Page 23 of Captured Memories
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Even though Livgot the job done, the insistent need to return to Zane’s side pounded through her. Despite the casual way he’d agreed, she knew she had tossed him into shark-infested waters with life raft. She’d cast a glance into the cocktail room, ready to track him down again, but the second she stepped inside, the bride tugged at the leash, calling her over again because they were about to make their entrance. Liv bit back her sigh and followed them into the ballroom, the dappled lighting cascading over her skin like leopard print.
The guests filed in through the now-opened doors from the cocktail area, and Liv scanned the doors, searching for the gorgeous-as-sin guy she’d arrived with. The band picked up the strains, signaling the impending bridal party’s arrival. Still, she couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her chest and the tug in her gut that told her something was wrong. Back there, his gaze kept drifting to the bar, and she’d caught a slight undercurrent of unease from him despite the easy smiles he flashed.
Her gaze glued to the table they were supposed to sit at even while she crouched behind her tripod waiting for the bride to descend. The clicks of heels and dress shoes sounded all around her while guests crossed the hardwood floors to their tables. Everyone else had taken their seats at this point, but Zane’s remained empty.
Liv swallowed. Maybe he’d taken the out she gave him and gone home. She hoped he’d done that over the alternative. Anxiety percolated through her, but she couldn’t leave her post. The punchy wedding music drew everyone’s attention to the doors on the opposite side of the room as the first pair of the bridal party began dancing in, waving their arms in the air to the beat of the music. Despite the energy and happiness surrounding her, Liv’s insides plummeted to Arctic temps.
She snapped on automatic, her years of experience coming to the fore as she cast glances to the screen all while the empty seat mocked her from a distance. The overhead balls glowed, providing perfect lighting and a wonderful contrast to the shadows coating the exterior of this room. A cheer roared from the onlookers as the bride and groom stepped into view, sauntering down the walkway in a parade of tulle. Her skin prickled with all the foreboding she felt.
The band began to play a different song, the usual father-daughter and mother-son dances began, and she continued clicking away, trying to ignore the beast of concern clawing at her chest. The way her insides squeezed. Announcements kept on rolling, followed by tears as the maid of honor clutched the microphone tight and blurred her mascara with some sappy sentimental speech, but Liv barely paid any attention. She couldn’t quell the bad feeling eating her bones, one that grew with every passing second she didn’t see Zane in his seat, that she hadn’t gotten a text on her phone.
As the dances wound down, she began prowling around the perimeter of the room snapping shots of all the happy guests, of their melodious laughter, and of the picture-perfect food they demolished.
Her finger paused on the shutter as she approached the table with her parents.
Lex wasn’t supposed to be here.
Nausea swept through her like the flu, and she stepped in front of the table, forcing a smile. “Look this way,” she directed her family even as her heartbeat thudded so loud it pulsed in her ears. If she searched for the reason Zane disappeared, she didn’t need to go any further than her overprotective big brother. She didn’t know what poison Lex had told Zane, but with the vicious grudge he still bore, nothing he said could be good.
Her brother’s knowing gaze fixed on her, turning her stomach. “Whole family’s reunited,” he said while her mom waggled her fingers for the camera and flashed a crookedsmile.
“Takes a wedding to do it.” Her dad shook his head as he sipped at his beer, even though a grin lingered on his face. “You know, normal families do Sunday dinners.”
Liv snorted despite her unease. “The only families that do Sunday dinners are the Cleavers, Dad. We’re a far reach from them. Lex, can I have a word?” she asked, fixing her laser stare onto her brother. He got up without question, the chair sliding with a squeak.
Even though she kept her camera up and fired a few more shots while they walked, Liv burned on the inside with a fury that radiated outward. Based on Lex’s tight lips, he sensed her rage too. They came to a halt on the far corner of the ballroom, well away from prying eyes and listening ears.
