Loving Lucas (7 page)
“I’ve been waiting for ten years to finish what I started.”
“Please….”
“Well, I will. Damn soon. And no one can stop me, not
even your pretty boyfriend.”
“Riley, leave everyone else out of this.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe you managed to land anyone,
Lucas. Not looking like you do now.”
The words sliced into him, just as Riley had known they
would, and Lucas felt sick, as the phone was pulled from his hand.
“You don’t want to play this game, you bastard. If you
come after him, I will be there, and trust me when I tell you I will kill you before I allow you to hurt him.”
Watching Nicholas hang up the phone, Lucas said
nothing. He couldn’t form a thought. He couldn’t do
anything, it seemed, but remember what Riley had said.
“Honestly, I can’t believe you managed to land anyone,
Lucas. Not looking like you do now.”
“Nic….”
Nicholas knelt down in front of him, taking Lucas’s
hands into his.
68
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“Don’t. Don’t you dare let that bastard do this. I know
what you’re thinking, Luc, and there isn’t a chance in hell that I’m gonna just let you slip away from me now.”
Eyes closing again, Lucas didn’t resist when Nicholas
pulled him into his arms. He simply let himself melt into the warmth and comfort of the embrace, burying his face against Nicholas’s neck and holding on tight.
WITHIN two hours, a tap was placed on Lucas’s phone and
Nicholas had a uniformed officer inside the bookstore.
As difficult as it was, Nicholas forced himself to think
like a professional, to focus on catching Riley rather than his desire to take Lucas and get the hell out of town. He had
thought of a dozen places they could go, places where Riley would never think to look for them, but Nicholas knew Lucas would never agree to run.
But what he would do had Nicholas worried.
In the time since the call, Lucas had hardly spoken,
would hardly look at him, and Nicholas knew what was
happening. Lucas was pulling away from him and he hated
it. Lucas had finally told him he loved him, finally admitted he wanted them to be together, to work at having a future,
but one phone call from Riley had shattered that.
I won’t let go now. We’re too close to what we want
.
69
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
Finishing his conversation with the deputy he had
assigned to watch the store, Nicholas went back upstairs to the apartment and let himself inside.
“Luc?”
“I’m in the bedroom.”
Closing and locking the door, he walked into the
bedroom to find Lucas sitting on the bed, arms resting on his knees as he stared at the floor.
“I have someone watching downstairs and I’ve got an
officer to stand outside of Sasha’s place tonight, just to be on the safe side.”
“Thanks.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Luc.”
Silence settled between them and Nicholas waited half a
second before crossing the room to sit down beside Lucas on the bed. He didn’t reach out to touch him, as much as he
wanted to. He sensed the need Lucas had for physical space
and, for the moment, Nicholas was willing to allow him that, but he wasn’t going to be coolly pushed away.
Never again, and certainly not because Riley Miller was
trying to undermine Lucas.
That bastard had better pray it’s one of my deputies and
not me who finds him.
“He’s going to come after me, Nic.”
70
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“Luc.”
“And if you’re in his way, he will kill you.”
“He’s not going to kill me or you,” Nicholas insisted, but
Lucas shook his head.
“I can’t believe I’m so stupid.”
“Stupid? Luc, you are anything but stupid.”
“You don’t understand.” He looked at Nicholas, tangled
emotions in his eyes. “When it became obvious that Riley
had some sort of fixation on me, I offered to help his mother get him the help he really needed, but she refused.”
“That’s on her. Not you.”
“I should have insisted. At the very least I should have
taken it more seriously.”
“Luc….”
“I didn’t consider him a danger, Nic. I didn’t think I had
to be afraid.”
Standing, he moved to the dresser, bracing his hands
against it, his back to Nicholas, who bit his lip, holding back his need to reassure Lucas again, sensing that something
was close to the surface, something Lucas needed to get out.
“I thought he was a confused kid. I didn’t think he would
try and hurt me. I didn’t see how sick he really was until it was too late and there was nothing I could do to stop him, to keep him from doing whatever in the hell he wanted to do.”
71
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“I was completely powerless and…he was insane and I
knew it then. I knew I should have seen it before, but I didn’t and because I didn’t, I nearly died.”
Standing, Nicholas slowly crossed the room, standing
behind Lucas but not touching him.
“Luc, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Don’t. Please, don’t say that. Everyone says that.”
“Because it’s true,” Nicholas whispered. “Don’t take the
blame for what Riley did onto yourself because you don’t
deserve it. He’s responsible for his sins.”
“I should have done more.”
“You did what you could.”
Lucas shook his head again. “If I had done more….”
“What-if games will never get you anywhere.”
“Nic.”
“I can’t change what happened to you. If I could, I would.
I would do anything to spare you the pain you suffered.”
Slowly, Lucas turned and looked at him. “I shouldn’t
throw all of this at you.”
“I love you, Luc. And I’m here. If you need to talk, I’ll
listen.”
“Will you just…just be here, Nic? I have no right to ask,
but I need you.”
72
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
Stepping closer, he pulled Lucas into his arms, holding
him, grateful that Lucas was allowing him this close and
even more grateful that Lucas seemed willing to lean on him.
“You can ask me for anything, Luc, and I will give it to
you, because I love you, and being here for you means more
to me than you will ever know.”
73
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
THE next morning, Lucas assured Nicholas he would be fine
while Nicholas went to his office and Lucas went downstairs to the bookstore.
He trusted Sasha completely to run the place, but he had
some accounting work to handle and some ordering that
needed to be done. And he needed the distraction. He felt on edge, knowing just how close Riley had come to seriously
hurting Nicholas. He had no doubt the man was still out
there, waiting for a chance to come after him and finish what he had started ten years ago.
