The Unlucky Ones, page 26
“Unlucky for Finn,” Lincoln replied evenly, his attention fixed on my uncle.
“Yes, it is.” Gavin didn’t back down from his stare, both in a battle for dominance. “It would be stupid of him to show up and become a target again. Especially when he is better off dead.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Letting Lincoln slip away the other night to get me to safety was one thing, but to let an escaped convict go when he had him went against everything my uncle believed in. But some things weren’t black and white. Life was gray.
“Will I be constantly looking over my shoulder?” Lincoln took one step closer.
A humorless sneer hinted on my uncle’s mouth. “My niece loves you; it was easy to see it the other night. And any man who doesn’t love and respect her the same should be looking over his shoulder. If he doesn’t care enough, it’s not the law he has to worry about.”
“That I can respect.” Lincoln’s smile was genuine. “Believe me, you should have no fear of that.”
“Good.” My uncle dipped his head sharply. “No one will miss a guy who’s already dead.”
Lincoln barked out a laugh and rubbed his scruffy chin, the tension between them receding slightly.
“I’ll be heading out tomorrow.” Uncle Gavin turned to me, his demeanor softening as he moved closer to me. “I need to get back. If anything, Lucy is ready to kill me. Max is chewing on anything he finds. And the station does need me back.”
I smiled, loving that Lucy was the first thing he thought about getting back to. I wondered if she was the reason my uncle had begun to see some rules were worth bending.
“I’ve tried to keep your sister from coming down here, but you know Amelia. She’s not one to be pacified for long. You need to go home soon.”
“But—” I motioned to my neck and leg.
“You can’t keep protecting her from life, Dev. It’s not your job. It’s not helping her. Though, I would leave out anything about him.” He tipped his head, still glowering at Lincoln. “Your sister is not known for keeping secrets, but you can’t hide here for the next month. You might always have scars.” He flinched at the last, as though he wished he could undo that whole night.
He was right; I couldn’t hide out forever, and I missed my niece and sister. Now was the time to treat Amelia as if she were an adult, otherwise neither of us would change. She would get a very loose version of the truth though, to protect Lincoln.
Uncle Gavin leaned over, kissing my head, quietly mumbling to me, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
“I trust you, Devon. You have always made smart choices, and I’m going to take a huge leap here and trust you on this…” His eyes flicked in Lincoln’s direction. “But know your safety and happiness come first. If it ever changes, call me. I’ll be here in a second.” He waited for me to nod, then kissed my forehead again and stood up, moving to the door. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” My eyes filled with tears.
He strolled up to Lincoln, stopping at his side. “I do find one thing incredibly peculiar. What are the odds that once again your path crossed with my niece’s?”
“Luck.”
Gavin smirked, patting his shoulder.
“Just remember, one step out of line, a single toe dipping into your old life and I will not hesitate.” The threat was unmistakable, his face hard again. “There will never be a day you can relax or stop looking over your shoulder, because I will always be watching you.” Gavin smacked his palm onto his arm again, causing Lincoln to bristle, but he didn’t move. Gavin glanced back at me. “Especially when you have one of the most precious things in the world to me. You got it?”
“Yeah.” Lincoln didn’t drop his gaze, both of them assessing the truth from the other.
“Okay.” Uncle Gavin finally nodded and stepped past him. “I’ll call you in a few days, Dev.” He waved before sliding the door open and gliding out like a ghost. Not even his footfall could be heard going down the stairs.
Lincoln relocked the door, a heavy sigh falling from his mouth.
I stared at his back as he leaned his head onto the door, giving him a moment to regroup. I had slept through most of it, but he had likely spent the past forty-eight hours on eggshells, not knowing what happened to his brother or whether the cops were about to break down the door and drag him back to jail. It had to take a toll. He inhaled and exhaled a few times before he turned around, rubbing his head.
“You okay?” My fingers knotted into the fabric of the sheets.
