This sucked.
Running his hands through his short hair, he trudged back home. He felt like the world's biggest asshole. Jaeda....in fact all his friends....had put up with his crap for years now, always stuck with him. It hurt to think he'd finally crossed a line. Was he an idiot to be putting Lucy before his friends? He despised being in this position.
Opening the front door quietly, he crept towards the dining room, but was quickly met by Lucy. Her blue gaze was soft with sympathy.
"Are you okay? Is she okay?"
Zach shrugged, burying his hands in his pockets.
Without a word, she stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips pressing into the crook before whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doing this to her, but I want to keep her safe. I know how much you care about her." Pulling away from him, she touched his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "I'll go. If you need me to, I'll walk out that door right now."
"Is that what you want to do?" Zach's voice was flat.
She hesitated. "A little bit, maybe."
Zach gripped her shirt, forcing himself not to lose it. Her fluctuating stance was like whiplash and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. She either needed to walk out now or commit until the end.
He was about to say so when she started talking again.
"I hate what I'm doing to you and your friends, but..." Her teeth brushed over her lower lip. "But a bigger part of me needs to stay, to end this and then make it all right again. Besides, Elliot will bust my ass if I walk out now."
Zach frowned, an angry spark flittering through him.
Lucy shook her head, leaning forward and resting her forehead on his shoulder. "Zach, you have the world's best friends."
He kissed the side of her head, gliding his hand down her back as she stood tall to meet his gaze.
"I want to be a part of your world. I just really, really don't want anyone to get hurt."
It wasn't her words that did it. It was the way her lips trembled as she said them. It was the wisp of hair resting on her cheekbone. It was the vibrant color of her eyes that were about to glass over with tears.
With a soft smile, he pulled her into his arms. "You're not going anywhere," he whispered into her neck. Her delicate skin resting beneath his lips and the way her body felt against him was confirmation enough. Yes, his friendships were on a precarious ledge at the moment, but they were there because of a girl worth fighting for. He was confident his friends would come around eventually, but he wasn't stupid enough to think it would be an easy road. They had to get this done, and quickly, before Jaeda wrote him off for good.
Giving Lucy one last squeeze, he pulled away and captured her hand in his, gently tugging her to the table.
"How mad is she?" Elliot looked up from his laptop, interrupting Alex mid-sentence.
Zach shook his head, not wanting to go into details. His uncle did not look impressed by all the drama...or being interrupted over it.
Pulling out a chair for Lucy, he watched her glide into it before stealing a glance at Elliot over her head. His friend sighed, closing his eyes and nearly whacking his head on the keyboard.
"She'll come around," Zach mumbled.
Elliot flicked him a glare that said, she better!
Zach swallowed and turned back to his uncle. "You were saying?"
"I was saying..." He threw Elliot a droll look. "It's obviously going to be too hard to try and prove this case wrong, right? I mean he covers his bases, he fudges evidence to say what he wants it to say...or he destroys it. So, we're wasting our time down that avenue. We need to get him on something else."
"Al Capone got busted on tax evasion," Zach blurted, nestling into his seat.
"So, what, you're saying we should look at Tenner's accounts then?"
"Maybe." Zach shrugged. "Or maybe we should be trying to get him on anything crooked. Anything that would be enough to open an investigation, right Uncle Al?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah, I mean it doesn't have to be much and we know Lucy's dad had something on him. Maybe we could find out what that was?"
Her nod was slow initially, but then began to move steadily.
"We need to get into his space. Figure out how he moves and then find a chink in his armor." Alex dropped the marker onto the table, pressing his knuckles into the wood. "If he is involved in some kind of gang work, he'd be meeting with people, wouldn't he? I mean, if we could get pictures of him doing something or any kind of paperwork that would expose him, we could finish what Jack Tate started."
A thick silence descended over the room. It was filled with a buzzing excitement, but not enough to burn off the ominous threat.
"My dad was killed for what he found out," Lucy whispered.