Ultimately, however, now wasn’t the time for me to try to figure out what was going on in Zachary Westwood’s head. I had two sick girls to take care of and they were sprawled across the couch, arguing weakly about what to watch next.
I walked back to them, but all through the night, the bedtime routine, and administering more medication than felt humanly possible, one question kept rattling through my head—and I truly didn’t have an answer to it.
Now what?
CHAPTER 17
ZACH
Afew days after I’d accepted defeat and admitted that I’d contracted the plague, I was no longer actively dying. I hadn’t made a complete recovery yet and I definitely wouldn’t be running any marathons this week, but I could stand upright without the world tilting under my feet and I hadn’t sneezed in at least fifteen minutes.
“Are you still alive?” Nate asked as he walked into my home office, smiling and toting a cardboard tray with two takeout coffees.
“Barely,” I said as he dropped into the chair across from me. “I’ve seen things now, Nathaniel. Tiny, snotty things. Oh, and demon hunters.”
“I’m assuming the tiny, snotty things were Adeline’s children?” he guessed.
“No, not children.” I shook my head and leaned forward. “It was biological warfare disguised as small, smiling humans.”
He chuckled and handed me a coffee out of the tray before leaning back in the chair with his own in his hands. “Well, that clears it up. What the fuck is a demon hunter, though?”
“A pop star who can leap off buildings without getting injured and who has to—” I cut myself off and groaned. “Never mind.”
Nate smirked and slid a document toward me. “Look at this. These guys approached Jesse about a possible acquisition and I think it’s right up your alley. That’s why I asked to come here today. We need to move fast if you’re interested. We’re not the only firm they’re talking to.”
I pulled it closer, scanning through the numbers and letting my brain switch gears into more familiar territory. Work didn’t care about my ex, my flu symptoms, or my potential marriage, and that was exactly the distraction I needed right now.
Nate walked me through the background and the client profile, pointing out possible pitfalls and strengths in the company, but after about an hour, he suddenly looked up at me again and his expression had changed completely.
“Alex will have the marriage contracts finalized by Friday,” he said. “The lawyers are drafting the documents as we speak and he said the negotiations were basically complete.”
I didn’t look up from the papers in front of me. “Good. That’s good.”
There was a slight pause before he shifted in his chair, almost at the edge of it now. He watched me so closely, it was like he was waiting for something dramatic to happen. It was suspicious, to say the least. Nate didn’t usually appreciate the drama in any of our lives.
“You’re being weird,” I said.
“I’m not.”
I finally glanced up to arch an eyebrow at him. “You said that like you’re being weird.”
He held my gaze for a beat before he gave me a shrug and a light nod. “Fine. You winced when I told you the contracts would be ready soon.”
“I was just adjusting my posture. I’ve been sitting in this chair all day.”
“Fine, you winced while you were adjusting your posture,” he said, exasperation tightening his tone. “Either way, you still winced.”
“I’m recovering from the plague. What do you want from me?”
He leaned forward a little. “To admit that this is about more than just not feeling well.”
I scoffed. “I didn’t just not feel well. I felt like I got run over by a truck.”
His eyes rolled. “You had a mild fever.”
“Which is more than either you or I have had since we were kids,” I argued. “Admit it. If you suddenly got a fever now, you’d think you were dying too.”
He chuckled. “Kate and I both caught something from Emma last month and we powered through it just fine. Talk to me, Zach. This isn’t just about the flu.”
