Page 7 of Deception (Deranged Drifters MC #22)
Chapter Seven
Griffin’s Beach Lex
F elicity drives like a madwoman, weaving through the small amount of traffic they have in town at this time of day. Just like Lex would do for her if the roles were reversed.
The flashing lights close to the dirt road leading towards the house make Lex tremble. The shaking is completely involuntary, and she wants to hurl. There are three firetrucks, two ambulances, and multiple cop cars.
“Apparently, the police department has nothing better to do,” Felicity says as she tries to ease the tension in the air a bit.
Motorcycles in the distance tell Lex that Colt is on his way, and by the sounds of it, the rest of the club came along with him. But when her Mustang comes into view, she gasps, almost seeing her lunch again.
Felicity pales. “Oh my God.”
It’s smashed against a large tree, the front end crushed like an accordion. The sides have been torn up, and Lex grips the doorhandle. “They had to cut them out.”
The car doesn’t come to a complete stop before Lex is outside and running towards the crowd to find her boys.
“Ma’am—”
“Those are my sons!” she shouts and pushes past the officer, nearly knocking him over a barricade. “Lucas! Noah!”
Noah’s on a stretcher, being loaded into the back of the first ambulance, his face covered with blood that also coats the entire front of his shirt. “Mama.”
“Baby, are you okay?”
“He likely has a broken nose from hitting the back of the passenger seat. He’s lucky he was in the backseat,” the EMT says even though she didn’t ask him the question.
“There was a dog in the road. Luke tried to miss it, but I think he locked up the brakes, and we spun. It was fun until we hit the tree. That part wasn’t so fun.”
Her hand shakes as she runs it over his sandy hair. “Where’s Lucas?”
“Other ambulance, ma’am.”
“Lex!” Colt shouts as he runs towards them.
Pointing at Noah, she hurries towards the other ambulance. “Go with Noah!”
She sprints and gasps the moment Lucas comes into view. He has more blood on him than Noah did, and he’s lying on the stretcher with a brace on his neck and his arm.
“Lucas!”
“I’m sorry,” Lucas says, his voice shaking. “I tried… I tried to miss it, but I lost control.”
“The blood seems to be mostly from superficial wounds. He likely has a concussion from hitting the steering wheel like he did, looks like a broken nose, and a dislocated shoulder,” the EMT says as they load him into the back.
Lex climbs in with them, and she takes Lucas’s unrestrained hand. He looks ready to cry, and she wishes she could pull him into her arms and cradle him.
“I-I’ll pay for th-the repairs. I’ll g-get a job. Whatever I h-have to.”
“Shh,” she whispers and gently touches his dark hair. “Don’t worry about the car.”
“You love that car.”
Kissing his hand, she smiles. She does love that car. “I love you more. How bad are you hurt, baby?”
“My head hurts,” he says as tears slip from the corners and down to his ears.
She’s unsure if it’s from pain or fear, and she knows firsthand that once the adrenaline wears off, there’s a surge of emotions. “Been there.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, and he bites his lip to stop it from trembling. “I should’ve known better, and now… This is going to be so expensive.”
Squeezing his hand, she shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I never should’ve driven your car.”
“I don’t think the car attracted the dog,” she says, hoping to ease his worry even a fraction. “You went for ice cream. Why were you going back to the house?”
“Noah wanted to get his test to show you. We ate quickly, and I wanted… I wanted to drive the car more. If I wouldn’t have—”
“Stop it.” Letting out a shaky breath, she keeps herself in check. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
He swallows hard and looks at her. “I made sure Noah was okay. His nose was bleeding, but I kept him calm until they got us out.”
“Noah seems fine. Maybe a broken nose, but he’s a boy. And he wants to be just like your dad, so it won’t be the last time he breaks it. At least it wasn’t from a fight. That’s how Colt ended up with all four of his broken noses.”
“Is he going to be mad? Colt?”
“He’ll be relieved you’re okay.”
Squeezing her hand, he looks away from her face. “Will he still want me to call him Dad?”
“Baby, accidents happen.”
“I just don’t want you to think you made a mistake adopting me. I don’t want you to stop loving me for this.”
The confession stuns her and breaks her heart.
This is the reason he tries to be perfect all the time.
Good grades, never staying up past his bedtime, and eating all of his vegetables even when he doesn’t like them.
