Lucky immediately covered the worst scars on her arm with her hand, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. “Um. All the stitches are out. My ankle and knee are better, so long as I don’t overdo it. Otherwise, it’s just the mental stuff. You know.”
He slipped his arm around her back, planted his hand on her hip, and pulled her into his side, kissing her on the head. Her wild mane clung to the scruff on his jaw. He brushed it away, tucking the long golden strands behind her ear. “You’re tough, sweetheart. You’ve been dealt a heavy blow. But you’re stronger every day, and I know you’re going to handle Desiree like a champ.”
Her gorgeous green gaze met his. “I won’t let her get away with everything. Not anymore.”
His dad narrowed his gaze and stepped closer to them.
Hawk felt Lucky check the impulse to step back. He rubbed his hand over her hip, reminding her he was right there. She was safe.
Mac caught her instinctive reaction but didn’t comment on it. “Who is Desiree? I thought it was your ex who hurt you.”
Hawk tried not to let his anger show, but it came out in his voice anyway. “We believe it was all a setup for him to take the fall. In reality, it looks like her best friend Desiree has been messing with Lucky for years. It all seems to come down to Desiree wanting Lucky to depend on her, and only her.
“Desiree had an affair with Lucky’s ex and we believe they share a child. Desiree’s daughter Krystal is the right age, and Desiree found out she was pregnant only a couple months after Neil went to prison. Desiree also tried to come on to me. I shut that down immediately.”
“Of course you did,” his mother defended him. “You’re a good man. You’d never do something like that. None of my boys would, or I’d have something to say about it.” She’d taught them all to respect women and relationships. To always tell the truth, even if it meant hurting someone’s feelings. Better to break up than hurt someone worse by betraying their trust.
Lucky kissed his cheek. “Desiree knows a good thing when she sees it.”
“I thought she was into me,” Lincoln complained.
“You dodged a bullet there, brother.” Hawk nuzzled his nose into Lucky’s sweet-smelling hair. What was that? Strawberries and flowers? Whatever it was, he was addicted. “Anyway. Desiree is going to get what’s coming to her. I’m just sorry it will come at her daughter’s expense.”
Lucky turned into him, seeking even more comfort. “Desiree killed her mother. I don’t want to give her a chance to turn on her own child.”
Hawk couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “What? She killed her mom? How do you know that?”
“I started putting all these pieces together during my talk with Bob. If she could do all those things to me, what else was she capable of? She framed the father of her child, not once, but twice to keep suspicion off of her. It made me think that maybe all of this was because she’d lost her mother. But then I thought about my relationship with her and the one that she has with her father. We enabled her by always trying to see the best in her. Her mother was the one who disciplined her, pushed her, and apparently compared her to me.”
“I bet that didn’t go over well,” Lincoln chimed in.
“No. And it ended in Desiree driving her right into a tree.” Lucky pressed her palm over her heart, rubbing hard. “She soaked up the sympathy like she couldn’t get enough. She loved the attention. She’d bring up her mother’s death around others so everyone was paying attention to her. I didn’t see it that way back then, but now…”
“Now that you know what she’s capable of, the past looks different.”
“I really thought we were friends. I thought she cared about me. After my family was gone, she was there, hugging me, encouraging me to live the life I wanted now. All the while, she’d taken the one person I loved more than anything away from me. Why Danny? He was just a little boy. He’d never done anything to her. To anyone.”
He wrapped her in a tight hug. “I don’t know, sweetheart, but we are going to get that answer from her. Soon. She won’t get away with it.”
Lucky wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked up at him. “Sorry. This is not how I intended meeting your parents would go.”
His mom stepped up and put her hand on Lucky’s shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot, dear. We know that. And we’re family. You don’t have to be anything but yourself with us.”
Tears gathered in her eyes again as she stared up at Hawk. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had that.”
“You do now.” He kissed her, right there in the foyer with his family looking on.
“Hey,” Lincoln grumbled, “I have a bet to win.”
That got his attention. He reluctantly broke the kiss, not just because of what Lincoln said, but also because he didn’t want his family watching him with Lucky. He’d show her how much she belonged with him later tonight. “What bet?”
Lucky found her smile again. “He bet that I couldn’t make a meal out of whatever he’s got in his kitchen.”
“The cupboards are bare. Mostly.” Lincoln rubbed his hands together. “I’m so winning this bet.”
Hawk knew for a fact that Lucky could make something edible out of just about anything. And he knew that look in his brother’s eyes. Even if he lost to Lucky, which he would, he’d still win because he’d be eating something good tonight.
His mom got in on the fun. “Let’s go see what’s in the kitchen.”
