I didn't need to tell her anything else.
"I'll be right there." She hung up the phone, and I slowly got dressed, still numb to what was happening. I put on one leg after the other of my panties, and then my pants, then my bra came on and finally my shirt. I was too damn numb, shock taking over as I stood there in the empty room trying to keep my shit together.
I just waited, holding back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm me.
Zach
"Leo, I'm so glad to see you. When I heard what happened, I thought it prudent to up the meeting to today," Tommy Carrington said as he shook his hand. The man was certainly charismatic. The way he entered the room, the way he commanded attention. It was easy to tell when he was the one at the center of everything. "I trust everyone in your company was okay?"
But it was also easy to tell he was hiding something. That there was a reason for his behaviors. Just the thought of it made me ball my fist. I needed a fight. I was looking for one. But it couldn't be here.
This situation was too delicate, and I knew it. But my body reacted to him, to the way he moved, the way he talked. It made me want to shake him and push him and torture him.
Made me want to force him to spill whatever it was he was hiding, but I kept my composure.
I stood there, my face stoic as he talked. Our job was to pretend we weren't even in the room, to act as though we were exactly where we meant to be, like furniture. We were functional and strong, but we weren't there to make noise.
Still, Tommy acknowledged me.
He looked at me when he said that, and the two men at my sides. Since the attack, we took no chances. Someone wanted my employer dead and it seemed like they were willing to use any means to get what they wanted. I wasn't going to take that threat lightly.
"No casualties on our side, but I can't say the same for the other side," Leo admitted. "It was a crazy situation."
He mimed all the sadness of someone who thought what occurred was unfortunate, like a broken lighter or a flat soda. Shit, Leo was cold. He didn't say much else.
What he didn't state was even more necessary to the situation. Those who were detained had given no information according to the police, and those killed were in clear violation of castle doctrine.
We had exactly zero leads on whoever the fuck thought it was a good idea to shoot up the place.
"Shit's been going sideways lately. This group, whoever they are, have been coming after us. Didn't think they would step up after you, though. You aren't even associated. At least not yet."
"You mean you've seen attacks?" Leo asked, incredulous. He was somewhere between dumbfounded and pissed. And to be honest, so was I.
This meant the attacks were not linked to the investigation into Hope's death. In fact, it meant that the real motivation was the good ol' boys group. Or it could be both.
"Nothing as serious as a personal assault, at least not on my end, but I can only speak for myself. My warehouse was broken into, destroyed. A rural location burned to the ground."
"And no leads?" Leo asked.
"None that the police could find, but even with all my lawyers and my posturing, they didn't try very damn hard. Like they were bought off."
Fuck. We were in over our heads.
"How recent was this?" Leo asked.
"Within the last year. Each and every one of us."
"Any personal attacks?"
"I'm not sure, to be honest. Every one of us has had property destroyed."
"And you believe it to be from the same organization?"
"Has to be. A warning not to fuck around with their territory. At least, that's what mine was. I was looking at expanding into Grant Park area, but when it happened, I pulled out."
"Tell me everything," Leo said.
He was coming up with a plan, I just didn't know it yet, but I could see from the way his mind worked that it was going to be good. I should've been interested, but I just wanted to get back to Willow. I'd left her without an explanation, and I was kicking myself in the ass for it. And for allowing my mind to stray from the job. I was where I needed to be for my job, one that I was paid well for.
But the only thing that was on my mind was that wild body that I knew was lying on the couch waiting for me to come back.
Fuck, I wish I'd stayed.
Willow
Zachary Murdock looked like a tornado ripping through a corn field, and he was headed right for me. I swear there was a path of disruption through every place he moved as he walked down the hall and into my hospital room.
"I'm all right," I said as soon as he stepped in and slammed the door. His nostrils were flared and his jaw was clenched. Shit.
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?" he demanded, his voice booming.
"It's fine too. The baby is fine." It was. Just a little bit of spotting after sex. Nothing too serious, and sometimes women spotted throughout their pregnancy. Still, to be safe, they admitted me.
"Willow, answer the fucking question."
"I was going to. I just hadn't had a chance, and then this happened. I was going to," I said. It was a lie. I could've told him. I should've told him a million times. I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he didn't buy it. Not for a moment.
"Is it mine?" he asked, the anger still crackling in his voice.
"It has to be." I meant it. I'd looked at the calendar, looked at the charts. It had to be. I didn't know how it could be Elijah's, how it could be anyone but Zach's. He didn't question me, he just nodded. "When can you go home?" he asked as he sat down, a small sigh escaping his lips. I eyed his hands. They were shaking. A part of me wondered if he was as scared as I was. The suit he was wearing was crisp like he hadn't sat the entire night.
"Tomorrow. They said it seems normal, but they want to keep me overnight."
He nodded again, and a nurse popped her head in. "Hi there, just checking to make sure everything is all right."
She smiled at me then at him.
"Fine. He was just worried," I said as I waved it away. I was sure they could hear him the entire way down the hall.
"I brought an ultrasound machine. The hospital got a set of them just a couple months ago. Do you want to hear your baby's heartbeat?" she asked as she came in with a large machine on a tray
"You can do that?" I asked.
"Sure, it says here you are six weeks along. We can see as early as five weeks now. They did it in the ER, didn't they?" I nodded. I hadn't really had a chance to register it when it was happening; I was too scared.
A whooshing noise came up and after a few adjustments we saw it. The fast beat of a new baby's heart. I shifted as we looked at it, surprised that we could see something so early.
"Can I hear?" I asked, my voice weak as I struggled to hear it.
"It's a little bit of nothing, but it's there, and that beat is strong. One hundred and one per minute, just like it should be at this stage."
Tears welled in my eyes as I turned and looked at Zach, who stood and came over, putting his arms around my shoulders. He kissed the top of my head and squinted at the screen.
"Mine." That was all he said. All he had to say. It was enough.
We were his.
Zach
I was going to marry that woman if it fucking killed me.
She didn't have a damn choice, keeping that baby from me. Keeping it a secret. Fuck that shit.
I was so angry I could throttle someone. Hell, as soon as I found out, I was racing through those damn halls. And here I was again, staring at the fucking coffee machine ready to put my fist through a wall.
She could've been hurt. She could've lost it, and I wouldn't even fucking know.
She didn't tell me shit. It had me mad as hell and determined to make her mine legally. I would march her ass right down to the damn courthouse if I could.
"You look tired," a familiar voice said as I turned to see Ruby leaned against the wall behind me.
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked her.
She just smiled. "Long enough to know you don't want any freaking coffee."
I blew out a breath.
"How is she?"
"She's fine. Sleeping."
"Then why aren't you home?" she prodded.
"Why aren't you?" I asked.
"I was home for a bit, but I wanted to come see how you were doing. Figured you still be here when you found out."
I couldn't fucking leave. I couldn't walk away from her. Not now. Not like this. Fuck everything else. Fuck my job, fuck my life.
The only thing that mattered was her and that baby. That little nothing but a heartbeat.
Chapter Fifteen