“Well until the little lady is conscious and decides she wants to speak with you, let's just go our separate ways for now,” I demand annoyed.
“For now. You let Lucky know that I’ll be in touch,” he sneers, shifting so we keep an eye on each other as he leaves.
Keeping my gun raised and on him to be sure he doesn’t try anything more. Once he is at the edge of the building, I tap Ghost on the shoulder indicating for him to follow the asshole before turning my attention to Lucky. I scoop her up with one arm under her shoulders and the other under her legs carrying her close to my chest.
Lucky leans into me, fisting my shirt and mumbling. I make it to the truck; Ghost has the passenger side door open and is waiting. I climb in, never letting go of her. Once seated I sag in relief for just a moment before it hits me that I don’t know where we are taking her.
Ghost climbs in, starting the truck looking over at me. Just as he does, Lucky comes awake screaming and fighting. I take a fist to the jaw before I’m able to get through to her.
“Fucking hell, Lucky, it’s me. It’s Troy,” I say smoothly and calmly. The moment my words break through her eyes finds mine.
“Troy? What are you doing here?” she asks wide-eyed, the fear slowly seeping out of her eyes.
“To be completely honest I have no idea. We were just out driving around when we saw that shitty fucking car running with no one in it. So, we stopped and that’s when we heard the screaming. We did what we do best and followed the noise into trouble. That’s where we found you,” I tell her with a shrug.
“Phantom, my man we have to get the fuck out of here.”
“Let’s go back to Trixie’s and we’ll call the cops in the am,” I reply.
“No. No, I have to go to my house! I can’t stay at Trixie’s. Troy, you have to take me home,” Lucky says panicked.
“Okay. We’ll go to your place. Where are we going?” I ask, rubbing my finger down the side of her face trying to calm her.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” she sobs just as the tears start streaming down her face.
“Okay, go to green eyes’ house. That’s a great idea! I have a question though, is that a left or right out of the parking lot?” Ghost jokes.
Lucky laughs quietly before pointing in the direction without picking her head up. I just shake my head at Ghost’s ability to break the ice in any situation. We head in the direction of her home pulling up ten minutes later to a small well-kept home with the porch light on. When we pull up a little old lady comes to the door with a bat in her hand.
“Lucky, my dear, is that you?” she calls out. Lucky wipes away the tears and takes a deep calming breath before pushing the door open.
“It is me, Ms. Tracy. Thank you for staying late, I will pay you some extra when I get paid this week,” Lucky says hugging the older woman tightly.
“Nonsense, my dear. You look like you’ve been through hell and then saved by some delicious eye candy,” the woman wiggles her eyebrows.
Seven
Lucky
I look at Ms. Tracy trying to figure out what she means when I feel a wall of heat at my back. I don’t even try to hide the relief I feel at having him at my back. Troy places a hand on my hip squeezing it lightly. The adrenaline from the attack starts to sip out of me so fast that I am fighting to keep my eyes open. This side of my face is starting to pound as well.
“It looks like you have everything taken care of here,” Tracy states, kissing my uninjured cheek.
“Thank you again,” I whisper.
I step away from Troy, turning to really take him in. I still can’t get over how good time has been to this man. His hair is in the perfect Navy cut with just a shadow of a beard. The black shirt he is wearing hugs his shoulders as if it is painted on. Troy clears his throat just as my eyes make it to his waist.
“Eyes are up here.”
My eyes snap up and when I find looking back at me, I tremble in both fear and need. Troy’s eyes narrow before he takes a step, but I match his step with my own. My back hits the wall bringing my retreat to a stop. Troy continues until we are nose to nose.
He drops his head, running his nose across my jaw to my ear, “After all these years you still can’t hide what’s going on in that head of yours. You are safe and tomorrow we’ll be talking about what happened here tonight.”
“Troy, I–” he cuts me off.
“No, until we talk about what happened and why you left me like you did, I’m not going anywhere. Now go inside and hop in the shower. I’m going to go talk to Ghost,” he replies in a tone that I know there is absolutely no arguing.
I want to, hell’s bells, I know I shouldn’t allow him to be so demanding and tell me what I’m doing because I’m a strong woman. I mean after the way my so-called husband treated me, being controlled isn’t something I would ever want. I know in my soul that Troy isn’t trying to control me. We are both on edge and he is taking charge to take care of me; so, I don’t fight him because I’m tired. I’m tired of always being okay, fighting, and pushing through. For one night I’m going to let someone else take care of the load. Tomorrow, I’ll pick it back up and do what I have to. Tonight though I’m going to let him have control.
