Page 73 of Necessary Cruelty

That doesn’t sound like a deal breaker, but Zaya stiffens beside me. Then she shakes her head so violently it sets the tightly wound curls on her head quivering. “He won’t do that.”

I turn to her in shock. “Why not?”

“He won’t testify against anyone, no matter what kind of deal it gets him. That just… isn’t how things are done in the Gulch. He testifies, and he can’t ever come back home.”

“And that’s worse than twenty-to-life?”

“The rules are different where I live, Vin. Most of us don’t have the luxury of our big house on the mountaintop.” Zaya’s glare is hot enough to sear my soul. Her reaction is as much about Zion as it is about the two of us. “We don’t have an uncle in the state attorney’s office or a cousin that runs the largest bank in town or enough wealth to literally buy and sell a person’s entire life. When we get in trouble, no one comes to bail us out.”

“I’m here.”

I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. Even West glances at me with a raised eyebrow.

But Zaya just shakes her head. If she realizes what a watershed moment this is, she doesn’t let on. “He will not paint a target on my back like that, not when he has to leave me behind.”

“You won’t be living in the Gulch, anyway. You’ll be up on the Bluffs with me, safe and sound.”

Zaya stares at me like she has never seen me before, the surprise on her face obvious. Did she really think that nothing would change, that I’d put a ring on her finger and then leave my wife wallowing in squalor?

“I don’t want to live in Cortland Manor.”

“It won’t be the manor. I stay in the pool house.”

She just shakes her head and abruptly stands up. “This is too much to deal with right now. I need to go.”

“We’re not done yet.”

Ignoring me, she addresses West. “Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Abbott. Sorry for busting into your office like this.” She holds up a trembling hand when I move to follow her. “You can finish without me. I’ll take the bus back into town.”

With an annoyed sigh, I collapse back onto the seat. That girl doesn’t know how to do anything without a fight.

West looks amused when I turn my attention back to him. “You aren’t going after her?”

“The buses only run on the hour — she’ll be down there for a while,” I say with a shrug. “I’ll give her some time to calm down, and then I’ll take her home.”

He shakes his head. “You make it sound so easy.”

“Zaya likes to play hard to get, but I always get what I want from her eventually.”

“If you say so,” he says with a laugh. “She’s the one, huh?”

“Not as if I have a choice,” I snap, suddenly annoyed. This situation might amuse him, but it’s my fucking life we’re talking about. “Grandpa Abbott made sure of that.”

“He might be doing you a bigger favor than you think, even if it is from beyond the grave.” West takes another file from the stack and opens it in front of him. “Get the Milbourne boy a lawyer and have them send me a formal plea offer. I’ll see what I can do with Judge Prior. But Zion will have to testify, I don’t see any other way around that.”

“He’ll do it, I’ll make sure.”

“Oh, to have the confidence of youth.” Without looking up from the paperwork in front of him, West waves his hand toward the door. “Now get the hell out of my office, I have real work to do.”

“Love you too, Unc.”

He makes a farting sound with his mouth. “Shut the damn door behind you.”

Zaya is sitting at the sad little bus stop when I stroll out of the building. She stares off into space, so absorbed in her thoughts that she doesn’t see me coming. I smile when she visibly jumps as I sit down beside her.

“Let’s go.”

She glares at me. “I told you I’m taking the bus.”

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