She lay facing him, her eyes closed, face soft.
He gently brushed a strand of her golden hair away from her face, thinking of how he’d done the same when he’d found her lying face down in the woods. He couldn’t believe she was here with him in his bed.
It had been too close a call. Another hour without help and she’d have been dead.
I saved her.
And she saved me.
He scooted as close to her as possible without disturbing her, then slipped his hand beneath the covers and over her side where he knew she didn’t have any scrapes or bruises. He wanted her to know he was there with her.
She let out a dreamy little sigh and shifted another couple inches closer to him before she settled back into sleep.
He drifted off without having to use any of his relaxation techniques or meditations to clear his mind. He was too damn happy to have her here to think of anything else and too exhausted not to fall into a deep sleep.
Three hours later, he woke to the doorbell ringing. He pulled on his jeans and a clean tee, reluctantly left Lucky sleeping in his bed where he wanted to stay, then opened the front door to his cousin and his wife.
Lyric was round with their first child and looking positively radiant. She wrapped him in a hug and held on. “Are you okay? It had to be traumatic to find someone you know under such terrible circumstances.”
Mason stepped in behind Lyric and closed the door, grinning indulgently at his wife hugging another man—his cousin knew Hawk adored Lyric like he would a sister. “Sorry if we woke you.”
“It’s all good. Lucky’s still sleeping.”
Lyric stepped back, but kept one hand on his shoulder. “Tell us. Is she really okay?”
“She will be. There’s a lot we don’t know. Things we can’t know for sure because she was drugged and can’t remember.”
Mason had his FBI face on. “What do the cops suspect?”
“She was drugged at the bar. My bar. Right in front of everyone.” He couldn’t help the rage in his voice.
Mason’s eyes went wide. “So they saw who did it?”
“No. She was with a friend. It happened after they had a chat with Lincoln at the bar about Lucky working for Linc. Desiree, her friend, said Lucky got really drunk, so they left early. The odd thing is that Lucky told me she doesn’t ever overindulge, not after being drugged and waking to find her family killed.”
“Holy shit.” Mason’s face grew even more intense.
“That was several years ago. Desiree took Lucky home and put her to bed. But based on how close Lucky was to death when I found her, she had to have been taken and…” It was hard for him to think about what happened to Lucky, let alone say it out loud. “Someone dumped her naked down a very steep embankment off a fire road in the middle of nowhere.”
Mason winced. “What about the surveillance footage?”
“Jase with the sheriff’s department has a copy. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve got a meeting with him tomorrow.”
“She’s going to be okay now.” Lyric squeezed his shoulder, offering him comfort.
“What else?” Mason asked.
“Lucky has flashes of that night and she swears her ex, the guy who killed her family, was there. I don’t know if it’s real or he’s just the boogeyman in all her nightmares. Of course you could add in her abusive asshole father who liked to slice her skin with a fucking six inch blade for shits and giggles, then maybe he’s her true nightmare, because she calls out, ‘No, Dad’ in her sleep a lot, too.”
Lyric wrapped him in a hug. “Breathe, Hawk. Slow it down.”
He gently set her away from him and paced. “Sorry. It’s been hell the last few days. From finding her, to thinking she was dead, that I’d lost her and missed my chance.” He pulled at his hair. “Fuck. She doesn’t deserve this. Any of it. And yet some asshole is taunting her, trying to kill her. He even tried to burn her place to the ground today.”
“What?” Mason and Lyric said in unison.
“Someone rigged matched and a bottle of gasoline to light the place up the second Lucky walked into her bedroom.”
“What?” Mason’s concern etched lines in his forehead. “Like a booby trap?”
