Chapter 9 #2
“Real. My father was Irish and loved to tell stories about leprechauns and fairies and say he had the luck of the Irish. He called me his lucky charm.”
“Sounds like he had a good spirit and whimsical side.”
“The only side I can remember was the back of his hand across my face and the point of his blade across my skin.” She didn’t have to hold up her arms for them to see her scars. They were visible all over her exposed skin. She couldn’t hide her past, so why not be real about it.
Hawk took the seat beside her and dropped his hand on her knee. “He can’t hurt you anymore and no one else will ever again.”
“Any updates on the case?” She asked, even though she didn’t really want to know.
Hawk shook his head. “No. I’m meeting Jase tomorrow morning to get an update. Tonight you sleep, knowing you’re safe here and not alone anymore.”
Lyric reached across the table and put her hand over Lucky’s.
She checked the impulse to pull her hand back.
“I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t know about your father.”
“It’s okay. Turns out, I’m not lucky at all.”
Hawk brushed his fingers down the back of her head. “I am, because you’re here. And you are because you survived.” Hawk kissed the side of her head. “Eat, sweetheart. You’ll feel better. Later, I’ll help you take a shower.”
She ducked her head. “Yeah. I haven’t made the best first impression.” She pushed her oily braid over her back.
“You may not be at your best, but you’re still gorgeous.” Hawk squeezed her thigh. He was always touching her.
She hadn’t known how good it felt to be caressed and held the way Hawk loved on her.
Lyric passed her a roll. “I’d kill to have hair as thick as yours.”
“It’s so long it gets in the way a lot. I usually keep it in a ponytail, but with my shoulder…Hawk braided it for me at the hospital.” She touched the bandage on her head. “I haven’t actually looked in a mirror, but I imagine I’m black and blue and scraped up.”
“It’s really not as bad as you think,” Lyric consoled her. “You’re alive. That’s what’s important.”
“Any new memories come back to you?” Mason asked.
Hawk pointed his fork at his cousin. “Let her eat in peace. You can interrogate her later.”
“I just asked a question.” Mason frowned back at Hawk.
Hawk turned to her. “Mason is FBI. He’s not being nosy, he just wants to help.”
“I appreciate that.” She smiled at the man across the table, wondering if he or anyone else would be able to figure out what really happened. “I woke up with the same image repeated in my head. Neil coming toward me.”
Mason perked up. “He’s the ex-boyfriend who killed your family.”
“Yes.” A wave of grief hit her when she thought of her little brother, the blood running from his slit throat and down his small chest.
“Mason.” Hawk put a warning in his voice.
She put her hand on Hawk’s thigh beside hers. “I brought him up.”
Hawk’s gaze dropped to her hand on him, then his lips widened to a smile and he put his hand over hers. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“There’s not much I can remember of that night at the bar. I just know I saw him.”
Mason leaned in. “In your mind, is he young or older?”
She tilted her head. “Do you mean like he was a teen when he killed my parents or an adult who just got out of prison?”
“Yes. Which version do you see?”
“Huh. I hadn’t really thought about it because I was so shocked to see him. I hadn’t seen him in so long and he’d changed so much, but not enough that I didn’t recognize his voice and his face.”
“What did he say to you?”
“Something like, are you finally going to let me see her?”
Mason and Hawk shared a concerned look.
“Who was he talking to?” Lyric asked.
She turned to her. “I’m not sure. It’s kind of a blur. I was with my best friend, Desiree, so my inclination is to say her. But that can’t be right. I’m really not sure what happened. And she’d never betray me like that. He killed my little brother. I won’t ever forgive him for that.”
“And your parents?” Mason studied her.
“My father terrorized all of us, me especially, because I tried my hardest to shield my brother. My mother…is complicated.”
“She didn’t save you,” Hawk said simply. “She should have saved you.” Hawk swept in, taking her face in his hands, and kissing her so gently it ached with longing for more. Then his lips were all over her cheeks, kissing away her tears.
She hooked her hands over his wrists and held him tight as she looked him deep in the eyes. “You saved me. I’ve been drowning in loneliness for so long I didn’t see a way out of it, except one.” She choked back more tears. “Because of you…the letters…I held on. Hoping beyond hope.”
“Why the fuck did I wait so long when I’ve known for a while now that you were everything I wanted but didn’t think I deserved?”
She laid her chin on his shoulder and stared into his eyes. “You showed up at exactly the right moment.”
