The fury storming through my veins is instinctive. Irrational. My eyes are stuck on Keanu’s thick fingers clamped over Zora’s wrist. I hear her pained moan like she whispered it to me. The sound squeezes my chest tight.

I suddenly understand why Thomas keeps grabbing his enemies by the neck. That’s exactly what I want to do to this punk. Grab him right by the throat and watch him squirm until he regrets even thinking of hurting Zora.

“Let. Her. Go,” I bite out.

Keanu glances over, disdain glittering in his dark eyes.

I stare right at him, letting the threat behind my tone shine through my gaze. My fingers curl into fists. The wind blows stiffly over us, and the sun plummets beneath the sea, leaving startling darkness in its wake.

I size Keanu up, searching for a weakness I can attack without getting Zora hurt in the process. My mind zips through a flurry of techniques, but Keanu’s got her sandwiched between us. It’s too risky to fight him here.

But I’m itching to.

I started boxing to keep myself from falling all over Violet when she came back from college.

That’s the reason.

It wasn’t to curb my anger or teach me discipline or any such noble notion. I have absolutely no qualms about pounding Keanu into the dirt. In fact, it would be a pleasure.

“Wilson?” Zora croaks my name. Her voice is trembling—from fear or relief. I’m not sure.

My eyes zip to hers. The lamppost flickers on, directly over her head. Her brown eyes are wide. Filled with… is that shame? Why would she feel ashamed?

Keanu jerks her around, breaking our connection and dragging my gaze back to him. He frowns. “This has nothing to do with you, Whitey.”

“Whitey? Is that the best you could come up with?”

“Like I said, this is a private conversation.”

“Let Zora go first and then we can have a conversation. For as long as you want, since you like talking so much.”

Keanu chuckles darkly and tosses Zora’s hand. She stumbles forward but catches her footing and remains upright. I take one step toward her, more concerned with checking that she’s okay than fooling with Keanu.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t give me a chance to get close to Zora. He steps in front of her, as if he’s the one protecting her from me.

I stop short and catch Zora’s eye. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She blows out a breath, but she’s massaging her hand, holding it delicately.

The anger surges through me again. “You hurt her.”

“What I do to and with Zora is none of your damn business,” Keanu spits.

“I’ll show you what’s my business—”

“That’s enough.” Zora holds her head high and strides ahead of Keanu. She stops, turns and glares at her ex. “I came. I heard what you had to say, but I don’t want you back. I’m moving forward with my life.”

“But Zo, we belong together.”

I snort.

Keanu ignores me, his entire being focused on Zora. “You’re the only woman who understands that I’m broken. The only one who showed me love. Real love. We’re connected. You know that.”

“You broke that connection when you cheated on me.”

“It was a mistake.”

“Enough.”

“Zo—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I’ve changed. I swear I—”

With more fire than I expected of her, Zora snaps at him. “I said we’re done.”

Keanu sneers. “No, we’re not.”

“Excuse me?” I step forward. “Are you deaf? She said you’re done.”

“Get out of my face.” He shoves me.

Naturally, I shove him back.

Before we can get into a full-blown brawl, a police officer appears. “Is there a problem?”

“No problem, Officer,” Zora says. She grabs my arm and tugs. “We’re leaving.”

I let her yank me away, my gaze still locked on Keanu who is staring at us with such contempt I want to shake Zora off and hurl myself at him properly.

But that would be selfish.

Zora’s hurt. Shaken. Embarrassed. She’s my number one priority and it seems her priority is scrambling out of the park as quickly as possible.

I take the lead and open the car door for her. She slides in and, when I enter around the other side, I find her staring out the window. She’s quiet. Contemplative. At least that’s what I assume. I can’t see her face.

As I drive away, a million questions parade through my head, but interrogating her would be counter-productive. Instead, I turn the radio on and let the music fill the cab.

It’s a reggae song. Not Amaya’s. Thanks to Kent, I know almost all of his wife’s songs by heart. The bass fills my chest. The melody worms its way beneath my skin and calms me down.

By the time I park in front of the apartment building with the glowing porch lights and the well-kept lawn, my rage has transformed into empathy.

Whatever the reason, meeting Keanu tonight must have been hard and confusing for Zora.

“Hey,” I take her hand when she moves to enter her own apartment, “can I see you a minute?”

“Wilson, I’m really tired—”

“It won’t take long.” I gently tug her into my place and lead her to my bedroom.

Zora turns skittish. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Hold on a minute.” I grab the Bengay cream and gauze from the First Aid kit in the office and kneel before her.

“Why do you have a First Aid kit in your house?”

“For Kent,” I explain, pouring a generous amount of the cream into my palm. It causes my skin to tingle, but I ignore the sensation and rub Zora’s wrist.

“And the Bengay?”

“I spend all day typing at the computer, and my hands can’t always handle it.”

“Ah.”

I gently rub the cream around her wrist. “Does it hurt?”

She shakes her head.

I finish with that and unroll the gauze, taping up her hand. “Too tight?”

“No. It’s okay.”

