I reacted first, thought second.
Driving down Main Street, seeing my girl chasing after a big dude and then throwing herself at him, I didn’t think. I parked, flew out, and reacted.
And I fucked up.
“Hey! Get off my sister,” the big dude hollered.
Zadie twisted her head to meet my shocked eyes. “Amir, meet my brother, Eli. My little, sixteen-year-old brother.”
Zadie’s face was blotchy, her eyes red, tears at the edges. When I looked up at her brother, I saw the same. If I’d taken a second before flipping the fuck out at seeing Zadie in another man’s arms, I would have realized this wasn’t a man at all. Eli was tall and wide, but there was no mistaking he was still a kid. A kid who was clearly going through something rough. Something Zadie was going through too. Something she hadn’t told me about. Fuck, I didn’t even know she had a brother or that he was coming to visit her today.
“I apologize.” Tipping my chin down, I met Zadie’s eyes again. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“What’s going on?” Eli demanded. “Who are you?”
“Eli—” Zadie started in warning, but I cut her off with a squeeze to her waist. Then I shifted her to my side, keeping my arm firmly around her shoulders.
I wasn’t someone who took kindly to demands, but in this case, I didn’t mind. Eli was looking out for his sister, and I was the stranger who’d ripped her from his arms. If I had a sister like Zadie, I’d burn it all down for her. I got the feeling if Eli didn’t like what I had to say, he just might try to douse me with gasoline and strike a match. So, today, he’d get my patience and respect for looking out for Zadie the way she deserved.
“It’s okay, man. I’m Amir, Zadie’s boyfriend. I hope you can understand, I saw my girlfriend in another man’s arms and lost my mind for a minute.” I stroked her shoulder with my thumb. “I really am sorry, man. Someone forgot to tell me she was seeing her brother this morning.”
Zadie stiffened, but she didn’t put up an argument. No doubt she’d rather me call her my girlfriend than my pet in front of her brother.
Eli frowned, his eyes flicking back and forth between us. “Does Felicity know you have a boyfriend?”
“Not yet. It’s new, and with everything happening, I haven’t…” She looked up at me, scrunching her nose. “I haven’t told my mom about us yet. Sorry.”
I tapped the end of her nose. “That’s okay, baby. You’ll tell her soon.”
Eli tipped his chin. “You can tell her now. Here she comes.”
I grinned down at Zadie, who did not look amused. In fact, it seemed like she was snarling, but on her, it came out so cute, there was nothing threatening about it. “I get to meet your mom today?”
Her expression crumpled. “Be nice, please?” she whispered.
The sorrow behind her eyes sobered me. “You got it, mama. Best behavior. Promise.”
We turned around to greet the tall, thin, older version of Zadie. Same sweet, beautiful face, shiny chestnut waves, bright smile. And when she spoke, she had a slightly deeper version of Zadie’s honeyed voice.
“Hey, kids. Did you make a new friend?” She stopped in front of me, her gaze bouncing from my arm around her daughter to my face. “Who might you be?”
I held out my hand. “Amir Vasquez. I’m Zadie’s.”
“Oh, I like that.” She slipped her hand in mine, giving it a firm shake. “Felicity Elks. My daughter is a secret keeper apparently.”
“Mom, I was going to tell you, but it’s new. I knew you’d want to meet him, but it’s too early, so—”
“She thought I’d freak out. You know, too much, too soon.” I smiled at Zadie. “But she doesn’t get there’s never enough of her.”
I could tell she wanted to step on my foot, but with her mom and brother watching with keen eyes, she only returned my smile.
“He thought I was hitting on Zadie,” Eli added, smirking at me. The little shit wasn’t going to let me play it off, which I also respected.
Felicity’s mouth gaped. “What—?”
“Yeah,”—I rubbed my nape—“not my finest moment. I was driving by, saw my girl with another guy, and reacted. I’ll be groveling for a while, but at least I got to meet the two of you.”
