Cate

Leaving poor Zac behind to mull over my threat, I slipped through the villa and rejoined the group in the backyard. They were gathered around the fire pit. Flames crackled in flickers of burnished gold and amber-orange. Fairy lights twinkled above our heads. Tides pulling against the shore echoed at a distance.

Despite the beauty and ambiance, however, I struggled to enjoy myself. My mind kept straying elsewhere. I couldn't focus on Evonne's jokes. Or process Chloe's mindless chatter. Or listen to whatever the fuck Jada and Chance were saying to me.

Zac showed up ten minutes later. Our gazes caught before he took a seat across from me. Zac didn't seem too pissed off by my earlier antics, but he didn't seem to be happy, either. Chloe quickly latched onto him, siphoning away his attention much in the way Jada and Chance were attempting to capture mine.

Even though Zac and I weren't looking at each other, unresolved tension continued to strain between us. We were at odds. I knew that Zac didn't want me anywhere near his plans for Walter Sinclair and the rest of those monsters. But I wanted nothing more than to grab a sword and help him slay these motherfucking dragons. Honestly, it was hard to be present. I couldn't concentrate on the festivities around us. Zac left so many unanswered questions on the table. My thoughts drifted off into the past. Last year, after we stumbled on my dad's flash drive, I started looking into Virginia Esposito a lot more than I let on, and I chose not to tell you about it.

Something else that Zac had said to me a while back crept into my head.

I think I was planning to act on my own first.

I hadn't been a fixture in Zac's life for two years, so I wasn't privy to all the nitty-gritty, behind-the-scenes details, but, much like the first time we uncovered the truth about his dad, it appeared history was repeating itself once more. I felt an eerie drop of déjà vu in my stomach.

Zac had opted to take action into his own hands. Again. The pessimist in me couldn't help leaning towards the worst-case scenario. I was worried about Zac. Genuinely so.

God, how many dark, sickening secrets had he hacked into over these last two years?

Common sense suggested that Zac must have found some real damning evidence if he didn't want me involved at all. Uncertainty seized me.

Did Zac finally manage to get a hold of Virginia Esposito?

I frowned.

Was he in contact with any other persons of inter—

My sister's voice soon cut through my frantic train of questions.

She waved her hand in my face. "Earth to Cate! Hello? Did you hear me?"

With a somewhat startled and apologetic look, I glanced over to Bea. "Sorry, could you repeat what you said?"

Clearly annoyed, my sister wrinkled her nose at me. "I said—why don't we head back soon? I want need my beauty rest. It's already eleven o' clock, and I'll cry if there are dark circles under my eyes in my wedding photos!"

Obviously, Bea was ready to head out. I didn't blame her. Tomorrow was such a big day for her and Evonne. I took a moment to reassure her that she was going to look radiant and beautiful. Then, I rallied everyone to help put out the fire and tidy up the space. The eight of us departed the villa soon after. We got back to the hotel around midnight.

Inside our suite, Zac and I said goodnight to the others and retired to my bedroom. Whether or not Zac was ready for an interrogation, it was time to resume our conversation.

I locked the door and turned to him with an arched eyebrow. "We need to talk—"

As though Zac had picked up on my intentions, abruptly, he announced, "Hold onto that thought. I'm gonna jump in the shower real quick."

I moved in front of the bathroom to block his entry. "Not so fast."

Zac sighed as he moved to place his hands on my waist, "Cate..."

He tried to nudge me aside. I refused to budge.

"I meant what I said earlier," I insisted with dogged determination, "if you don't want everything between us to crash and burn again, we gotta talk about the stuff you don't wanna talk about!"

"I never should've brought this shit up to you," Zac muttered under his breath. "What the hell was I smoking?"

My eyes narrowed sharply.

"I think," I asserted, "that a part of you actually wanted me to get involved. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been so stupid to open this can of worms tonight—knowing what kind of person I am—and expect me to leave it alone."

Zac's amber eyes went wide. Disbelief froze on his handsome features. Zac opened his mouth again as though he wanted to protest but then snapped it shut as his lips flattened into a hard, grim line.

I clicked my tongue. "Well? Am I right? Or am I right?"

He grumbled, "Shit. Either I'm a dumbass. Or you might be right."

"You were definitely acting like a dumbass," I offered in snippy tones.

Zac rolled his eyes. "Well, I definitely haven't forgotten what a pain in the ass you can be."

I side-eyed him. "I'm gonna let that one slide because we have bigger fish to fry."

Suddenly, Zac raked his fingers through his hair and groaned, "Fucking hell. I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't."

"What's wrong?"

He closed his eyes with a pained expression. "This all happened so fast. One minute, I was pining after you. The next, I was fucking you. It's been hard to think straight. I'm scared of messing things up for us again by not letting you in. But I'm also scared of getting you hurt if I say too much."

My demeanor softened at his outburst. "Believe or not, Zac, I know exactly how you feel."

His eyes reopened. "Do you?"

Our gazes lingered. I nodded grimly. "I felt the same way after your accident. I didn't know how to talk to you anymore. I didn't know what to tell you. What not to tell you. When the right time was to be honest with you. Because I didn't want to hurt you."

His voice grew softer, too. "Looks like we both just care too much."