His eyes turned dark and stormy. “I was almost too late.”
“But you weren’t. And I’m still here. And you’re here.”
“And you’re not leaving. Ever. We’ll figure this out, eliminate the threat, and it’ll be you and me from now on.” Hawk kissed her like he’d never get to kiss her again.
She wrapped her good arm around his neck, pressing into him as much as she could because close wasn’t close enough.
They both forgot about their captive audience until a soft sob came from across the table.
They broke apart and stared at Lyric in Mason’s arms, her head on his shoulder. “You guys! You’re so perfect for each other. I’m so happy for you.” Her smile was wide and genuine despite the tears. “You deserve so much love.”
Lucky didn’t know if that sentiment was for Hawk, or both of them, but she took it to heart. She’d endured a lot of heartache and abuse in her young life. Now she wanted the good stuff.
And he was sitting beside her with her hand in his, their fingers laced together like he never wanted to let her go.
Lyric picked up her water glass with one hand and wiped her tears with the other as she recovered from the swell of emotion her pregnancy hormones had unleashed.
Mason followed her lead and raised his bottle of beer, but it was Lyric who gave the toast. “To the saviors in our lives, the ones who show up when we need them most.”
Hawk and Lucky picked up their drinks, her wine only a quarter full because she was taking pain meds. “To saviors.” She clinked her glass to Hawk’s first, then Mason and Lyric’s.
“So how long are you in town?” Lucky asked, wanting to get to know Hawk’s family better.
Lyric buttered another roll. “We head back tomorrow. Mason has a case. But you’ll hear from me often, since I’m Hawk’s best friend.”
She looked from Lyric to Hawk, then back again. “Yeah. How did that come about? And aren’t you a bit jealous?” she asked Mason.
Hawk spoke up right away. “You don’t need to be jealous. Most of our calls she’s got Mason on speaker. We’re not telling each other our secrets or anything like that.”
Lyric grinned. “We share a lot of recipes. I’m the chef at the Dark Horse Dive Bar I own with my family.
That’s where Mason and I met. And when I learned about his cousin who’d withdrawn from everyone in the family because of what he’d experienced during his military service, well, I decided maybe he just needed a friend.
So I called him. The first few conversations were mostly just me talking. But I wore him down.”
Hawk shook his head. “I couldn’t resist her.
Not the way Mason can’t. It’s just, she’s usually so happy and it didn’t matter if all I did was grunt at her those first few calls.
She made me get to know her and I liked her.
I especially liked her for Mason, who also needed some sunshine in his life. ”
Mason held his beer up again and the two clinked bottles over that.
She turned to Hawk. “So you’ve basically had two women who saw you needed someone in your life and forced their way in.”
“I guess you could put it that way. I was trying to spare everyone my bad temper and the trauma I couldn’t process. It started with you, and I guess you could say it opened the door for her to sneak in, too.”
She picked up her wine glass. Lyric followed suit with her water, and they clinked them together.
For the first time Lucky felt like she was making new friends and connections with people who thought she mattered.
“So you own a bar?” She wanted to know more about Lyric.
“She’s also an amazing singer-songwriter. If you like country music, you might have heard a couple of her songs on the radio.” Hawk’s pride in his best friend showed in his eyes.
“Really? Do you tour?”
Lyric shook her head. “No. I write the songs and sell them to other artists. I sing at the bar a lot, but I love being home with my family. I want to hear my songs on the radio or live at a concert, but family is what’s really important to me.
” She rubbed her hand over her baby bump.
“We’re happy in Wyoming with my family. And Mason loves his new job.
He’s left undercover work behind and loves having more regular hours. ”
“That’s nice. I always wished my family was different.
Nicer. I thought about taking my brother when I turned eighteen and just leaving with him.
I couldn’t imagine going off to college and leaving him behind at my father’s mercy.
But then they were gone and I was truly alone.
My mother ran the cleaning service I took over and own now. ”
“The one she’s tripled in size.” How did Hawk know that?
“That’s impressive.” Mason studied her.
“Not really. When I took over, there was twelve of us. Now, we’re thirty-seven. I expanded the business out of necessity. I inherited what my family left behind, including their debt. I needed to put a roof over my head once I realized I couldn’t afford to keep the house.”
Lyric looked impressed. “I know what it’s like to run a business. I hope you have help.”
“I have one full-time office person. Everyone else is in the field, so to speak.”