Nicholas felt confident in the security measures he had
in place and Lucas trusted him, but he had a bad feeling,
one he couldn’t shake.
In the end, he knew it would come down to him and
Riley and maybe it was best that way.
As long as no one else gets hurt, I don’t care what
happens to me
.
74
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
He knew, of course, that if something happened to him,
Nicholas wouldn’t handle it well. For all his attempts to
ignore it and push Nicholas away, Lucas couldn’t deny that
the other man truly loved him and Lucas loved him just as
much in return. He had for a long time now and he couldn’t
go on pretending otherwise.
Which left him facing his greatest fear.
Allowing Nicholas to see him.
He still wasn’t certain he could; the idea still terrified
him, despite Nicholas’s reassurance that he didn’t care
about the scars.
Nicholas seemed to believe his feelings wouldn’t change,
but Lucas wasn’t so sure.
Lost in his thoughts, he had forgotten the task at hand—
reviewing the inventory—until Sasha leaned over the
counter, glancing at what he had accomplished.
Today, she had her orange hair, now highlighted with
red, pulled into pigtails, and her green-and-blue leopard-
print dress tightly hugged her figure.
Anyone else would look ridiculous, but Sasha had a flair
all her own.
“Looks like you’re getting a lot done there, Boss.”
“I’m taking my time, to avoid mistakes.”
She rolled her brown eyes. “Please. You were doing that
broody thing.”
75
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“Broody thing? I don’t brood.”
“Please. You totally brood.” She grinned. “I bet I know
what you’re being broody about.”
“And what might that be?” he asked, despite knowing
just what she would say.
“Sheriff Tall, Dark, and Handsome.”
Despite himself, Lucas laughed. “I’m sure Nicholas would
love to know you call him that.”
“He doesn’t need me to. He has to know he’s hot. I mean,
you know he’s hot, right?”
“Sasha….”
“I know. I know. You don’t share the good stuff, which
sucks.” She leaned closer. “Just tell me if it’s good. It is, right? I mean, how can it not be!”
“Nic and I are….”
“If you say the two of you are just friends, I swear I will scream so loud the windows shatter.”
Shaking his head, Lucas sighed. “Saying that Nic and I
are just friends is…well, I know he and I are a lot more than that.”
Sasha clapped her hands. “Yes! Finally. Welcome back
from the World of Denial.”
“It’s still a complicated situation, Sasha.”
76
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“Lucas, it can’t be that complicated. I mean, you are
crazy for him and he’s crazy for you.”
“And you know I have some…issues.” She didn’t know
everything, but she knew enough.
“Can I be honest with you?”
Lucas raised an eyebrow, setting his inventory list aside.
“When have you ever been anything but painfully, brutally
honest?”
“Don’t be a smartass. I’m serious.”
“In that case, by all means, please be honest.”
“You said you have issues and, you know, I’m sure you
do, because we all have issues and yeah, some are a lot more complicated than others, but at the end of the day, everyone has something in their past that isn’t pleasant.”
“Sasha….”
“The thing is, you can go on living in the past, never
letting yourself heal and move on, or you can accept what
happened, painful as that might be, and then realize that
you have a life here and now and you have something
wonderful right in front of you.” She slapped a hand on the counter. “Not to get all cliché-sounding on you, but you have to take some risks in life or one day, you’re gonna realize that you stayed on the sidelines and watched everyone else
do the living. And what’s the fun in that?”
77
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
“What if you’re trying to avoid getting your heart
broken?”
“That’s just it, Boss. At some point, we all get our hearts broken. Any time you put your heart on the line, there’s a
chance it could get kicked around, but I don’t think you have to worry about that, when it comes to you and Nicholas.”
“You can’t….”
“Know that? I can’t predict the future. No one can. But I
know something and I think you know it too, but here goes:
Nicholas loves you and you love him and you need to take a
risk on that, because I’m pretty sure it will be worth it.”
She pushed away from the counter. “Of course, it’s up to
you. I mean, you can push him away and maybe even offer
up a good reason for doing it, but I’ve got to tell you, if you do, you’re a fool.”
“Think so?”
“I think so. And you know it. So get your head out of
your ass and get Nicholas in it.”
“Crude, Sasha.” Lucas laughed and she shrugged.
“It comes natural.” She turned to go back to stocking
shelves. “By the way, there’s a kick-ass copy of the
Kama
Sutra
in the adult section.”
Shaking his head, he ignored her laughter as she went
back to work and he looked down at the inventory list, fairly certain he wouldn’t be getting much done today. He had too
78
Loving Lucas /
Lisa Marie Davis
much on his mind and Sasha had given him even more to
think about. For all her unique style and unique way of
expressing herself, she was right and Lucas knew it.
She hadn’t come right out and called him a coward, but
Lucas knew he was acting like one and that wasn’t fair to
him and it certainly wasn’t fair to Nicholas.
So what are you gonna do about it?
There was only one obvious answer and that was to face
his fear and get over it.
“Hey, Sasha, can you handle things here?”
“Of course.” She flashed a smile over her shoulder. “You
want that book I mentioned?”
“Thanks, but I already have a copy upstairs.”
“Way to go, Boss!”
HE found an old radio in the cabin and, tuning it to the local station, he heard his name mentioned as part of a statewide manhunt.
“…considered armed and dangerous, Miller is not to be
approached. If you see him, please call the proper authorities.
Miller has a history of violence and unstable behavior….”
