and both of them had learned over and over again that their parents didn't love them.

Dragging his hands down his face he met his sister’s eyes, his eyes because while they might not be identical twins, couldn’t since they were opposite genders, they were carbon copies of one another. No one could mistake them as strangers, they looked as much like siblings as it was possible to look.

“It wasn’t like that, Scar. I swear it wasn’t. My team and I were captured. We were kept in the hot sun, chained up in a dusty courtyard. One by one, they killed my team in front of me. Cut their bodies to pieces while they were still alive.”

Scarlett gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

Part of him wanted to censor what he was saying, but he knew she had to hear it to understand.

“We were there a week. They killed one man every day. They took pleasure in their pain, wanted to punish me for not giving up intel, and refusing to beg and plead for our lives. I carry the pain my men suffered on my shoulders. I never expected to survive. They didn't feed us and gave us only enough water to keep us alive, by the time we were rescued, I was in bad shape. I didn't want to live, fought the team that was trying to save me because I wanted my blood to spill in the same place my team’s did.”

“Zander.” Scarlett’s hand covered his, squeezing tightly, and he felt and heard her pain. They were twins, they shared a bond not many people could understand, they were tied together from their very conception.

“I didn't call Mom and Dad, Scar. They're my parents, I'm not married so they’re considered next of kin. The military notified them not me. They reiterated every single doubt and fear I had, told me I was a terrible soldier and I should have died with my team. I couldn’t face you, Scarlett, I couldn’t take the chance you would feel the same way. That would have broken me.”

“Oh, Zander, that makes me so much madder at you and breaks my heart all at the same time.” The next thing he knew his sister was fighting her way onto his lap, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. “I'm your twin sister, I love you, for so long it was just the two of us against the world. I wouldneversay those things to you. Ever. How could you think I would?”

“Wasn’t in a good place, Scar. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“I wish you didn't care so much about what Mom and Dad think about you.”

“I don’t. Not anymore.” He’d learned the hard way not to bother trying to earn their love. “When I was approached aboutthe undercover op, I didn't want you to have to mourn me twice, so I just left things as they were. Plotting my revenge was the only thing that I could think about, and I believed you were better off without me in your life anyway.”

“I'm not better off without you, Zandy. Not ever.”

Lucy had said the same thing to him, and when he glanced over he saw her watching him and Scarlett with a smile.

“You really like her, huh?” Scarlett asked, following his line of sight.

“I do. A lot. Is that okay?” Zander wasn’t sure he could break things off with Lucy for anyone, not even his twin sister.

“It’s more than okay. I love Lucy, she’s like a sister to me, and if you two wind up getting married, then one day she really will be my sister.”

That made him laugh. “One day at a time, Scar. One day at a time.” For now, that was a good mantra. It would take time for him to heal, time for Lucy to heal, too, and they weren't in any rush. They had the rest of their lives to be together. “So, am I forgiven?”

“Are you planning on putting me through thinking you're dead again?”

“No, Scar, I learned my lesson. Family is what's most important. Real family not the kind that’s yours only through DNA. You, Lucy, that’s what's important to me, I don’t ever want to lose you.”

“You won't, Zandy. And Lucy will be good for you, I think you’ll be good for her, too. I'm happy for you, for both of us, we both managed to find someone despite our example of relationships and love growing up.”

They had both been lucky, but someone was threatening his family, and he didn't take kindly to threats. Zimraan Mostafa, Raul Castillo, and the mole at Prey were all going down.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

January 26th

4:42 P.M.

“You didn't haveto come with me, but I'm really glad you did,” Lucy told Zander as he opened the passenger door of his truck.

“No place else I'd rather be,” he said as his large hands circled her hips, and he lifted her up and into the seat.

That earned an eye roll. “Yeah, I totally believe you. Because sitting in a doctor’s office for almost two hours is everybody’s idea of a good time.”

A grim lit up his face. “Okay, so it was the company not the location that was perfect.”

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