Felicity pressed a hand to her chest. “You’re adorable, Amir. So adorable. I think I like you.”
A laugh burst out of me. “No one’s ever called me adorable.”
“Not even when he was a baby,” Zadie added. “He was born with a menacing scowl.”
I shook my head at her. “You don’t even know how right you are.”
Zadie raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you need to get going? I thought you were busy today.”
“Actually, no. Not until tonight. I have the whole day free.” I had planned on spending it studying, but that had lost its appeal the second I’d tucked Zadie under my arm and claimed her as my girl.
“Well, we were about to take a tour of campus. Zadie was going to show us where all her classes are, then I have to hit the university shop to buy some swag for my husband. I promised I’d bring him back a hat.” Felicity reached around and patted my arm. “If that doesn’t sound too boring, you are more than welcome to join us. I’m sure Eli would appreciate not spending his entire day with just two women.”
I gave Zadie’s rigid shoulders a squeeze. This girl wanted me away from her family, but I was already hooked on my role as her doting boyfriend. Now wasn’t the time to bow out, even if she poisoned my dinner tomorrow. “There’s really nothing I’d rather do.”
A few hours later, I was fully immersed in the Elks-Night family. Eli was chill as hell, and Felicity was as sweet as Zadie, but without the shyness. Although, around her mom and brother, Zadie blossomed. I got the feeling she felt truly comfortable and safe with them. Several times throughout the day, she’d be laughing, enjoying herself, then she’d catch my eye and her light would dim.
We’d be talking about that, because I didn’t like it at all. If she was giving other people her light, I wanted it too. That light should’ve been mine.
I also learned that Felicity’s husband, Max, was seriously ill with leukemia. Felicity put on a brave smile when she was explaining his treatment plan, but there was a stillness that fell over the three of them that told the truth: they were all afraid of what was to come.
Now, we were in the food court of the student union, grabbing a coffee before her mom and brother had to head out. Zadie and I were in line to order while Felicity and Eli hunted for a table.
I was being stared at. I’d caught Zadie’s eyes on me several times, always with a pensive stare.
“What?” I murmured. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
She twisted her lips. “I’m thinking you’re either a sociopath and you’ve been faking it with my family all day, or underneath all your armor, you might be a decent guy.”
“The only thing I’ve been faking is our relationship.” I slid my hand along the small of her back, dipping down into her back pocket to cup her ass. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing your boyfriend, though.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You feel me up whenever you want anyway.”
“Not nearly as much as I want. I should get a gold star for how much I hold back with you.”
She rolled her eyes, then made the outline of a star in the air with her pointer finger. “You get an invisible star. It’s the best I can do.”
I snatched that shit out of the air and tucked it in my pocket.
“You know what I liked about today?”
“What?” she asked.
“The way your mom and Eli looked at me because they thought I was with you. There were no expectations beyond treating you right. And when they saw me treating you right, they were all smiley and bright.” I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. The way I grew up, people I knew, none of us had that. So yeah, it’s been cool to get a taste of it.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it right away, turning her head.
“Nah, Zadie. You have something to contribute and I want to hear it.” With my knuckle, I hooked her under her chin and turned her head toward me again. “You have something to say?”
“Not really.” She chewed on her bottom lip, averting her eyes.
“Talk, mama.”
Huffing, her big blue eyes flicked up to mine. “I was just thinking you act like having people who support and care for you is a pipe dream, but, Amir, you’re here. You’re in this school because you’re incredibly smart and you work hard. You could have a girlfriend with a nice family if you wanted. But I don’t think you want that. If you did, all you’d have to do is snap and it would be yours.”
It was our turn to order, so I had a minute to mull over what she’d just thrown at me. My knee-jerk reaction was to say she didn’t know shit—and she didn’t. With my own two eyes, I saw what she was brought up with. She had hard times, but she had a thick layer of insulation around her, even if she didn’t realize it. When Zadie looked at my life, it was through that lens, not mine.