"Love is scary like that," I whispered.

Eyes brimming with tenderness, he uttered, "You have no idea how much I care about you, Cate..."

We shared another long, knowing look. A sense of understanding passed between us. Some of the tension melted away. It was replaced by a different kind of heaviness. A lump formed in my throat. For some reason, Zac's words were really getting to me. He was right: I had always cared too much about him.

My heart thudded with strong, scary emotions. I kept them contained inside my chest. Even though we had already confirmed our feelings for each other, I suddenly felt very overwhelmed by how much I still loved this boy. By how much I wanted to mend that broken promise of "forever and always" for us.

But I wasn't ready to voice the depth and scope of these emotions out loud.

For the time being, I chose to stay silent.

We had agreed to take it slow, after all.

Zac reached over to caress my cheek, leaning over to place a light kiss on top of my head. "I totally get where you're coming from, Cate, I really do, but can you please just do what I say? Just this once?"

Reluctantly, I shook my head. "Sorry, I can't."

Zac cast me a beseeching look. "But I'll never forgive myself if something bad happens to you."

Fiercely, I echoed the same sentiment, "And I'll never forgive myself if something bad happens to you. Please talk to me. I wanna understand what's going on so I can help you."

He sighed, "I want to protect you."

I shot back, "But you can't!"

"Cate—"

"I mean, you and I can try to protect the people we care about from getting hurt, but, if anything, I learned that I couldn't protect you from everything, and I can't expect you to protect me from everything, either. We both have our own battles to fight, and many of those battles have to be fought—alone."

A thoughtful gleam passed through his golden eyes.

"Did you really mean it when you suggested that," he drawled, "I wanted you involved in my shit?"

I retorted, "Isn't that why you brought it up in the first place?"

"Huh."

"In a way," I pushed harder, "it could be argued this has always been our fight."

Zac blinked once. "This?"

"We've been connected from the start because of your dad and my dad and... Lily. Admit it, we made a pretty damn good team back then."

"Dude, I'm not trying to recruit you to be my partner in crime," he grumbled, "I'm trying to make you my girl."

My heart warmed at his sweetness even as I taunted, "Don't you think that, maybe, I'm meant to be both?"

Zac winced. "I'd rather keep these two things separate and as far away from each other as possible."

I leaned into Zac's chest, rising on my toes to press my lips against his jaw. "Then, why did you bring up your dad and Harvey Waldron and Walter Sinclair tonight? You know I was bound to ask questions."

I started to kiss him, then, lightly, here and there, along his neck.

In distracted tones, he muttered, "Honestly? I was trying to cover my ass. I want you to trust me. Like I said earlier, I was afraid you might get upset if you found out about Gina Ro—"

Zac caught himself and stopped there.

Gina Ro—what was the rest of her name?

My mental Rolodex immediately came up with a list of faces and profiles that might fill in the missing name.

Gina Rong?

My old private violin instructor from high school. This Gina seemed to be an unlikely candidate.

Gina Rolande?

My friend from Georgetown who had just lent us her family's villa in Windward Coast. Again, she seemed to be an unlikely candidate as well.

I pulled away from Zac to study his face, trying to determine the best way to get more information out of him. I decided to capitalize on his slip up.

"If you don't finish what you were about to say," I warned him, "I'll find out on my own one way or another. I already have part of her name. Gina Ro—something. Don't doubt my ability to research the hell out of anything and anyone to find the answers I want."

Zac scowled. "You're planning to look into Gina's shit on your own?"

"Absolutely."

He cursed under his breath, "Goddamnit, Cate."

With disapproving eyes, Zac studied me for a full minute. I glared back at him defiantly. He finally caved with a begrudging sigh, "Fine."

"You give up?"

Zac nodded. "I give up. Only because I know you'll never give up."

I smiled a pleased smile.

Zac coughed. "Have you ever heard of Regina Roswell?"

I had, indeed, heard of Regina Roswell. My expression furrowed. "Yeah, I know about her, actually..."

I wanted to kick myself for not recalling her name earlier. Regina Roswell, also known as Gina, had been something of a micro-celebrity in her heyday: Beautiful. Rich. The youngest daughter of the once prominent Roswell family. Her father had been a media mogul in the billionaire's club before his empire went bankrupt. Gina was in her fifties now. The sun had since set on her shine. She was no longer a sought-after figure in elite circles, but her name still popped up in the tabloids every now and then.

Zac grunted, "How do you know about Gina?"

"Only through Congresswoman Elaine Gantz. I interned for Gantz last summer. Isn't she Gina's half-sister or something?"

"They're definitely related. Same father, different mothers," he confirmed as his expression darkened. "Are you still planning to intern for Gantz in the future?"

"Maybe?"

Zac gazed at me with unmasked concern. "Don't do it, Cate. Stay away from her."

"Why?"

"Anyone with ties to the Roswell's probably has some fucked up skeletons in their closet."

I demanded, "How fucked up are we talking about here?"

"I still need to confirm a few sources," Zac mumbled, "but, from the shit I dug up on Gina Roswell, I suspect that she might have been recruiting and grooming girls for some very rich and powerful friends. I believe Virginia Esposito was one of her very first targets."