Page 76 of Unruly

Making my way back into the main area, I glance at the old clock above the bar. Almost fucking done. My feet start to drag just a little as I head toward the office to finish counting the tills, the fluorescent bulb overhead buzzing loud enough to annoy me.

The door to the back opens up, and I freeze slightly, putting the money in the safety draw and locking it.

I thought I locked the door, I think to myself as I walk toward the hallway leading to the back door.

The door slams shut and my heart gives a quick stutter, but I try to remain calm. “Cash, is that you?”

No one answers.

If this is some sick joke Cash is playing, I’ll beat his ass.

Stepping out of the office, I peek around the corner to see who the fuck is here.

I’m greeted by Zach, his large frame filling the hallway, blocking the back door. His flannel shirt hangs rumpled, his hair disheveled, as if he’s run his hands through it a hundred times, and his eyes look wild under the harsh overhead light. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days—exhaustion mixing with that familiar scowl etched deeper into his face than I remember.

“Halle,” he says, stepping closer to me in the hallway. “Hey, baby.”

I walk toward the bar room, trying to make sure I maintain some distance between him, and because I know both my phone and the gun are in there, should I need it. “What do you want, Zachariah?”

He chuckles, following closely behind me until we’re both in the bar room. I slip behind the bar and he sits down on a stool. “Can you serve me a beer?”

I grab a beer from the cooler, open the cap, and set it in front of him. “You didn’t drive six hours to be served a beer by your ex-wife.”

“You aren’t my ex-wife.”

“Soon-to-be.”

He scoffs. “C’mon. Humor me for a night. Let’s just talk.”

My heart pounds furiously against my rib cage as I freeze for half a second, then force my shoulders back, lifting my chin. “Get out, Zach. Whatever this is, it can wait till court.”

“You really think this bullshit is going anywhere?” His fists clench tight around the glass bottle, knuckles whitening. “You think you can hide in this shit hole forever? I’m done with your little runaway act, Halle. You’re coming home. Tonight.”

Home. The word lands like a stone in my stomach, twisting uncomfortably. That house was never home, just somewhere I lost myself, and a place for a baby I never got to have.

The Halle that lived there is gone.

I take a careful step back, toward the shotgun. “We’re not doing this. You signed the papers, Zach, then demanded more from me than you actually need. Move on with your life. I know I am.”

“You are?” He lets out a laugh. “With who? Who the fuck would want a broken woman who can’t even have kids? A woman who failed at the one thing she’s supposed to do as a wife. Don’t make me laugh. You’re mine, Halle—always have been. I’m taking you back whether you like it or not. We’ll fix this like we should have before you ran off and lost your goddamn mind.”

Rhett’s words echo in my head about how Cash and Zach aren’t the same.

My blood runs hot, a flush creeping up my neck. “What about Melissa? I’m sure that slut can give you everything you want because I’m not. You don’t get to storm in here and demand anything from me.”

“Don’t you fucking dare mention her,” he growls. “You misunderstood everything. You always twist shit to make me the villain. I built a life for us and you turned into a cold, selfish bitch. You abandoned this family, not me.”

I feel months of suppressed truth surge forward.

“I changed because staying the same would have destroyed me,” I counter, my voice steady. “We were never going to work out. After you cheated and losing our baby … I finally chose my own peace. I chose myself. And for the first time in years, I feel like I can breathe.”

He takes the beer and chugs the remaining bits of it, then throws it against the wall to his left and it shatters to the ground. “Like you can breathe? Like I actually fucking suffocated you? You’re real fucking funny.”

He stands up from the seat and advances slowly around the bar, kicking a nearby chair aside with a loud clatter that makes me jump, despite myself. “We’re family, Halle—till death do us part. Remember those vows we stood up and said in front of everyone? Are you just a liar now too?”

Vows? Is he fucking kidding? Like he wasn’t buried balls-deep inside someone else when we were together.

He rounds the corner of the bar, completely on the backside of it now. I keep my distance. “You really need to leave. Now,” I say.