Fractured (Lucian & Lia #2)(56)
“Oh, my God.” I fall against the cushions laughing. Only Debra—or maybe Rose—would do something like that. Was that why all my friends were insisting on visiting more than usual? Just to be felt up?
I hear the front door slam, and I can’t help the small jump of fear that goes through me. What I told Lucian was the truth; I am better, but I still look over my shoulder…a lot. I don’t know if that will ever go away. When you truly face how vulnerable you are every day, it does something to you. I thought I was stripped of my innocence long ago, but I don’t think that really happened until I was pulled into the storage room of a busy apartment building without anyone seeing it happen.
I relax when Lucian walks into sight, thumbing through the mail he must have collected on the way up. He looks surprised to see Debra sitting next to me on the couch but not annoyed. Even though he’s such a private person, he never seems to mind having my few friends visit me here at his home…or ours, as he likes to point out. He walks directly to my side, dropping a kiss on my upturned mouth. “Hey, baby,” he says before turning to Debra. I’m further surprised and just a little charmed when he drops a brief kiss onto my friend’s cheek. “It’s good to see you again, Debra. Is Martin with you?” My tough friend looks like she’s on the verge of swooning at Lucian’s friendly gesture.
“Oh…um…no, he couldn’t get away. The man works entirely too much, but that’s the way it goes when you own a retail business.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he says sincerely. “Maybe you and Lia can work out a day and time for us to have dinner together. I know she misses you.” Well, now it’s official: both Debra and I are putty in his oh-so-thoughtful hands. It makes me realize how much I’ve come to take his kindness for granted. He has arranged so much of his life to conform to mine almost from the start. Swallowing back tears, I acknowledge how lucky I am to have him. He has secrets and a past, which has shattered, but not broken, him. I have had so few people in my life that I could trust and depend on, and two of them are with me now. I don’t know where I would be now without Debra, and I don’t know how I survived for so long without the man looking down at me now with a soft smile that still manages to be full of possessive hunger. I love him so much my heart hurts when he’s near. A part of me knows he feels the same way, but I wonder if he’ll ever be able to tell me.
Cassie scared him. Now I know that they were going to have a baby until she terminated it. I had long suspected that the relationship between her and Lucian was a romantic one; his words have now confirmed it. What I don’t understand is all the secrecy which seems to shroud anything concerning her. Sam and Lucian’s aunt acts just as shuttered as he does when any mention of Cassie arises. I would think her dead if not for being told she doesn’t live here anymore. I’m beginning to grow impatient for the rest of her story. I’m certain now more than ever that the key to unlocking Lucian’s nightmares is to understand what happened with her. The fear that I’ve given my love to someone who can never fully accept or return it is beginning to consume me.
When I feel an elbow in my side, followed by an amused chuckle, I jerk out of the trance I had apparently fallen in. “Girl, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?” My face heats when I realize I’ve been staring at Lucian, even though I wasn’t really seeing him. He raises a brow in question, to which I give a weak smile of reassurance in answer. I’m sure what I was thinking must be written all over my face, so I’m more than happy for Debra, and hopefully Lucian, to assume I was just ogling him.
“Mmm, yeah,” I say, playing along, “sorry about that.” Lucian doesn’t look like he’s buying it but lets it go without comment.
As Debra stands, saying something about needing to get going, Lucian walks to the coffee table in front of us and sits down. “Debra, do you have some extra time? I have some news for Lia that I would like you to hear, as well.” Debra relaxes back in her seat looking just as curious as I feel. When he leans forward to take one of my hands, I become nervous. What’s left in my life to upset me? It’s unlikely he’d want Debra for a witness just to break up with me.
Suddenly, I grip his hand in fear as a thought occurs to me. “Oh, my God, has something happened to Rose?” He looks nonplussed for a moment before squeezing my hand in return.
“No, baby. I’m sorry you thought that. Rose is fine and driving Max out of his mind probably as we speak.” The deep breath he takes doesn’t do anything to dispel my anxiety.
I want to clap when Debra says, “Well, come on, son. Your girl’s about to have a heart attack if you haven’t noticed.”
“All right, I didn’t mean to cause any panic. I just didn’t know how to begin, so here goes. Detective Michaels called Max this morning…”
“They caught him,” I whisper hopefully. Please let him be behind bars now where he has always belonged.
He hesitates and my spirits plummet thinking he’s still out there. Still waiting to catch me unaware again. “Lia, he’s dead.” I hear Debra hiss beside me, but I can’t seem to process his words. Who is he talking about? It can’t be my stepfather. I asked God to punish him for years, but it never happened, and I can’t comprehend that it would now.
“No…not him…never him,” I say in a daze. I can’t get my hopes up, because I’ll never be free of him. Hasn’t he assured me of that repeatedly? Lucian comes closer until my legs are wedged between his. He takes my face between his big hands, forcing me to look at him. “He’s never letting me go,” I say to him as Debra chokes on what sounds like a sob beside us.