When we shifted to the next counter to wait for the drinks, I stood behind her, splaying my hand on her stomach, and dipped my mouth to her ear.
“You think Felicity would want me around her pretty little daughter if she knew how I make money? How my brother makes money?”
She let her head fall back on my shoulder but kept her eyes from me. I really didn’t like when she kept her eyes from me.
“I won’t pretend to know anything about that, nor do I want to. But I think Felicity wouldn’t have to know either. Moms don’t have to know everything. It’s better for them.”
“Really?” My lips skimmed her velvety ear. “You keep secrets from your mom? Scandalous.”
Her laughter was a feather to the back of my knees, nearly bringing me down without even trying. “If I’d told her I was held hostage last semester, do you think I’d still be enrolled here?”
I nipped at her lobe. “You’re never going to let that go, huh?”
This time, her laughter was more like an anvil to my chest, hitting me hard and not letting me up. Jesus Christ, this girl could laugh. Anything she did with that mouth was magic.
“No, I guess I’m not.” She grinned up at me. “In ten years, when you’re a fine, upstanding businessman, I’ll swing by your office with a cup of coffee so we can reminisce about the time you held me as collateral. Or I could pop into your wedding and give a to—”
I covered her mouth with my hand. “I don’t like the joke anymore.”
She turned her head and pressed her forehead to my throat, catching me off guard. It felt conciliatory, even though I was the one crossing lines. My hand dropped, curling around her chest. We stood there like that, wrapped around each other, for another minute, until our order was called. She didn’t say a word, and neither did I.
I didn’t know what that minute was, but I had no doubt everything about it—the closeness, the peace, the utter calm—would stay contained within those sixty seconds.
At the table with Felicity and Eli, everything was the same again. Felicity showed us what she’d bought for her husband, even though we’d all been there when she made the purchase. Eli and I talked college sports—Savage U’s teams weren’t shit, but he followed them religiously anyway, especially baseball, which was his game. And Zadie had gone back to keeping her eyes from me.
I tapped her hand. “Have you shown your mom the latest note left for you?”
Her eyes rounded. “No, Amir—”
Felicity leaned forward in her chair. “What note?” Her gaze whipped from me to Zadie. “Zadie, what note?”
She shook her head. “It’s not a big deal, I promise.”
“You haven’t told your mom?” I already knew she hadn’t, but I didn’t agree with the decision. Her mom might have been going through the heaviness of her husband’s illness, but Zadie needed her too. If she wouldn’t ask for her mom’s help, I’d take that decision from her.
“Why don’t you tell me, Amir?” Felicity set her coffee down, leveling me with a steady glare.
“Someone’s been leaving Zadie poems and flowers. She suspected it was Drew, but given the last poem, she’s not sure.”
“Zadie,” Eli ground out. “How could you not tell us?”
She rubbed her forehead. “Because I could be freaking out over nothing. You guys have enough going on, I didn’t want to add one more th—”
“Stop it.” Felicity slapped the table. “Don’t you dare say another word. I know what my enough is, and I have plenty of capacity to deal with my daughter. I need you to tell me everything so I can have the information to decide which direction we need to proceed.”
Zadie’s furious gaze cut to me. Her fingertips were going white from gripping the edge of the table. I pried one finger loose at a time, cupping her small, soft hand in mine.
“Tell your mom,” I urged.
She tried to yank her hand away from me, but I wasn’t letting go. Not until she did this. She was right. Her mom didn’t need to know everything, but she did need to know this. As my pet, it was my job to decide the best way to protect her. I’d be her physical shield but dealing with cops and lawyers was outside my wheelhouse. Felicity had the capability of handling that area, but she had to know what needed to be handled first.
