Page 110 of The Devil's Scars

“You have got to be kiddin’ me.” Wolf shook his head, squeezed Zoe’s shoulder as he passed her leaving the room. “I’m out, Innis, totally out. You two sort this out, just you and just between you. And let me say to you guys here and now, I’m tired of bein’ your relationship counsellor… me, of all goddamn people. Jesus. I mean, could you have picked anyone worse?”

“What are you talking about?” Zoe asked him. “Why do we need a relationship counsellor?”

“Nuh-uh, baby girl. I’m out.”

Wolf shut the door behind him, and Zoe looked at Scars, wondering why he didn’t look happier to see her. She sat down in the chair next to Scars’ bed, gently took his hand.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, which was a ludicrous question, but it was the first one that came to her mind. “I mean – clearly, you feel like hell. But – how are you?”

Scars stared at the pillow in front of him.

“Are you in pain?” she said. “Do you need something? Should I get a doctor?”

“No, baby,” he said, and suddenly, it was Scars again, and she almost sagged in relief. “I’m not in pain.”

“OK so…” She stroked his face. “You OK? All things considered?”

“Well. I mean, I’m obviously devastated about the fresh scars ending my promising modeling career,” Scars said. “But I’ll get past it. Somehow.”

Zoe giggled. “Don’t be so sure about that, handsome. I think that ‘rough and ready’ can sell stuff. Jeans? Whiskey? Cowboy hats? Motorcycles? Badass bad boys with hero scars are hot as hell, trust me.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Scars shifted on his stomach, winced. “Ouch.”

“You in pain?” She was on her feet in a flash, ready to get someone to push some more drugs into the IV. “You need some help?”

“In a while, beautiful.”

“Oh, God.” Zoe’s eyes filled with tears, but she was smiling. “I’ve missed hearing that. I’ve missed you. Scars… that you so, so much for what you did. For saving Keira. You just – you just ran straight into that building, no hesitation or thoughts about yourself. You were her only hope, her last hope, and you brought her out alive, at huge personal cost to yourself. I’ll never, never be able to pay you back for that, I know, but I can spend the rest of my life trying, at least.”

“Zoe –”

“No, please. Let me finish… I’ve wanted to tell you this for the past two days, and there was a time that I wasn’t sure that I’d ever get a chance. So let me, OK?”

He nodded.

“So thank you, and I’m sorry. Gil did this, and Gil was here because of me and Keira. I wish… I wish you weren’t hurt, and I’m sorry that it’s all come to this, and I’d love to go back and stop the whole thing from happening, but I can’t. So all I can do is…” She took a deep breath to tell him what she’d been longing to say since that sunny afternoon in the parking lot. “Is tell you that I love you.”

Startled, despite the pulling on the back of his neck, Scars turned his head and looked at her. “What did you say?”

“I love you,” she repeated. “I don’t expect you to say it back, alright? We don’t need to do anything about it at all. But it’s how I feel, and I meant to tell you in that parking lot, and then all hell broke loose and I couldn’t. So I promised myself, when you came back, I was going tell you. No fear or worry or expectations. I just – I wanted you to know. That’s all.”

“Baby –”

“And now we can get on with healing you, and making you whole and strong again,” she cut him off, determined to say everything that was on her mind. “And then…well. Then we can decide what to do next. If anything. But if I had it my way, you’d move in with me and Keira, at least for most of the week, because I guess you’d want to keep your own place in the mountains. But we’d eat breakfast together almost every morning, and we’d have coffee in the backyard on Sundays. We’d cook and play with Keira, and after we put her to bed, we’d go to our bedroom and shut the door and do every filthy thing that came to our minds. We’d be happy, Scars, all three of us, and I know that we have a long road to your recovery… so I’ll wait for it. I’ll wait for all of it. But what I wanted you to know is – I’m not afraid anymore. I’m not afraid of being loved and wanted, and loving and wanting in return. I’m ready.”

“Oh, God. Zoe. Zoe.”

“What?” she faltered, suddenly afraid. “Why are you saying my name like that? Twice?”

“Oh, baby… I – I can’t.”

“You can’t – what?”

“I can’t do any of that with you.”

Zoe’s heart plummeted clean out of her chest and hit her stomach, then carried on down to the floor.

“Oh,” she said numbly. “Right. OK.”

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