Page 23 of Bound in Paradise
The beauty of the setting was clearly lost to him, and he was swallowed by memories he obviously wished he could forget, if his expression was any indication.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you,” he mused. “I remember so many things about that day… Standing outside the judge's chamber, my father's hand on my shoulder in an iron grip that made me uneasy. The smell of cigars and expensive cologne, cloying and inescapable. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear the murmur of voices, hushed and conspiratorial, discussing terms and arrangements. But I wasn’t really listening.”
He dragged his fingers through his hair and collapsed onto the lounge chair as if the weight of his memories were too heavy for him to stay upright. Dani had the overwhelming urge to go give him a hug, to take away the confusion and pain that ravaged his features.
Absently, Zack removed his glasses and polished the lenses on his shirt, his gaze still distant, focused on a single day so long ago.
“I remember the girl. She was pretty. All blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. And I was a fifteen-year-old boy, so of course I noticed her, although I pegged her as younger than she really was.”
Dani tried to keep the grimace off her face. This unknown woman Zack was married to was the very antithesis of her own typically Italian looks.
“Of course, I wondered why we were there, and I expected to be told when the adults had finished their discussions.”
Something troublesome and unsettling wreathed across his face. “But in the end, none of it seemed important.”
Dani held her breath for his next words, already knowing they were going to be bad.
“The doors to the judge’s chambers burst open and a bunch of men - thugs - surged through. They weren’t discriminating, they just fired sub-machine guns and sprayed the room with bullets.”
His face crumpled a little, and she could imagine innocent, young Zack, terrified for his life.
He could have been injured. He might have been killed. The thought made Dani's blood run cold. She might have lost him before she ever knew him. Her heart rejected the idea. It didn’t bear thinking about.
That’s when she knew she was already in too deep with Zack, even though they’d only just reconnected, despite all her arguments to the contrary.
“What happened?” Dani whispered, not sure she really wanted to know.
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Damn! It had been so long since he’d thought about this. Did he really want to relive it all again?
Zack allowed his eyes to run over Dani, her familiar expressions, her beautiful body, and he knew for her, he would.
He swallowed, his throat dry, and Dani instinctively got up and fetched them both a glass of iced water.
Zack was glad of the reprieve.
He took a sip, then focused on a bead of condensation as it dribbled down the glass before he continued the harrowing tale.
“The clerk ran forward when the doors opened, before anyone really knew what was going on. She was a mousy, middle-aged woman, no threat to anyone, just doing her job to ensure our privacy, and they mowed her down like she was an animal. One minute she was alive, the next she was on the floor, riddled with bullets, her eyes open and sightless while she lay in a puddle of blood. I had nightmares about her for a long time.” His voice was barely a whisper and Dani leaned forward like she had to strain to hear.
“I dived onto the floor and from the corner of my eye I saw the woman pull the girl out of the room. That was the last time I saw her. Building security stormed in seconds later, thegunmen started defending themselves, and it all became one big, terrifying eruption of chaos and disorder. The judge and my father had rushed out through his private quarters, so I followed them.” He couldn’t bear to admit they’d left him behind. “Adrenaline took over and I barely even realized I was bleeding.”
Dani sucked in a shaky breath. “You were hurt?”
He swiped his thumb over the sweating glass, watching the mayhem play out in his mind. Remembering how scared he’d been. How he ached to forget. How he pretended none of it had ever happened. Something remarkably easy since it was clear his father wasn’t interested in discussing it.
“Zack?” she prompted when he’d been quiet too long.
He roused himself, suddenly remembering their conversation. “It was just a graze through the fleshy part of my calf,” he replied, making out like it was nothing. Just like his father had.
Reaching out to him, Dani’s fingers brushed his arm. "Oh my god, Zack. I'm so sorry. That must have been terrifying."
He nodded, still distancing himself from the harsh reality. It was the only way he could deal with it. "It was. And afterwards, everything was a muddle of chaos; almost unreal. I was in the hospital, and the police wanted statements, but my father's security team insisted on whisking us away in case there were repercussions. The reason we were there just wasn't important anymore. Or maybe I blocked it out. I sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it."
Saying it all out loud. Retelling the story of that awful day for the first time, it all sounded so fantastical, even to his own ears. Yet the pain and resentment Zack still felt was real on several different levels.
"But surely as you got older, you must have wondered..." Dani pushed.