Each word out of Zadie’s mouth was reluctant, but she laid out the basics, skipping over the library incident. I let that slide for now. Her voice was devoid of emotion, but I felt it in the twitch of her muscles, her clammy palm, the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
Felicity started typing on her phone as soon as Zadie was finished talking. “I’m taking care of it. Don’t worry, baby. If it’s Drew, we’ll fry his ass. If it’s another dipshit, we’ll handle him too. You aren’t in this alone.” Her gaze shifted to me. “Thank you for telling me. It’s obvious you’re taking care of Zadie and looking out for her. If she didn’t have you, Eli would be carrying her to our car and she’d be coming home with us.”
Eli looked at his sister. “I’m still considering it.”
I laid my hand on his shoulder. “Nah, man. She’s good with me. You take care of your dad and Felicity. I’ve got my girl.”
Zadie huffed and twisted her hand, but I held it tight. Oh, she was mad, mad. But I didn’t really give a shit. Keeping what was going on a secret was only going to endanger her.
Felicity’s mouth was strained. “Thank you, Amir. I don’t think I can explain what it was like for Zadie and our family during the height of the stalking. Drew used to show up in restaurants, at shops, when Zadie was out with friends at movies. She became so afraid of running into him, she wouldn’t leave the house, and when he began leaving her presents at our front door, her room was her only safe space.” She touched her fingertips to her mouth. “That’s how I know you’re protecting my girl. She must feel it, because two years ago, she would have been in her bed, scared of the world.”
It was a good thing none of them could see what was going on in my mind. If they could, they’d be afraid of me. I’d witnessed Zadie’s terror in the library, but hearing her mom lay it all out for me only added another layer to the fury I carried for a guy I would hopefully never meet.
“I hear you, Felicity. Zadie is covered. This, I promise.”
After all that was settled, we were about to part ways, so I asked for a few minutes with Zadie to say goodbye. I pulled her with me around the corner into a small group study room that wasn’t in use. I kept walking until her back hit the wall and braced my hands on either side of her head.
“You had no right.” Her words came out shaky with anger.
“I did, Zadie. You’re mine, aren’t you?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m yours at your house. That doesn’t spill over into my life. I didn’t agree to that. My mom…do you understand her husband might be dying? Do you?”
I worked hard not to slam my hand into the wall. “Do you understand if this guy gets to you it would kill her? How’s she supposed to deal with her daughter being hurt, raped, dead, when her husband is dying? Tell me, Zadie. You want to do that to her? What about Eli? You want to hurt the kid who looks at you like you hung the moon?”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Shut up, Amir.” Her hands came to my chest, giving me a weak shove. “Just shut up.”
Bringing my hand off the wall, I cupped her jaw. “This is me looking out for my pet. You might not like it, but I don’t give a fuck.” Dipping down, I touched my lips to hers. She gasped against my mouth, and it was all I could do to walk away. “I have to go tend to some business.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Those tears were still in her eyes, even if she wasn’t letting them fall. I couldn’t walk away and leave it like this. Not until I made sure she really understood. “I need you to tell me you get why I did what I did with your mom.”
Her pouty little mouth pressed into a tight line, and she gave me a sharp nod. “I don’t want her to hurt or worry.”
“I think she’d tell you that’s her job.”
Some of the tightness left her mouth, and the corners curled into a slight smile. “She probably would.”
Uninvited warmth spread across my chest. What the fuck was that about? “Come a little early tomorrow.”
“Ten?”
“No.” I brushed my lips over hers again. Couldn’t help it, the sweetness was addictive. “I’m going out tonight. It’ll be late. Make it noon.”
She turned her face away from mine. “Have fun then.”
I grinned. Oh, this girl didn’t like the idea of me going out. Interesting. “I said it’s business, didn’t I? My kind of business goes late.”
“’Kay.”
With a groan, I pulled back, grabbed her hand, and tugged her away from the wall. “Be good, Zadie. Don’t drive me crazy.”
I left her with her family after Felicity hugged the shit out of me and Eli clapped me on the back. The illusion was over, the job was done, so why the hell did I feel like I was leaving something important behind?
