Page 61 of Beautiful Scars

All of it comes flooding back, and for a moment I'm there again. Lying on the floor, the cold seeping into my bones. The metallic tang of blood filling my nose, my mouth, my lungs. The devastating sharp pain of broken bones and bruised skin. My hand moves unconsciously to my chest and traces the hidden scar. Zane’s eyes catch the motion, and he grimaces.

"I don't know how much he told you, but he was there that night with me. After... after Garrett left. I heard him come up the stairs calling my name. My eyes were closed but I could hear him, feel him." My voice feels separate, distant.

"He lifted me off the floor and held me. I was so cold and he was so warm, and I was so thankful he was there. I knew he'd make it all okay again." My vision blurs as my eyes fill with tears. I blink them back and clear my throat to steady my voice.

"I couldn't say anything, I couldn't move. I knew I was dying. He laid me back down on the floor, and I heard him call the police. I was so thankful I wasn't alone anymore. But then, he left. Stepped over me and walked out the door.

I kept waiting for him to come back. But he never did. He never came back. I never heard from him again."

"Angel." Zane's voice is filled with emotion and comes out as little more than a whisper, even as his fists are clenched against his thighs. "I'm so sorry."

Something in me tightens at the name, and before I can think twice, I'm correcting him. “Sunny,” I say, my voice catching. “My name is Sunny.”

His eyes flicker caught off guard for a split second, but he doesn’t make a big deal of it. He simply nods. “Alright, Sunny,” he says, weighing out my name like he’s testing the shape of it on his tongue.

For a moment, I let myself sit with everything I've just said. I've never told anyone about that night, or what happened after. I let myself feel the strange, soft warmth of having someone here—someone who’s neither asking anything of me nor forcing anything on me. It’s unexpected and feels both foreign and necessary. Minutes tick by in silence.

“Eat up,” he says finally, gesturing to the plate I set down.

I roll my eyes. “Bossy.”

"When I need to be."

“Look, I'm sorry,” I mutter, as I pick up the plate and force myself to take another bite. “Didn’t mean to dump all that on you. You're the first person I've ever told that to.”

Zane shakes his head. “No apologies. You didn’t dump anything. I asked. Remember?” He pauses, looking down at his hands.

There’s a raw honesty in his tone that hits me hard. I’m used to people wanting something from me. But here he is, looking at me with nothing but quiet sincerity. I want to shrug it off, make some sarcastic comment and throw up my shield again, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it. I don't know if it's because I'm tired, or simply don't care anymore.

“Thanks, Z,” I say finally.

He nods and leans back again, giving me space enough to let what I've told him settle. I've never said any of it out loud before. I've never had anyone Icouldtell before. Even Jade has only ever heard half. I glance at his plate, realizing he's only taken a few small bites of his food since I started talking.

“What about you?” I ask, surprising myself. “How’d you end up with… him?”

He lets out a low sound that’s half a sigh. “You want the long answer or the short one?”

“How about short, with the option for more,” I say, smirking a little.

He takes a bite of food, chews and swallows before he answers. “I grew up around a lot of chaos, with people for parents who didn’t care much about right or wrong. They only cared about power, control and making money any way they could. So, I had a choice— let myself get swallowed up in all of that, or try to find something different. I made some bad choices, got involved in some, uh, questionable things, but Levi gave me an out. An option that didn't involve selling my soul or spending the next thirty years in jail.”

I nod, listening. It feels like I’m seeing him in layers, each one a little clearer, a little more real. “So, Levi’s...what? Your boss?”

He hesitates, his expression darkening slightly, and nods. “Yeah. Sort of. But it's more than that. We're brothers. Family, you know?” His gaze drops to the table for a moment, and when he looks up, something genuine, something deep flickers there.

It’s been years since I thought about family—what it's supposed to mean and feel like. I shrug. "I guess. I don't think I've ever had anything like that."

I take the few last bites of food and set the plate down again.

“Glad to see you’ve got your appetite back."

Zane chuckles softly, standing up to clear the plates, and I watch him, wondering what it was about him that made him so easy to talk to and confide in.

After doing the dishes, Zane pulls a scrap of paper and a pen from his jacket pocket. He jots down a number and hands it to me where I'm lying stretched out on the couch. The food made me sleepy and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.

I look down at it, raising an eyebrow. “You know I’m not really big on calling people,” I say, my tone skeptical.Especially not people close to Levi.

“I figured as much, but this way you'll have it if you need it." He grins, just a hint of that easygoing confidence breaking through. "I won’t say a word about you or that I was here to anyone. Well, except Jade. She's a little scary, and I don't know what she'd do to me if I don't report back." His smile is genuine. "We've got a little bit of business left here to finish up, but we should be clearing out in a few days.”

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