“You ready to go?” Hawk asked. “I thought we could head over to Lincoln’s place and you can finally give him that quote and get him on your schedule.”
“Sounds good.” It was a way out of here without looking suspicious.
“Can I come?” Desiree chimed in. “I’d love to see his place and maybe get another shot at a date.”
Lucky frowned. “Um, this is business, and I would only feel comfortable doing that if I had Lincoln’s permission. Sorry. You understand, right?”
Desiree stared daggers at her. “Fine. Whatever.” She didn’t deserve a man like Lincoln.
“We should get going. I want to ask Lincoln if he knows a good time to meet Mercy for drinks, since he seems to know her so well.”
“Drinks?” Desiree eyed her.
“Yeah. Mercy works with the Gunn brothers. She’s close to Hawk and I want to be part of his world, so when Mercy asked me out for drinks, I thought it was a great way to make a new friend.”
Bob’s gaze narrowed. He was catching on to her baiting Desiree, making herself a target. She was allowed to make new friends, even if it did make Desiree feel threatened.
She set the trap. All she had to do was wait for Desiree to retaliate.
“I’m surprised you want to go out drinking after what happened last time.” Desiree tried to look sympathetic but it was just another fake mask.
“Mercy promised Lincoln or Hawk would pour for us and no one else.”
Hawk grinned. “So I’m invited to this girls’ night?”
“It is your bar. And you’re buying, right?” she teased.
“Anything you want, it’s yours.”
“You. That’s all I want.”
He kissed her right there in front of the two people she had left from her past, who should have been the ones she could count on to have her back. Neither of them did and it left her feeling like everything they’d shared over her whole life was a lie.
Hawk drew her out of the office before he ended the kiss, making her laugh.
She was smiling so big, it was hard to stop when she turned to Desiree. “Let’s catch up soon. I’ll call you. Kiss Krystal for me. I love that little girl. I’d do anything for her.” She looked past Desiree to Bob. “Thank you for the talk and helping me see things clearly.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
Yes, it was. The very least. He should have done so much more.
He could have saved her family. Danny.
As she and Hawk made their way down the hall, she heard Desiree ask her father, “What did she mean?”
His answer assured her that he’d keep quiet about what she knew. “She was upset and ranting about the injustice of the case. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about her outburst, then laid out the very few pieces of evidence we’ve found. I promised her we’d keep investigating and that she has every right to be angry we haven’t caught the person who nearly killed her.”
Lucky hoped he choked on those words and really took them to heart. Because that’s what Desiree had intended.
She left me there, naked and alone.
Some friend.
She’s going down.
Chapter Twenty
Hawk didn’t know how it happened. One minute he was sitting in Lincoln’s kitchen while Lucky toured the house and she figured out a bid for weekly housekeeping services, and the next…his parents showed up to meet Lucky.
