Willa shut the sliding van door before getting in behind the steering wheel.
“How about we all pray?” Willa said fervently.
She was so upset over the pictures that the actual kiss didn’t register until she was about to go to bed. Could it be that Lucky was as attracted to her as she was to him? A spark of hope was lit deep inside.
Willa sat down on the side of her bed, stunned at the thought. Maybe her life was going to make a change for the better.
“It certainly couldn’t get any worse.” Willa wanted to take the sentence back as soon as she uttered it. She had learned long ago never to tempt fate. Even the Devil would laugh at her believing Lucky was attracted to her.
“Miracles happen.” Willa fell back against her bed, staring up at the ceiling as a fragile hope began to grow. Maybe, just maybe … all her prayers were about to be answered.
Chapter 9
Lucky found Viper in the kitchen, sharing a bottle of whiskey with Shade.
“I need to talk to you.”
Viper used his foot to push a chair away from the table. “Take a seat.”
Lucky sat down at the table.
“You need me to leave?” Shade asked, lifting the bottle as he began to stand.
“Stay.” Lucky reached for an empty glass, raising it for Shade to fill, and the enforcer lifted a brow as he filled it.
“What’s up?” Viper asked, motioning for Shade to refill his glass, too.
“I want to go to Ohio for a while.”
“Why?”
“With Moon here, there really isn’t anyone to keep the brothers in Ohio in check. I can stay there until Moon comes back. Besides, I’m ready to leave Treepoint, been here too long as it is.”
“You’re needed here. It’s been nice to have all the club business off my shoulders.”
“Moon is just as good. If any trouble comes down, I’m only a few hours’ ride away.”
“You’ve made your mind up?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I won’t stop you. I was going to send Train, but he doesn’t want to leave.”
“This solves both of our problems, then.”
“What problem of yours does it solve?” Shade butted in.
Shade wasn’t going to trick him into revealing more than he intended, though.
“Me wanting to dust off Treepoint.”
“Lily’s going to miss you.” Shade lifted his half-filled glass, drinking it in one swallow before placing it back on the table.
“I’m not Lily’s pastor anymore. She needs to find someone else to get spiritual guidance from. I’m certainly not the one to give it to her anymore. I never was.” Lucky stood, the chair scraping against the floor.
Stori and Bliss came into the kitchen.
“Going to Ohio in the morning,” he told them. “You girls want to be the ones to give me a send-off?”
“Hell yes.” Stori eagerly twined her arms around his neck.
“You’re leaving?” Bliss’s quiet sentence had Lucky putting an arm around her, drawing her close to his side.
“For a few months.”
Bliss shrugged his arm off. “Train’s waiting for me in the other room. I’ll ask Raci if she wants to join your party.”
Surprised, Lucky watched as Bliss went back into the other room.
“What has her so pissed?” Lucky asked the others in the room. “Since when has she ever cared about anyone but Shade?”
“Don’t know, but I’ll ask her later. We still partying?” Stori’s hand went playfully to his belt buckle.
“What do you think?” Lucky started toward the basement door with Stori still attached to his side.
“Send Raci downstairs,” Lucky told Viper and Shade.
“Will do.” Viper lifted his glass toward him. “Have fun.”
A knife went through his heart at hearing the same words he had given Willa earlier in the night, and Shade’s perceptive gaze didn’t miss the flinch.
“I always do.” His hand lowered to Stori’s ass. “Always, brother.”
* * *
Lucky stood up, covered in a fine sheen of sweat as he stared down at the bed where Stori was naked, still tied to the headboard. Gripping his knife, he cut the ropes binding her wrists. She lowered her arms, curling onto her side, too exhausted to move. Raci was already asleep, having passed out before he was finished with Stori.
Ember rolled over, pulling the sheet from the bottom of the bed to cover her trembling body before going back to sleep. All the women were too tired to be made to leave his bed so he could grab a few hours’ sleep before he left town, but he wouldn’t allow himself to sleep deeply if they were in the bed next to him.
He raked his long hair back from his face. He hadn’t cut it since he had stepped off the podium for the last time.
He tugged on the jeans lying on the floor then quietly left the bedroom, going through the basement and upstairs to the kitchen. Then his bare feet carried him outside into the backyard. He paused long enough to fill his lungs with fresh air, driving out the scent of sex that clung to his damp skin before he walked forward until he came to the view that Lily often stared at.
The majestic mountains of Kentucky were one of three things he was going to miss about Treepoint. The club was another. His mind shied away from the third, however, not wanting to sully her image after his night of sexual gluttony.
Lucky raised his head, staring at the moon as it began to sink behind the mountains. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He was unable to bring himself to pray. He had gone against the very essence of everything he believed in, committing untold sins then repeatedly asking forgiveness. It was a vicious cycle that had held him prisoner until the only hope he had left was to cut the tie to Treepoint as he had the church. The door was now closed to that source of solace, and he was on the outside where he wanted to be.
That was what he had been telling himself over and over, trying to make himself believe he was ready to move on to a different way of life. He had to give himself time to adjust, and leaving would give him that, another lie he repeatedly told himself.
Sinking to his knees, he shivered, not from the chilly morning air, but from having his soul ripped apart.
He jerked when a hand gently touched his shoulder.
“Dean, are you okay?”
Lucky dropped his hands but he didn’t turn to face Rachel, unable to look at the woman who had sat in his church since high school.
“I’m fine.” Lucky cleared his throat. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”
“I don’t know. I woke up, and something told me to come outside. Then I saw you…” Her voice trailed off into silence.
“Go back inside. I’m fine.” He didn’t want to talk to her. The one he wanted to talk to wasn’t listening to him anymore.
Her hand flattened against his shoulder and a warmth began to seep into his damp flesh from her touch, spreading down his arm and cour
sing through the rest of his body.
“I don’t think you’ve been fine for a while, Dean. For years, you’ve given everyone else your strength until you have nothing left for yourself when you need it the most.”
Lucky shook his head. “I turned my back on what gave me strength.”
“My gift left me for a while before it returned even stronger. He doesn’t leave us. My ancestors came across the Appalachian Mountains during the Trail of Tears. It would have been easy for them to give up, but they didn’t. Instead, their beliefs were handed down for generations. They weren’t given an easy path. My grandmother told me stories about how they would look for the moon to rise every night to rest and give thanks for surviving another day. Then they looked for the sun to rise so they could see their way.”
Rachel’s hand tightened on his shoulder as her voice dropped reverently. “Look, Dean, the sun is rising. You can find your way if you just open your eyes.”
Lucky raised his head, seeing the sun’s rays just beginning to break the dark sky. “I don’t deserve to be found.”
“Dean, I would quote several passages to you that show you how wrong you are, but I’m sure you know the passages better than me. God rejoices when His sheep return home. You were the one lost, not God. He’s been waiting for your return all along.”
The warmth from Rachel’s touch began to burn, as if his soul which had been ripped apart was being welded back together. The sun’s golden rays surrounded him in an abundance of colors.
Rachel gasped behind his back, dropping her hand, while Lucky shakily stood, his turmoil for now quieted.
She crossed her arms over her chest, shivering.
“Go inside. If you get sick, Cash will kick my ass.”
She nodded yet didn’t move. “Cash said you’re leaving for Ohio?”
“Yes.”