Loving Lucas (10 page)

thing in the morning and Lucas knew it was a sight he would never grow tired of seeing. He and Nicholas hadn’t discussed it yet, but Lucas knew one of them would soon mention the

idea of living together, and while the idea had once seemed so impossible, Lucas now knew there was nothing he wanted

more.

Going to bed every night and waking up every morning

wrapped in Nicholas’s arms sounded like heaven.

“Are you kidding me? No, I’m on my way. Evacuate

anyone in that area and rope it off.”

Clicking the phone shut, Nicholas slipped from the bed

and began gathering his clothes as Lucas sat up further.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone called the station, saying there’s a bomb in

place at City Hall. No one should be there, this early in the morning, but we can’t take any chances.”

“Of course not.”

He paused, shrugging on his shirt. “Shit. I can’t leave

you here….”

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“Nic, come on. I’ll be fine. I’ll lock the door and I won’t open it to anyone but you.”

“Luc….”

“I’m serious. You have a job to do.” He crawled from the

bed, stepping into the arms Nicholas opened for him. “Go

and I’ll be here when you get back.” He could still see the concern in his lover’s eyes, as Nicholas sighed before kissing him quickly but with enough passion Lucas groaned when

he forced himself to pull back.

“Are you sure?”

“Go make the city safe. But be careful. I don’t want to

visit you in the hospital again.”

“Noted.”

He finished dressing quickly and Lucas walked him to

the door, where Nicholas turned and looked at him and

Lucas smiled.

“Go. I’m fine.”

“I have my phone. If you need me….”

“Nic!”

“Okay, okay. I’m being a mother hen.”

“I was gonna say pain in the ass.”

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Nicholas grabbed him by the hips and pulled him closer.

“When I get back, I’ll be anything but a pain in your ass,

babe.”

“Promise?”

“Always.”

“Good. Now get out of here already, Sheriff.”

One more kiss and Nicholas was out the door. Lucas

locked it, true to his promise, before he turned and looked around the living room.

It was still early and he knew he could go back to bed for

another hour or so, but the idea of being in his bed without Nicholas left him feeling hollow inside. He still couldn’t

believe he had pushed the man he loved away for five years, not when it was obvious now that he had never had any

reason to be afraid or worry he might be rejected.

Lesson learned. I’ll never reject Nicholas again. I need him
too much
.

Going into the kitchen, he put on a pot of coffee and

went back into the bedroom to put on some clothes. He had

no idea how long Nicholas would be. He expected the

situation would require a few hours at the very least, but the store didn’t open until nine, which gave him time to go

downstairs and finish some work.

He knew Nicholas wanted him to stay in the apartment,

but the store was just as safe, as far as Lucas was

concerned.

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Waiting until the coffee was finished, he poured himself a

cup and went quickly downstairs, smiling as he thought

about the greeting he would likely get from Sasha when she

arrived.

Sorry, Sasha. No details. Some things are too good to

share
.

Letting himself into his office, he turned on the lights,

crossed to his desk and set his coffee down with a sigh. He knew he needed to catch up on some tasks he had been

putting off, and now was the ideal time, but his thoughts

were still consumed with memories of last night, in

Nicholas’s arms. It was silly, considering he was a grown

man, but he felt almost like a giddy teenager in love for the first time and he knew it was a feeling that wouldn’t end.

Sitting down, he reached for a stack of mail he needed to

sort through, when he heard a soft click and then felt the

cold barrel of a gun pressed hard against the back of his

neck.

“Surprise, Lucas.”

Not daring to move, heart falling to his stomach, he

closed his eyes. “Riley….”

“No fooling you, is there? Though I’ve got to say, it’s hard getting a few minutes alone with you, when that pretty

boyfriend of yours is around.”

“Nic….”

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“Right. Nicholas Demetris. Cedar Point Sheriff. Good-

looking guy. I bet dating a cop makes you feel all safe and secure, right? Figure he’ll be around to protect you, but one little call about a possible bomb, and he went running right out the door, leaving you alone.”

“Riley, please….”