He’s worried they’ll change their mind and throw him away, and even the EMT seems affected by his confession.
“Lucas Lawrence, you listen to me, and I want you to hear me when I say this, okay?” Lex pauses and waits until he mutters an acknowledgement, and she runs a hand over his hair again. “Adopting you and Hailey will never be a mistake. Nothing— nothing— you do will ever stop us from loving you.”
“I ruined your car, Lex,” he whispers.
Calling her and Colt by their names instead of Mom and Dad like he has for the past year shows there’s a little more of Hailey in him than he likes to let on. More than she’s ever seen before. Just like his sister, he tries to distance himself to soften the blow of what he expects to come.
“My car is a thing. You, my boy, are one of the five pieces of my life that I care the most about. I don’t give a shit about the car as long as you’re okay.”
“I still feel bad.”
“Don’t. It’s okay,” she says as they stop. “It’ll all be okay.”
Doctors come out and pull his gurney from the back, and Lex steps out after him. The rest of the club pulls into the emergency lot, and one of the doctors looks frightened.
“What’s with the entourage?”
“You’ve got the sons of their President,” Lex says. “But make no mistake… I’m the one you should be scared of if anything happens to my boys.”
His eyes widen. “Yes, ma’am.”
“We’ll examine them and take them for tests. It’ll be a little while,” Dr. West says as he walks up to her wearing a smirk. “At least it’s not you on that stretcher again.”
“We really have to stop meeting like this,” she says as Colt walks up and wraps her in his arms.
“But I have college tuitions to pay for,” he jokes and walks inside after Lucas.
Everyone follows them inside, and the minute the boys are behind the doors leading to the trauma bays, Lex’s legs give out.
Holding her tightly, Colt kisses her temple. “They’re okay. They’re going to be just fine.”
“I know,” she says, burying her face into his chest. “Lucas said they had to cut them out. I saw the car, Colt. If Noah had been up front…”
The different scenes they could have walked into continue to play on a loop, and she clings to her husband. He tries to comfort her, but he knows there’s no stopping her spiral until she’s ready. Fear kicks her in the gut, and she can’t breathe.
“They’re okay, baby,” he whispers. “They’re going to be just fine.”
Finally pulling herself together, she pulls away and takes a deep breath. “I know. I just… It could have gone so differently.”
“I wish he’d have hit the damn dog,” he jokes.
“I don’t think his poor little heart could’ve taken it. He’s a lot more sensitive than he likes to let on. When you see him, reassure him you’re not upset with him. He’s scared we’re going to change our minds.”
He frowns. “Change our minds?”
“Adopting him,” she says. “That boy breaks my heart because he may be sixteen, but he has these moments where the scared little boy who lost his father far too young comes out. He spent too much time being mistreated and made to feel expendable. Even the EMT choked up.”
“He thinks the accident is going to make us kick him to the curb?”
“Can you blame him? I mean… Look at what you took him away from. No one but Hailey’s ever chosen him, and I think he’s scared he’ll lose us.”
Chucking, he nods. “He’s a little too perfect. Might do him some good to get into a little bit of trouble every once in a while.”
“How are they?” Felicity asks, walking up to them as everyone stands in the waiting room.
She looks around and sees everyone from the clubhouse stands with them. Everyone but Autumn. “They’ll be okay. Thanks for driving me like you were qualifying for a NASCAR race.”
“Of course.”
They walk into the waiting area with the rest of the club, and Diesel grimaces. “I hate to say it, Lex, but I don’t think the car’s salvageable.”
Her surrogate father looks as sad as she feels at the loss of her car.
It hurts more than Lex expected. That car has been her baby for two decades now.
Even though it’s just a car, and she told Lucas not to worry about it, there’s a twinge at losing it.
It’s one of the longest running constants in her life, and its seen her through many life events.
“You really know how to kick a girl when she’s down, don’t you?” Lex says with a laugh. “I loved that car, but as long as my boys are okay, that’s all that matters.”
“I’m sorry baby,” Colt says and hugs her again. “We’ll find another one.”
“I don’t know,” she admits. “It won’t be the same. Maybe it’s time to find something new.”
He rubs her back as she silently mourns the loss of her car while feeling equally grateful for the safety of her children. A couple of broken noses and a concussion is much better than the other outcomes.