I finish up and then take her fingers. Remaining on my knees, I glance at her face. “It might still bruise, but that should help the pain for now. Tell me if it’s still throbbing. I’ll apply more.”

“Thank you,” she whispers. Glances away. “I’m sorry.”

I rest my arm on top of my knee. “Sorry? For what?”

“Keanu’s a jerk. What he did tonight… I must have been crazy for loving him.”

“His behavior is not a reflection of you. He’s the crazy one for letting you go.”

“Please, I’m not all that.”

“What?” My brows hunker over my eyes. “Zora, you’re kind, beautiful, smart, loving—”

“Me? Loving?”

She looks genuinely shocked. I lean forward. “What do you call bringing someone breakfast early in the morning? Or making sure they have a ride to the airport when they’re late for a flight?”

“That was… nothing.”

“No, Zora. That was everything.” I squeeze her hand. “You saved Kent when he was bleeding out on the street.”

“I sew up stab wounds everyday. And technically, Amaya helped too.” She smiles softly.

“You spent weeks researching the surgery that ultimately saved Kent’s life.”

She sucks her bottom lip. “That I did.”

My gaze slips to her mouth but I force it back to her eyes to keep from getting distracted. “Whether you mean to or not, try and cover it under sarcasm and sass, love just pours out of you. Which is why Keanu’s the idiot. Not you.”

She inhales and then lets out a deep sigh. “I was embarrassed, you know. So embarrassed I could die.” Her eyes soften. “Thank you. For taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“But I’m curious about one thing.” She tilts her head. “How did you know where I was? I didn’t tell anyone I was meeting Keanu.”

“Gretchen told me.”

“Gretchen?” Her eyes narrow. “You’re talking to Gretchen now?”

“Calm down, mama. I gave Gretchen my card because she mentioned your ex had a habit of appearing and causing a scene. I asked her to give me a heads-up when he showed.”

“So you made her your little spy?”

“Who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t called.”

“I can handle Keanu.” She tosses her head and then drops the bravado with a sheepish smile. “But I’m glad I didn’t have to.”

I study her, the straight black hair that’s mussed by the wind and her struggle with Keanu and the smooth brown skin striking against the white scrubs. A tender feeling wells in my chest. It’s not the raging hate I had at first or the passionate lust we shared the night we spent together.

It’s like settling into something that’s comfortable, custom-made.

I grab the edge of the mattress, rise, and press a kiss to her forehead.

Zora’s surprise escapes in a little gasp. I lean back and smile at her. “You hungry?”

“Uh…”

“I can make pancakes.”

Her shocked expression melts into excitement. “Pancakes?”

“I’ll be back soon.” I gesture to the bed. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Zora takes my advice to heart because, when I return with a tower of steaming pancakes and honey, she’s snoring on the bed. I smile when I notice the way her limbs are sprawled out. Even if I wanted to, there’s no way I’m sliding in beside her tonight.

I move to tiptoe out of the room when I hear something buzzing. Curious I set the tray on the nightstand and notice her phone jumping around.

Afraid it will wake Zora, I pick it up to silence it. At least, that was my intention before I saw Keanu’s name sliding across the screen.

KEANU: Hey Zo.

KEANU: Zo?

KEANU: Should we meet for drinks tomorrow? I’ll buy.

KEANU: How bout this weekend?

I cringe. Can’t the guy take a hint? Even if Zora hit him over the head with a bat she wouldn’t have been clearer than she was tonight.

Another message comes in.

KEANU: How are we supposed to fix things if you can’t meet me halfway?

I tiptoe outside and call Keanu’s number. He picks up immediately and in a husky tone says, “I knew you’d pick up.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

There’s a pause and then, “Who’s this?”

“I’m Zora’s boyfriend and the father of her child.”

“Get off the phone. I want to talk to Zora.”

“We want a lot of things, Keanu. Doesn’t mean we can get them.” I sound condescending even to my own ears, but I can’t help it. This guy doesn’t inspire any sympathy from me. “I’m asking you man to man. Don’t call this number again and leave Zora alone.”

He cusses me out, exploding with every four-letter word known to man. I hang up on him. No sense giving Keanu any more attention. He’s made enough of a fuss tonight.

I head back into the bedroom to take the tray of pancakes back into the kitchen, but end up getting distracted by Zora. She’s still wearing her white tennis shoes. I lean over and gently slip off the left foot and then the right. She rolls on her side but doesn’t wake.

I smooth her hair back with my fingers, enjoying the softness of her skin. Zora can talk smack all day, but right now, when she’s sleeping and quiet, she seems more vulnerable than any woman I’ve met.

Keanu’s crazy and persistent. Something tells me he won’t be a gracious loser and back out quietly.

My gaze slips to Zora’s stomach. I’m looking at the two most important people in my life, apart from my mother and Kent. I’ll keep them safe if it kills me.

Before setting Zora’s phone down, I delete the messages from Keanu and then block his number. After returning the pancakes to the counter, I sit around the table and call Gretchen.

“Hello?”

“This is Wilson. Thank you for the heads up today.” I lean back in my chair. “I need to ask you for another favor.”

She giggles. “For you? Anything.”