Page 86 of Fighting for Lucy

They ate away at you a little at a time while you were at your most vulnerable. He’d suffered them plenty of times since he joined the military, and they’d become an almost nightly occurrence after his team was killed. While he wanted to protect his girl from suffering them, too, he couldn’t, all he could do was hold her through them and soothe and reassure her the best he could once he woke her up.

“Go see who’s at the door, Zander,” she said, a hint of worry in her voice. “It could be something important. The mole is stillout there, and I know I'm safe with you, Scarlett is safe with Tate, and people are watching Ella and Cassie, but I still worry.”

“All right, babe.” Kissing her forehead, he shifted her so he could slide off the couch, then paused to tuck the blanket snugly around her, making her shoot him an amused smile. “Don’t want you to get cold,” he said gruffly, surprised by how deep the urge to protect this woman from every little thing ran.

“Love you, Zander.”

“Love you back, baby girl.”

The words were so easy to exchange considering he’d only ever told one person in his life that he loved them, and that was his sister, and he didn't mean it the same way he did when he said it to Lucy.

He was smiling despite his irritation at someone disturbing Lucy this time of night, even if she was right and it wasn’t all that late. But when he opened the door and saw who was standing on his doorstep the irritation bled away.

“Scarlett,” he exclaimed, reaching out to pick his sister up off her feet so he could hug her. “Did you come to check on Lucy?”

There was a reproachful expression on her face as he set her back down. “No, Zander. Well, I mean, yes, of course. But I … I mean we,” she corrected, glancing over her shoulder where Tate was standing with a towel wrapped around what Zander guessed was a casserole dish or something, “are here for you, too. You're my brother, I love you, I'm worried about both of you.”

For a moment he didn't know what to say to that.

Over time, with the distance that had grown between them, he’d forgotten what it felt like to have his sister care about him.

Maybe over the last decade and a half, he’d forced himself to accept the fact that Scarlett didn't love him anymore. It was the only way to deal with that distance, first foster care, and then his decision to go after his parents’ love by following in their footsteps had created.

But not anymore.

He wanted a close relationship with his sister. Wanted back what they’d had when they were kids, that closeness of knowing that there was always somebody who had your back no matter what.

Now he had two people to have his back. The two most important people in his life, his sister, and the woman he was falling in love with. A few days ago, he’d felt completely and utterly alone, without his team he’d had no one, and when he’d agreed to fake his death it meant cutting off ties with everyone on the peripheries of his life. All that had surrounded him was empty darkness, there was no way he’d been able to stop that darkness from seeping inside him.

Lucy had shined that first little speck of light into his world again.

The more time he spent with her the more that light grew, sending the darkness fleeing. With Scarlett’s light as well, maybe there was hope for the darkness to eventually be completely banished.

“Zander? Who is it?” Lucy called out from the living room, and he could hear the growing worry in her voice.

“Can we come in?” Scarlett asked. “Is it okay that we came?”

Dragging his sister back into his arms he hugged her hard. “Of course it is.”

“You can say if it’s not. Tate thought maybe we would be intruding, and you’d want time alone.”

Shooting a glare at the other man for saying anything that upset his twin sister, he then softened that frown into a smile as he kissed the top of his sister’s head. “Scar, I know it’ll take time for you to believe it, but there is never a time I don’t want to hang-out with you. You're my twin sister, we’re two halves of the same whole. I love you, always and forever, nothing is going to change that. I made mistakes, a ton of them. I let my need forMom and Dad’s love come between us, but in the end, I was good at what I did and I enjoyed it, well for the most part. I take full responsibility for us growing apart, and I’ll do whatever it takes to mend our relationship.”

Noticing Tate’s approving nod, it was overshadowed when Scarlett grabbed him in a fierce hug, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “We both allowed us to drift apart, but no more. I want my brother back. I thought I'd lost you forever but now you’re here, standing before me, and you're in love with one of my best friends, and I'm not going to let you go again.”

“How did I get so lucky to have the best sister in the world?” he asked, affectionately tugging on her hair like he used to do when they were kids.

“I'm the lucky one,” Tate said, stepping up and dropping a kiss to the top of Scarlett’s head.

“With Zander for a brother, and Tate for a boyfriend, I'm the one who’s lucky,” Scarlett said, sharing her smile with both of them.

“Zander, if you don’t answer me, I'm going to get up and walk down to the door myself,” Lucy called out.

“Oh no you don’t, you're not supposed to be walking on that foot,” he warned, ushering Scarlett and Tate into the house and locking up behind them. “It’s only Scar and Tate.” Since he didn't know Scarlett’s boyfriend, he was going to have to sit the man down and find out what his intentions were because nobody was hurting his twin. Scarlett had been through more than anyone should ever have to, and he wouldn’t allow her to be hurt again.

“We brought dinner,” Scarlett announced as they all entered the living room. “Tate has been learning to cook and he helped me make macaroni and cheese for the first time. It has to go in the oven, and I thought while it cooks, we’ll make potato spirals.”

“I love your potato spirals,” Lucy said, beaming at her friend.

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