A laugh barked out of him, a dazed expression sliding over his face. “Am I okay?” He chuckled, taking steps toward the bed. “I’ve been running from the law since I was ten, always wishing to get out, have a clean slate. But I never could, which was as much my fault as my brother’s. After I escaped, I stood at my daughter’s grave and promised I’d do better, be better, even if she wasn’t here. I saw this place as a fresh start…to be someone else. But my brother quickly dragged me back under, making me forget my promise. You were another reminder of the life I wanted…” Lincoln stopped at the edge of the bed. “And now I have it.” He gazed at me with such tenderness I wanted to hold him.
“Do I feel awful because I’m basically abandoning my brother? Yes. No one knows what we went through together, the bond it created, how it felt to be disowned by our father, to live on the streets. We only had each other. But I know my brother… When I was in jail, he didn’t visit me once. And if roles were reversed now, he’d already be in Mexico. It still breaks me I have to turn my back on him. But for once I’m going to do something for me. I may not deserve it, but I don’t give a shit. I want this life. I want you in it.”
My lungs gulped in oxygen, staring up at him. Despite heartache, loss, tragedy, and other brutalities which had been handed to him, somehow this amazing man came out of it.
“I want you in mine too,” I responded.
He sat down on the bed, moving to me.
“Though, I’ll forever have a cop up my ass,” he mumbled, dipping his lips to mine. “And let me say, between your uncle and your sister, holidays are going to be so much fun.”
“Drinking’s the only way I get through.” My heart soared at the realization he’d already put himself into my family and my future.
“Yeah, your uncle would love that. An inebriated ex-con falling into the Christmas tree.”
“Better be on your best behavior then.” I bit back my laugh, knowing it would hurt and brushed my mouth against his.
“That’s not how you want me.”
“True.”
His lips opened mine, kissing me gently, but it barely took a moment before passion built, and behind it, came the pain.
“Shit. Sorry.” His fingers ran through my hair, trailing gently to the wound. “This is going to be a dreadfully long week, waiting for you to heal. Not being able to touch you?” He kissed my jaw, trailing over my lips to the other side. “Torture.”
I could work around the leg, but you don’t realize how much your neck is involved in the business of passion. Talking. Kissing…crying out in ecstasy.
Damn it. This was going to be an awfully long week. “Probably better if I go home.”
Lincoln softly kissed me, cupping my face. “Tomorrow or maybe the day after.”
I didn’t really want to go, but I knew I had to soon. First the temptation of being this close to Lincoln would kill me and then Amelia would.
“I like having you in my bed.” He grinned against my mouth, then pulled back. “But we have time to figure things out. Though I’d love you here, I think it’s time we both figure out what we really want.”
Grief and guilt would always haunt us, but for the first time in a long time, both of us were free. Our lives ahead of us to choose. No one held us back.
“What do you want, Freckles?” He smiled. “Besides me; that’s a given.”
“Obviously.” I matched his smile. I wanted to go to college, but I couldn’t enroll until the fall semester. I knew what I wanted, the first thing on my list. “Let’s fly away.”
“Fly away? Where?”
“Anywhere.” I sighed dreamily and whispered, “South America, Australia, Africa… I don’t care as long as it needs a passport and you are next to me.”
“You know getting a passport means a background check.”
“Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.” There was no way a man who came out of nowhere less than a year ago could get a passport. “It’s a pipe dream anyway. I don’t have any money to travel. Maybe a short road trip.”
“Fuck that.” Tugging on my hair, he leaned into me again. “We’re going abroad. Whatever it takes.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry, Freckles, I know someone. Lincoln Kessler will get a passport.”
“Already dipping your toes in, huh?”
“For you to travel? Do something that makes you happy? I will jump in with my whole body.”
Damn, I loved this man. I took a deep breath, exhausted.
“Rest. We’ll talk more about it later.” He fluffed up my pillow, signaling me to lie down. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I snuggled into the bed, his body curling around mine. “That is all I really want.”
