“That son of a bitch shot my brother.”

“And he’ll pay for it.”

With a curt nod, Zack walked by her and into Nick’s room. He stood at the foot of the bed, waiting. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” He was exhausted after his interview with Alex, but he wasn’t finished. “I need to talk to you, to tell you. Explain.”

“It can wait.”

“No. It was my fault. The whole thing. They were Cobras, Zack. They knew when to come in and how, because I told them. I didn’t know…I swear to God I didn’t know what they were going to do. I don’t expect you to believe me.”

Zack waited a moment until he got his bearings. “Why shouldn’t I believe you?”

Nick squeezed his eyes tight. “I messed up. Like always.” He poured out the entire story of how he’d run into Cash at the arcade. “I thought we were just talking. And all the time he was setting me up. Setting you up.”

“You trusted him.” Zack came around the side of the bed to put a hand on Nick’s wrist. “You thought he was your friend. That’s not messing up, Nick, it’s just trusting people who don’t deserve it. You’re not like them.” When Nick’s eyes opened again, Zack took a firm hold of his hand. “If you messed up anything, it was yourself by trying to be like them. And that’s done.”

“I won’t let them get away with it.”

“We won’t,” Zack told him. “We’re in this together.”

“Yeah,” Nick said on a long breath. “Okay.”

“They’re going to kick me out of here so you can get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Zack,” Nick called out as his brother hit the door. “Don’t forget the fries.”

“You got it.”

“Okay?” Rachel asked when Zack came out.

“Okay.” Then he gathered her up, held her hard and close. She was slim and small, and as steady as an anchor in a storm-tossed sea. “Come home with me, please,” he murmured against her hair. “Stay with me tonight.”

“Let’s go.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I can buy a toothbrush on the way.”

Later, when he fell into an exhausted sleep, she lay beside him and kept watch. She knew it was the first time he’d done more than nod off in a chair in nearly forty-eight hours. Odd, she thought as she watched his face in the faint, shadowy light that sneaked through the windows. She’d never considered herself the nurturing type. But it had been very satisfying to simply lie beside him and hold him until the strain and fatigue of the past few days had toppled him into sleep.

The bigger they are, she thought again, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.