Page 25 of Deception (Deranged Drifters MC #22)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Griffin’s Beach Lucas

S itting at his desk in his room, Lucas bounces his knee as he builds up the courage to talk to Lex. They’re home alone together after a mid-day dentist appointment, and he rarely has any one-on-one time with her.

Hailey may have pushed back about being adopted, but Lucas likes the life Lex and Colt offered. His only request was to keep his last name because it’s all he has left of his father.

Unlike his sister, his biological mom is still alive. She married Harold not long after his father died in a car accident, and it’s been hell ever since. Before Harold came into the picture, he doesn’t remember his home being bad outside of the fighting between his parents.

It’s strange to call Lex Mom when his mom is still around and… well, she’s just basically alive. But no matter what happens, Lex and Colt continue to give him the consistency he craves. The way it was when his dad was alive.

He still worries they’ll change their mind and think adopting him was a terrible idea. After he crashed Lex’s car, he was certain he’d be shipped back to his mom and Harold. He hadn’t expected Lex to stay the night with him in the hospital to make sure he was taken care of.

“Lex—Mom—can I talk to you for a second?” Lucas calls as she walks past his room.

Her curly hair always makes him smile, and she leans against the doorframe. Something has her distracted, and he notices the redness on her knuckles.

Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about this.

“Please don’t ask me for help on your math homework again,” Lex says with a frown. “Algebra, sure. I was pretty good with it, but I think we learned pretty damn quickly that geometry and calculus are proof I’m more on the dumb side.”

Lucas laughs. “You’re not dumb. And I don’t need help with my homework.”

After the dentist, she took him out for lunch, and he enjoys having her all to himself.

There’s an ease about her, even if she is distracted, and she always tries to give her full attention whenever she’s with any of the kids.

It still baffles him how she so effortlessly makes him feel like he’s part of the family.

Like he didn’t spend the first fifteen years of his life with other people.

“No math homework help? Okay, good. What’s up?”

“Um, I have a couple of questions. If you have time…”

Moving into the room, she takes a seat on the edge of his bed and smiles. “Always. What’s on your mind?”

He nods to her hand. “What’d you do?’

“Oh, uh, I punched something.”

When she’s vague like that, Lucas knows it’s because she either doesn’t want to or can’t say something. He brushes it off and licks his lips as the nerves kick up.

“With you and Colt adopting me… Is there an expectation that I’ll join the club, too?”

“It’ll be your decision, just like it’ll be Noah’s decision when the time comes. You didn’t grow up in it like Colt did, or even Noah has, so I suspect it’s a little different for you.”

“That makes a difference?”

Lucas never really thought about the difference between him and Noah in that regard. The club life is still very new to him, but from what he knows, it’s pretty cool. Cool, but maybe not so much for him.

Crossing her legs, Lex nods. “Yeah, I think so. When you grow up in from birth, you don’t know anything else. You see these big, biker guys who are tough and rugged, and you idolize them. But coming from the outside, I can see how it wouldn’t be the same.”

“Would it, uh, be a problem if I… didn’t join?”

“Did you know Noah’s named after his uncle?”

He frowns. Colt has a sister named Klaire, and Lucas is far too familiar with Lex’s brother, Zane. It’s difficult to forget the man who smacked him around and tried to kill the woman who helped save him. “You have another brother?”

“Me? No. Thank God. I can only imagine how much another brother would want me dead,” she says with a chuckle. “Colt had a little brother. He was nine when Noah was born.”

“I don’t think he’s ever talked about him before. Where is he?”

“He died when he was seventeen. There was an incident with another member, and Noah was unfortunately collateral damage. TK’s brakes were tampered with, and Noah was the one driving it that night.”

His eyes widen. Colt lost a little brother? I can’t imagine losing Noah, and we didn’t grow up together. Oh God, that must’ve been so hard.

“Noah had a choice when he realized the brakes weren’t working. He could hit the semi-truck head on, or he could go off-road. He chose off-road, but he hit a divot. With the speed, he flew right over the handlebars and hit a boulder so hard he broke his helmet.”

“He died out by the highway?”

Lucas’s heart races as he remembers seeing the spot where his dad died. The accident was out on the highway, and he’d been hit by a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel.

What if they died in the same spot? Maybe it was some type of divine plan to bring me here with them.