“Then call yourself lucky.”
I cuddled deeper against him, his arm wrapping around me like a blanket. “I do…now.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The sun shone bright and the air crisp as I entered through the back door of the saloon into the unlit hallway. A few of the kitchen staff were here. I was an hour early for work but longed for quiet and a place to concentrate. It was Amelia’s day off, and I knew she would be on me the moment I went home. I wanted to be alone.
It had been two weeks since the incident, and I was still slowly healing. Frankly, it felt like forever, but I had to be patient with the fragile tissue in my calf and my throat. Similar to Lincoln, a scar marked my neck, a forever reminder of what we went through. It didn’t bother me. It meant I’d survived. Had the chance to love Lincoln. Maybe I’d get a little tattoo there too.
A week earlier I returned to work, doing office work for Lincoln to keep off my leg. Tonight was my first shift back as server, an easy Wednesday night, starting slow. Even though Lincoln had been generous with my pay as bookkeeper, I was eager to get back to serving on the floor with Nat. I missed being around people, seeing regulars like Rick and Kyle, and the tips.
Also, I was going crazy from spending time at home. I needed to get out so I wasn’t in jail next for homicide. Amelia’s reaction to the attack bordered on neurotic. After our fight, she tried a little too hard to play the part of “I’m the older, responsible sister and I’ll take care of you” and true to Amelia, she went way too far. She was driving me crazy. Hovering, texts, calls. And no shocker, she got upset every time I spent the night with Lincoln, which wasn’t nearly as many as I wanted. She said it was because she missed me, but I didn’t believe it entirely. She was still miffed about Lincoln not choosing her. But she’d set herself another challenge: Miguel. She claimed he was the one she liked the whole time.
Right.
When I told her what happened that night, I stuck mainly to the truth, with a few alterations. I claimed Lincoln and me were targets in a robbery gone wrong, and he saved my life and rescued me from the assailant—all true. I reassured her the robber was now behind bars and, because of his priors, it didn’t look as if he’d be getting out soon. She didn’t need to know about anything else.
Settling behind Lincoln’s desk now, I pulled a few items from my bag, nervous and excited bubbles dancing in my stomach. Of course, I didn’t regret having taken care of my mom; she had been everything to me and I missed her terribly. But I knew she’d want me to move forward, start the next chapter in my life.
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) catalogs lay before me, a bookmark already in the section which thumped nervous energy down my legs. It had been nagging at me for weeks, something was always there, but I never really considered, which was odd given my family.
Flipping open the page, I stared at the bold header, sucking in a breath.
Criminal Justice
You are so similar to your father. Uncle Gavin’s words had stuck with me, rolling over and over in my head until they switched on a light. Today when I grabbed the catalog from the college office and opened the page, I knew. It was what I wanted to do.
“Well, hello.” Lincoln’s deep timbre vibrated from the doorway, and my thighs trembled. I snapped up to gaze at him leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded, watching me. Every freaking time that man stepped in the room or his voice found me, my entire body reacted viscerally.
Need. Love. Lust. Desire. Yearning.
We had been unable to act on most of it. We had fooled around a little, but he was set on my recovery. Especially my neck. Even kissing was painful at times, but every day I felt better and staying away from him was becoming more excruciating than the wounds. Looking at him now made it abundantly clear.
His arms and shoulders stretched out the black T-shirt fabric perfectly. His dark jeans hung from his hips, and even though I couldn’t see it, I know they curved flawlessly over his taut ass. His blue eyes glistened as he lifted an eyebrow. “You look good behind my desk, but I still think I prefer you on it. Naked.”
“Don’t tease unless you’re ready to act on those words.” I glared at him, feeling his words slink down my spine, igniting my hormones into a bonfire.
“You don’t think I can back it up?” He pushed off the door with a cocky grin, strolling toward me.
