Chapter Nineteen
Zane paced in the waiting room. His lungs screamed for him to stop, but there was no way he could. Not when Zoe was so close to dying just moments before.
“You think they’ll stop?” Reece asked.
It was Bryce who spoke first. “I think that we all just got added to a list of people they’d like to fuck over if given the chance, but I also think that if we stay out of their way, they’ll find other people to screw with. They are still going at it heavily with the Kellys, after all. They can’t necessarily afford to start shit with too many other people, especially when all we’re asking is to be left alone.”
Zane clenched his fists. He didn’t care if they did come. They were welcome to fucking try.
“What about that file?” he asked.
Cage shook his head. “Meg is headed to the office to see if she can decrypt it, but that will take time. Right now, all we have is a name.”
Zane turned to look at him. “You saved us with a name?”
Cage grinned. “Well, it seemed like a better idea than going in guns blazing.”
Zane nodded. Cage was right, of course. If there had been a gun fight, there was a good chance that one of the women or his friends might have gotten hurt. Plus, it wasn’t going to save anyone down the line.
At least if the Russians believed they had something on them, that’d keep them off their backs for a while. Maybe the Kellys could take them down in the meantime. He snickered at the idea of hoping the Irish mob started growing again.
“So a van full of drugs?” Bryce asked.
Zane nodded. “I think it’s cartel supplied, but I can’t be sure. Think it’s the same stuff that nearly killed Zoe?”
Bryce shrugged. “Could be. It’s certainly making its way on the streets.”
He knew it killed Bryce not to do something about the drugs. Although he wasn’t on the force anymore, they all knew how much these sorts of things affected him.
“They’d have moved it by the time the cops got there,” Bryce said.
He could see his palms clenching the more he thought about it. Zane reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll get them,” he said. “We’re not letting them get away with this. This shit is killing people, and we can’t just let it go.”
Bryce nodded.
“Agreed,” Cage said. “Things aren’t going to get any better unless we start taking out the trash.”
Zane felt a little better after the talk, knowing that he could count on the people around him to not only save his ass, but everyone in the city as well. It made him proud to be a part of an organization like this.
Ellen glanced at him from the nurses’ station, and he nodded to the men before making his way over. She needed him.
She stepped away from the station feeling only slightly better than she did before.
“How is she?” Zane asked.
She offered a weak smile. “They administered several doses of Narcan,” she said. “It’s used to help nullify the effects. Right now she’s on full life support, but it seems like she’ll make it. We got here just in time. The doctor said when she’s better he can recommend some good treatment facilities.”
Zane wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She hugged him until she heard him grunt loudly.
Ellen slipped her arms from around his tender ribs and frowned. “Zoe is safe. Now it’s your turn. I’m sure some must be broken.”
He shook his head and when she was about to protest, he pulled her back against him in an even tighter hug.
“Not yet,” he said. “I’m not ready to let you go yet.”
Ellen placed her cheek against his warm chest and just listened to his heart under her ear. It had been close. She didn’t know how close things usually came for him, but she’d never been more certain that they were all going to die in the most horrific way possible than she had been earlier.
“I don’t know what I would have done…” Zane said.
His words trailed off as he sucked in a deep breath. She could hear the ache in his voice and knew he was feeling the same way she was.
Ellen pulled back and stared up at him.
“It didn’t happen,” she said. “We just have to keep telling ourselves that. It didn’t happen.”
Zane gave a small nod and pulled her in for a soft kiss. This wasn’t a kiss with hunger or passion. This was a kiss that reached into her very soul. This was a kiss with love.
“I love you,” he said when they’d pulled apart. “I will always love you, and if you’re pregnant, I’ll love our child as well.”
Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, and she dashed them away with her hands.
Zane reached out and cupped her face between his hands. “I always thought I’d just go back to the way things were before all this. Back to a life of no meaning. A life of no love.” He shook his head. “I need you in my life. Always and forever.”
Ellen turned and kissed his palm, her eyes drifting closed as she did so. “Then let’s start new. Let’s start new together.”
He leaned down and kissed her again.
She smiled. “I love you, too.”