Page 36 of Law

She grabbed her Viking’s arm. “Did you do this?”

He shrugged, as if it wasn’t the most beautiful gift in the world. “I didn’t think a hospital was the best place for a reunion. Are you ready to go talk to him?”

Staring across the room, she nodded. Everything but her brother disappeared.

Her feet moved of their own accord as she silently crossed the room, Law still by her side, holding her hand. Zane’s back was to her, so he didn’t notice their approach.

The ropes around the ring barely slowed her down. Once she stood behind him, she reached out to touch his shoulder but hesitated. Four years was a long time, especially for someone as young as Zane. Would he still want her to be part of his life? He was practically grown.

No longer a gangly youth, Zane was growing into the shape of a man now. He’d let his hair grow. Tears brimmed her eyes. Her breathing stuttered. Four years she’d dreamed of this day and now that it was here all she felt was fear.

Law squeezed her hand, reminding her he was there beside her.The man Zane was about to fight looked at her and smiled. He had a nice smile. Not as spectacular as a Viking Daddy smile, but nice. It must have caught Zane’s attention, because he turned to catch a glimpse of what the man was smiling at.

Her brother now also had the face of a man. It was no boy who stared at her. He was tall now, taller than her. So grown. She’d missed so much. She just prayed it wasn’t too much. Her body had become a statue, unable to move.

Then Zane’s arms were around her, clinging to her. If he tried to hold back his tears, he didn’t succeed. Her knees gave out, and she sank to the canvas, but it didn’t matter. Refusing to release her, Zane went down to his knees, too.

Time meant nothing to either of them, but eventually, Zane pulled back. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you? I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“I’m fine. I never stopped trying to get back to you. But look at you. You’ve grown into a handsome young man. I promise I’ll never leave you again.”

He shook his head. “I knew you’d be trying to get away. That’s one of the things that scared me the most. But you’re here now, and we’re together. Sabre and me will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

Apparently, the big sister in her hadn’t gone far. She stepped right back into the role. Her smile never wavering, she corrected his grammar. “Sabre and I. Phillip should sue that fancy school you attended.”

He blushed at her comment and looked to the side.

Way to go, Lovie. You haven’t seen him in four years, and the first thing you do is embarrass him in front of his friends. That reminded her… just how did a teenager in California become friends with a small private security company in Tennessee? Guilt painted his face a deep pink. What was going on?

“What’s wrong, Zane? You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

Straightening his shoulders, he looked her in the eye, jaw set. Lovie braced for whatever he was about to tell her.

“I didn’t graduate from the prep school.”

Was that all? Did he really think she’d care about that? Phillip had never sent her to an Ivy League prep school, and she’d managed to make it through law school just fine.

“Did Phillip pull you out? Wait, has something happened to Phillip?” Her tone in that last question made her wince. She hadn’t sounded excited about the prospect of Phillip being gone, had she?

“No, he didn’t pull me out. As far as I know, he’s fine.”

“As far as you know? What do you mean as far as you know?” He didn’t answer her question. Now the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Something was very wrong here. “Zane, why are you in Tennessee instead of California?”

Zane’s chin notched up. “When you got kidnapped, I couldn’t get Dad to do anything about it. He was too busy getting his name in all the papers for getting murderers out of jail. So, I started looking through his papers and shit, um, stuff. Sorry. Anyway, Lovie, I don’t know how to make this easy to hear, but Dad knew about your kidnapping before it happened. He knew about the Lawless Warriors and the Society. I think he might be the one who arranged it.”

This wasn’t new information to Lovie. The Warriors had been happy to tell her all about Phillip’s dealings with both of those organizations. What she didn’t understand was what that had to do with Zane not graduating from the school he’d attended since kindergarten and how he’d wound up in Tennessee.

Law stepped up beside her. “Let’s take this to the table, kid. That work for you, Gage?”

The man next to her brother must have been Gage. He nodded and unstrapped his gloves with a curt nod and a “Yup.”

A burst of loud, high-pitched laughter filled the room. A group of women sat in folding lounge chairs in front of the wall of windows. She must have walked right by them. With all her focus on reaching Zane, she hadn’t even seen them.

Each of the women was unique in her coloring and build, but from the ease with which they laughed and joked together, it was obvious they were close friends. The plunge her heart took landed it firmly in her stomach. How was she going to fit in with such a tight-knit group? They’d probably all been best friends since birth.

Although they were all very different, they shared a few things in common. Each woman wore an identical jewel-studded crown. And each of them held a pastel plastic margarita glass. And each must hold three normal glasses worth of… yep, those were definitely margaritas.

Lovie couldn’t help but smile. By their laughter and tilted manner of sitting in their folding chairs, they’d each already had a few. The one with the long, sleek black hair lifted a music triangle in the air with one hand and her glass, accompanied by a small silver beater in the other.

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