“They had him on life support. The truck driver saw what happened and stopped, but I was there the night they had to pull the plug. It still haunts me sometimes.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It was. I think it’s something Colt is still trying to get over. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but bikers aren’t exactly big on dealing with their feelings. Unless it’s anger. It typically takes about fifteen times longer to heal from tragedy than the average person.”

“Not that I don’t like taking these rides with you, but I’m not sure I understand where we’re going with the family history lesson.”

Smiling, Lex leans forward, and he can’t help but look at her bright red knuckles. Whatever she hit, she hit hard.

“Colt always says Noah was the good kid. He was going to become a doctor and cure cancer. The struggle Noah had was wanting to follow his dreams and following in TK’s footsteps. He was going to be something special, and I know he would’ve gone to college. Maybe even med school.”

“That was okay with TK?”

“I think he would’ve been proud. He already had Colt in the club, so his legacy was safe, but to know he raised a son who was not only smart but could have become something TK never thought he was capable of himself would’ve been different.”

Nodding, Lucas sighs. “So, you’re saying that if I don’t join the club, it’ll be okay?”

“Whatever you choose to do will be okay. Would Colt love to have you join the club? Absolutely. But he will never be upset if you have another dream you want to pursue. Unless you want to be a cop. We don’t really like cops, but we’ll still support and love you.”

He shakes his head. After seeing the cops in this town, he has no desire to ever become one. They make it seem like there’s a maximum IQ requirement to join the force. And it’s not very high.

“As long as you’re happy, we’ll be happy, baby.”

It’s such a simple sentiment, but it means so much. His mother stopped caring about how he felt the moment she got hooked on the drugs. Dealing with his father’s death proved too difficult for her, and she spiraled out of control. Lex will never understand how much her support means to him.

“Lily’s the club’s lawyer, right?”

“Yeah, she left at sixteen because she’s smarter than the rest of us combined. Came back to help the club with something and got stupid. Fell in love and all that, so now she’s stuck with us,” she says and laughs.

“Does that mean she’s my lawyer, too?”

Her eyebrows lift, and she studies him. “Depends. What’d you do?”

“Nothing.” He holds his hands up and gives his most innocent look. “Promise.”

“You know, you could stand to get into a little trouble. Nothing to require a lawyer, but you should stay out past curfew some night. Sneak a beer from the fridge. Learn why hangovers suck. That sort of thing.”

The laughter is involuntary. No parent in the history of parents has wanted their child to break the rules. “Why?”

“Because you need to experience things. Normal teenager things. Please, for the love of God, don’t knock up a girl, but try a cigarette. And then hate it and never smoke again.”

“You think I’m not a normal teenager?”

“Baby, you never ask to stay out late. You don’t even stay up past your bedtime.”

He shakes his head. “Wrecking your car was more than enough teenage experience, I think.”

“That was an accident. Accidents happen. When they’re not accidents, they’re called felonies.”

The way she does that makes him so envious. Lex can defuse most situations with humor, but she’s not wrong. “Maybe I’ll go to a party this weekend and come home at twelve-fifteen.”

“There you go,” she says and rolls her eyes.

“Would it be okay if I talk to Lily?”

Shrugging, she nods. “I don’t see why not. When do you want to talk to her?”

“As soon as possible.”

She pulls her phone from her back pocket and types on it. A reply comes quickly, and she smiles. “She can make time for you now at her office. Unless you’re in trouble.”

“I’m not in trouble,” Lucas assures her.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“If it’s okay, I’d like to go alone.”

She smiles. “Will it be a long meeting?”

I have no idea. “Probably not. Why?”

“Can you pick up Noah and Calla on your way home?”

Neither kid has been in a car with him since the accident.

Lucas still thanks his lucky stars he insisted Noah sit in the backseat because the engine was in the passenger’s seat when they were cut out.

It still wakes him in the middle of the night, and he relives that day at least three times a week.

“You want me to pick them up?”

“If you have time,” she says and stands.

“You… You trust me with them in the car with me?”

Lex ruffles his hair. “Like I said, it was an accident. It could’ve happened to any of us.”

“Yeah, I can pick them up. That won’t be a problem.”

Kissing the top of his head, she walks to the door and winks at him. “Thanks, baby. See you at dinner.”