“Look, before you try and give me a tongue lashing, hear me out. You don’t know what fractured our friendship, or why Zane got sent to jail,” Lex jumped in before she could argue. “Our senior year, Zane started drinking real heavily. I know shit was rough for him on the home front, but he slammed the bottle and it would get ugly.”
“Yeah, he’s an alcoholic—tell me something I don’t know,” Liv interjected, venom in her voice.
Lex slashed the air in front of them, shaking his head. “Listen. We were hanging at the bar one night, right after graduation, me, Jay, and Zane. Jay was mouthing off, some shit about getting a little rough with his girl, and Zane loses it. He started whaling into him and wouldn’t stop—I’d never seen something so terrifying in my life. The man was possessed, pounding into the guy until I thought for sure he’d killed him. Jay’s got permanent damage due to that night, shit which will never heal.”
Liv clenched her jaw, arms crossed in front of her as the story sank in. Lex watched expectantly, like he waited for some shock or horror to cross her face where she magically turned her stance around to agree with him. Bull-fucking-shit. If that had been the deep dark secret Zane kept buried, she could handle the skeleton in his closet. In fact, her brother’s story only confirmed her willingness to fight for him.
“I knew Jay,” she said. “He was a piece of shit who beat his girlfriends. With Zane’s history, did you expect he wouldn’t go berserk at that sort of talk?”
“What are you talking about?” Lex asked, a line forming between his brows. The band began a new, faster song, and already the servers had begun to whisk the main courses away from the tables, finished or not. Disbelief bubbled up inside her, and she couldn’t help the sharp laugh that came from her throat.
“You’re telling me you ditched Zane when he needed you most, and you didn’t even know his whole history? Lex, I know you’re a stubborn ass sometimes, but I never took you for an idiot.” Liv didn’t bother hiding the sharpness in her tone, and Lex’s mouth pressed tight. “Zane’s father used to beat him and his mom, and I’m talkin’ real bad. If anything—anything—would send him over the edge it would be some asshole mouthing off about that. Besides, he’s been sober for a couple of years now and goes to AA meetings regularly.”
Lex sank against the wall, his gaze shifting to the floor in front of them. “Fuck, I never knew. I mean—I knew he’d lost his dad early and about their financial problems, but we didn’t get into the deep stuff often. I figured I’d let him keep his pride.”
Liv’s temper, which simmered this entire time, lashed out at last. Her brother had brandished all this hatred, hanging onto the grudge with a vengeance and never bothering to be a good enough friend to even find out the truth, to fight for him. Zane deserved better than that after everything he’d suffered, and how he still tried to persevere against the odds. Deep rage bloomed inside her.
“All that big talk about how you wanted to beat the shit out of the monster who raped me,” she hissed, “and yet you’re going to condemn Zane for not tolerating that same sort of shit from Jay? Abuse is abuse, Lex, whether it’s sexual or not,” she spat. Her brother paled, and horror ringed his eyes when he looked up at her. As if the hypocrisy of the grudge finally came crashing home.
“So now you’re going to tell me what the fuck you said to him.” Her voice remained low, seething. “Because he was already struggling with the open bar here, and my God, Lex, if you shoved his past in his face, if you pushed him over the edge, I won’t forgive you.”
Lex sucked in a sharp breath, running a hand over his near-shaved head. “Liv, I didn’t know—shit, I never even gave Jay’s bullshit a second thought…” he trailed off, not willing to finish the sentence as shame thickened his words. “He left during the cocktail hour.”
All this time had passed and he was out there hurting, suffering, and believing he was nothing more than trash.
Lex ran a hand over his buzzed hair before scrubbing his face with his palms. “Tell me what to do to make this right. I’m sorry, Livs.”
Liv’s chest burned, but as much as she wanted to deck her brother, the sight of him crumpled up so pitiful, horrified at what he’d done, stayed her hand. “I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to. When I find Zane, the two of you are going to have a chat. He’s the one you need to make things right with, not me.”