Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(48)

“Well, you’re in luck,” Zach said a minute later. “He was having lunch with Abby and a couple of her friends. He’s on his way over.”

Zane looked over at his brother.

Zach shrugged. “He’s a wedding photographer. They all spend a lot of time together around here. He’s moving out of state soon, but they’re pretty good friends.”

A few minutes later, Zane was inside, pacing the floor while Zach, Abby, and the owner—a slim, short Asian-American chatted near the front.

Gleaming hardwood floors.

Lots of windows.

An angled slope of a ceiling that caught Zane’s eye the minute they came inside.

This was perfect.

He didn’t even have to look at anything else.

Yeah, he’d be in bride-to-be central with Abby’s catering place a few doors down and the wedding dress boutique across the way, but that wasn’t a problem. He already figured he’d be doing some of that for a while anyway, so what better place to be?

He just wouldn’t make bridal photography his sole focus when he did his advertising—or as he set up things here once he started designing everything inside.

Here.

The idea settled inside him, anticipation curling through him.

Yes.

Here.

It really was perfect.

Twined with that anticipation was a bit of nerves though and he blew out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck. He really was doing this.

“Wishing you hadn’t quit your job?”

At the sound of Zach’s voice, he glanced over at his brother.

“I quit because I was ready to do it,” he said, shrugging.

“Safety net’s gone, though.” Zach hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “Now it’s all up to you. You gotta push now, make it work.”

Zane studied his brother with narrowed eyes. Zach didn’t really look much different from the pretty-boy actor he’d been years ago. Well, except for the longer hair, the tattoos that climbed up his arms, and his face was a little leaner, a little harder.

Sometimes, though, he was still every bit as annoying—or worse.

“Wow. I’m gonna have to work?” Zane drawled. “Shit. Why didn’t anybody tell me that? Here I was thinking spending anywhere from eight to ten hours a night on my feet was easy. Not to mention the grabby hands some of those pretty ladies get, especially after a few tequila shots.”

“Z, wait . . .”

The apology was already there in Zach’s voice. Shaking his head, he looked back at Zach. “Man, I know how to work. I know how to work for what I want. I just never wanted it enough until lately.” He paused, the rest of it trembling there, but finally, he just said it. “Not all of us were as lucky as you, Zach.”

Zach’s jaw went tight. “Lucky?”

“Yeah. Lucky . . . and I’m not talking about Abby, although, son, you hit the jackpot there and f*ck the fact that it took a while to happen.” Zane walked over to the exposed brick wall. Off near the front, he could hear Abby and the owner talking—Conan. While they continued to chat, Zane lifted a hand and pressed it to the brick, imagined seeing some of his prints hanging there, framed.

“You’re lucky,” he said after a moment. “You always had a picture in your head. Once the show stopped, you had a goal. Everything you wanted was always right in front of you, crystal-clear . . . right in focus. Me? Every time I tried to zoom in, it just got harder and harder to see it. It took this long to actually make it clear in my head. But just because it took a while doesn’t mean I don’t know how to make it work, pretty boy.”

“Is it clear now?”

Turning, he met Zach’s eyes. “It’s more clear now than it’s ever been. Why else would I be here?”


*

Not all of us were as lucky as you.

It was something of a rub to realize that guilt was still there. Zach had thought he’d gotten over it a good ten years ago, at least. More. Even fifteen years ago. He’d left Hollywood behind. There was no reason he couldn’t leave behind that guilt, too.

But it wasn’t as easy as all that.

They thought he hadn’t noticed, but he had.

More than once, some * reporter would shove a microphone under the nose of one of his brothers with those obnoxious questions . . . What’s it like living in the shadow of such a famous brother? What’s it like knowing that your brother’s talent is what made it possible for your family to have such a good life?

Yeah, those reporters could screw themselves sideways, a dozen times over. His brothers had either ignored the questions or laughed them off, because they were all close, they all loved each other.

Oddly enough, it was Zach who hadn’t been able to brush them off.

It was Zach who felt guilty when somebody would make a jab at one of his brothers. Every last one of them was talented. Trey with his books, Seb and the way his star was just taking off—Zach’s was all but gone and he was fine with that. Travis had turned out a little more serious than Zach would have expected, but he was a good man, worked hard. And Zane . . . everybody’s protector, the one who took care of all of them. He thought nobody saw it, but they all did. And he stood in the shadows with his camera, capturing secrets some people didn’t even realize they had.

They didn’t live in anybody’s shadow.