A Billionaire in Shining Suit (TBB 4)

Brothers

Chapter 24 - Brothers

ZACHARY DANVERS

Zach sat on the bed with his head in his hands, in the guest room of Dave's house. Technically it was his. He would crash here sometimes and Dave had pretty much carved his name on the door.

Well he'd just carved a Z with a knife in his drunken state. That Z looked more like some squiggly lines.

A knock sounded on the door but he didn't dare open his mouth. Whoever that was can take a hint and would leave him alone.

But it just wasn't his day. The door opened and Zach looked up to see his mother walk in.

She sat beside Zach and pulled him in a side hug.

"Why'd you do that mom?" He asked.

"I did that because you're not some dirty secret that I wanna hide forever. Neither are you some mistake that I want to put behind me. You're my son. My blood. My family. You're mine and no matter how many walls you erect I'm going to push through them."

Zach didn't say anything. In fact tears stung his eyes.

"Gosh. It's Dave's wedding. They don't need this right now."

"Listen to me. My sons aren't heartless. They're compassionate, kind and loving. same with my nephew. They'll love you. Just give them a chance Zach. I know growing up here wasn't as easy for you. You didn't have a family and the guilt that I could never raise you ate me from inside. But now I wanna give you a family. A loving family, Zach."

Loud footsteps sounded as somebody came up rushing.

"Mom, Lexi fainted." Daniel said from the doorway.

Cassandra stood up so fast that he didn't think that a woman that old could move so fast.

"Oh my god." The woman was out the door in seconds but Dan just stood there grinning at him.

"Is she okay?"

"Lexi? Pfft" he rolled his eyes. "That woman's as strong as a bull. I bet she fainted to quiet down the loud yapping of the dogs downstairs."

"They're angry, huh?"

"Yeah." Daniel said leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed across his chest. "But not at you. At Sydney. Apparently that girl knew and still didn't say anything to anybody. Kari yelled at them but instead they cornered her too. Lexi pulled on the fainting thing to stop them all. Man, do these women stick together."

"What did you say about Kari?"

Zach stood up, his eyes narrowing. If anybody was giving her a hard time, they'd know how hard he could punch despite the fact that they were all family. Kari was his and he wouldn't let anybody hurt her. Or hurl accusations at her.

"Everything's fine, brother. Though I don't know how we didn't put two and two together. You're like an older version of Sean. Looks wise. But you've got that bossy aura that Logan has."

"Uh huh."Zach said and Dan straightened up and walked over to him.

"If mom says you're our brother than you're family, Zach. You've got us. Welcome to the family brother."

His heart was pounding so loud that Zach was sure even Dan could hear it. When he pulled him in for a hug and slapped his hand on his back, a tear slipped from the corner of his eye and Zach let the happiness wash over him.

********

When Zach stepped down the last stair to the living room, the room went silent until a raging bull by the name of Dave came at him and punched him right in the nose.

"Fuck" slipped through his teeth as he stumbled back but didn't swing at Dave.

"You, asshole. I was your friend. Your best friend. Yet you never told me. You moth-"

"David Miles, watch your tongue." His mother's voice sharpened as she glared at Dave.

Two lean, feminine arms pulled him towards the couch and he let her.

"Great, boss. You broke his nose." Kari grumbled at Dave.

"You," he pointed a finger at her and shouted so loud that Kari flinched "Don't come between us."

Zach stood up from where he'd flopped down and turned that icy glare at Dave, "And you don't talk to her like that."

The whole room went silent at his low growl.

"I can handle myself." Kari turned her scowl at him and pushed forward "Sit down while I look at it and you," she turned to Dave "Shut the hell up or we'll have a problem. That's my man right there and if you don't want me to come between you, well let me tell you, boss that ain't happening."

Dave glared as Kari stood, her hands on her hips. Zach loved how she called him as her man. As if she was claiming him. She was lovely in her fighter mode. His eyes widened as one by one the woman started to walk over to Kari's side and stood in a line.

Lexi, Sydney, Kayla, Monisha all of them stood on either side of Kari and when Tessa too walked up to stand beside her, Dave sighed and groaned, "You too?"

"Say another word and you're sleeping on the couch for a week."

Dave was smart enough to shut up and Kari spoke up.

"Nobody knows the real story or the reason why Zach chose to stay quiet. Think boys, that man was amongst you for years. How hard has it been on him to have his family within his grasp but still stay away from them. Give him a chance."

"Oh he's family alright!" Logan said. "He was family even before we knew of our relation with him. It's just baffling that how stupid we could be. I mean he's like a duplicate of Sean."

"Oh hell no. I'm way too handsome."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy" Zach chuckled at Sean's annoyance.

"It just came out of nowhere and it's going to take us time for us to adjust to the fact that you're our brother. All we are asking for is time."

Zach smiled. "Well it's better than a kick on the ass."

When nobody laughed at that, Zach pursed his lips. "It was a joke."

"It didn't seem like one, especially with blood running down your nose. That's gross." Sydney wrinkled her nose.

"Uh huh. I'll see what I can do. After that, you men are leaving." Kari added and walked towards the bathroom to grab a first aid kit.

"Are you kicking us all out?" Logan asked raising an eyebrow and Lexi nodded.

"Yep. It's time for us to play dress up. So shoo."

********

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- Nami