“All talk...” I stared down at the booklet pretending to be deeply engaged, but my mind wasn’t reading a word, sensing the heat of his body climb over me as he leaned over.
“Is that so?” He brushed my hair to one side, his lips touching my neck skating over the skin, running shivers up the back of my head.
“Mm-hmm.” I tried to pretend his mouth moving behind my ear and his teeth nipping at my sensitive spot weren’t making breathing difficulty. His snicker told me I was failing miserably.
He pulled back, his head jerking above my shoulder. “What’s this?” His gaze was locked on the open page, his forehead creased.
“Uh.” Shit. I hadn’t told him what had been batting around in my head because I had just realized it myself.
“Criminal justice?” His regard flashed from the page to me, then back. “You’re joking, right?”
“Actually…” I squirmed in my seat. “It’s been something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”
“Becoming a cop?” A strange laugh bowled from his chest. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“You do realize you are dating a criminal?”
I chuckled, nodding.
A sharp laugh reverberated off the walls. “Shit…the irony of this.”
It was not lost on me either.
He rubbed his mouth, mirth shaking his shoulders. “Jesus, Freckles. We do like walking a dangerous line, don’t we?” Humor left his gaze, replaced by smoldering heat. “Am I going to have another cop on my ass?”
I stood, pushing back the chair, pressing my frame into his. “On your ass, your chest, your arms, and especially this.” I reached out and rubbed him through his jeans, his length already straining the fabric. “And I thought riding the line of danger was where you liked me.”
Lincoln growled deeply, his fingers digging into my hips as he slung me up on his desk, stepping between my legs. “I like when you’re riding me.”
An inferno of need scorched my insides, pulling him to me. We seemed to have hit the breaking point where the craving won out.
I was healed enough.
Our mouths collided in an explosion of desire, teeth, hands, and lips, all hungry with desperation. That he had no problem with me following my dreams, even if they were in direct contrast to who he was, simply made me yearn for him more. I felt alive, as if my life had finally begun.
For all I knew, I would follow in my grandmother’s and mother’s footsteps. Alzheimer’s tended to run in families, and there was a chance it was already inside me, waiting to steal me of my life. I had to live it to the fullest and not apologize. Lincoln was a huge part of this. And right now, I would take what I wanted.
Our frantic breaths turned to low moans as our hands and mouths explored each other, my fingers trying to relieve him of some of his clothes.
“Oh shit! Sorry,” Nat’s voice exclaimed from the doorway. Lincoln and I broke away from each other, but neither of us moved. I glanced over my shoulder to Nat half turned to leave, her eyes darting around everywhere but on us. We weren’t hiding we were together, but we also didn’t go out of our way to tell anyone either. Nat knew something had been going on with us for a long time but hadn’t seen proof. Until now. “You did leave the door open.”
“What’d you need, Nat?” Lincoln didn’t sound fazed she had walked in on us. We still had our clothes on at least.
“Just giving you the inventory list. We’re running low on tequila.” She held out a piece of paper.
“Oh, that’s not okay.” I shook my head, my eyes wide with mock horror. When Nat learned Lincoln would not be leaving town as planned, she was adamant he put the bar back in his name. Lincoln compromised and made her co-owner, saying it was better to have one owner here at all times because he planned to take a lot more time off.
We were taking a trip to South America next month. Traveling through parts of Peru, Chile, and Argentina. When Uncle Gavin asked how Lincoln got a passport, I just smiled. He stomped out of the room saying he didn’t want to know anything. I knew it was hard for him to ignore Lincoln was an ex-con, but he tried to keep Finn and Lincoln separate.
We found the cheapest flight possible, with a ridiculous number of layovers, and we would be staying in dirt-cheap Airbnbs, but we were going. I could barely contain my excitement. At one time moving to Albuquerque had felt huge, now I was ready to soar, Lincoln and I discovering the world, experiencing different cultures, tasting strange foods.