“Just a sitting duck, Lucas. That’s what you are.”

Drawing in a breath, he released it slowly, still afraid to move, to do anything that would prompt Riley to shoot him

in the head. He had to remain calm, he had to focus, if he

wanted any chance of living to see Nicholas again.

“As you can tell, from the gun I have pointed at you, I am

in complete control here, so you’re gonna do just as I tell you to do. Understand that?”

“I understand.”

“Promise to behave?” His voice was coldly mocking and

Lucas nodded.

“I swear.”

“Good. Now turn around very slowly, with your hands in

the air.”

He felt the gun move from the back of his neck, but

Lucas didn’t fool himself into believing he wasn’t still in danger as he raised his hands and slowly turned his chair

around to face the monster from his nightmares.

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Dressed in a sweat suit that looked at least a size too

large, he wore an old baseball cap and a three-day-old beard.

He appeared unkempt and dirty and his eyes were bright

with what could only be called madness as he smiled. Lucas

looked from him to the gun gripped in his hand and back

again, disgust and fear mingling together to make his chest tighten.

“You look good, Lucas. I have to admit that. And I know

you can’t say the same to me, because I look like hell, but what can I say? Ten fucking years in prison is damn hard on a man.” Rage echoed in his words and Lucas knew he was

on the edge. “Can you imagine what it’s like, to be locked up in a cage day after fucking day, Lucas? Can you? Do you

have any idea how horrible it feels to be told when to eat and sleep and take a piss? For ten years I was treated like shit.

People treat dogs better than I was treated and it’s all

because of you, you worthless son of a bitch! You ruined my life! You made me love you, and then you threw it all back in my face and you made people think I was crazy, but I’m not.

I know what I am doing and right now, I am here to make

you pay for your lies, for failing me, for taking my heart and breaking it.”

Lucas started to shake his head, to deny what Riley was

saying, to defend himself, but he was afraid that would just push Riley past the edge, so he drew in another breath and

decided that maybe, if he played along a little, it might buy him some time.

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Time for what, Lucas? He has a gun. And Nic won’t come

back until he knows everything is safe at City Hall. Even if
there is no bomb, he doesn’t know that. He can’t risk innocent
lives.

He was on his own and all he had were his instincts and

hope to keep him alive.

“I’m sorry, Riley.”

“For what? Just what are you sorry for, Lucas?”

“For anything I did or said that hurt you in any way. I…I

never meant it. I wanted to help you, to do good in school

and maybe get into college.”

“You didn’t mean to….”

Without warning, his words faded and he lashed out,

striking Lucas across the face with the gun, causing pain to explode and blood to gush from a cut under his right eye.

“You didn’t mean to! Is that it? That’s all you can say?”

Holding his hand over the cut, fighting back a wave of

darkness, Lucas looked up at Riley, seeing the rage and the burning hate in his eyes.

“Riley, please listen….”

“Not a chance. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

“What do you want?”

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He smiled at that,—a cool, sick smile that made Lucas’s

skin crawl. “Well, since you were so kind as to ask, I’ll tell you. I want you and me to have a chance to get to know one

another again. I’ve even got a place for us.”

“A place….”

“Where we can be all alone. Where no one will find us.

Just like before.”

God, no. Please. I can’t do this. I can’t survive this. Not
again
.

“Don’t look so worried, Lucas. I promise, at least one of

us will have fun.”

“Riley, I’ll give you anything you want. Just go away.

Don’t blow your chance to have a life.”

“What chance? Any chance I had, you stole from me ten

years ago. I loved you.” He shook his head, jabbing the gun in Lucas’s direction as he went on. “You were nice to me and you made me think I could believe in you and it was all lies.

And I made you pay for that, but you lived and…why didn’t

you just die, damn it? If you had, I would never have gone to jail. I lost everything. My mother turned me away, I can’t

contact anyone in my family, all because of you!”

His verbal tirade ended with a bitter laugh and he shook

his head again. Lucas could see he was beyond being

reasoned with, he was even more insane than he was back

when the nightmare began, and that terrified him.

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“Here’s what we’re gonna do, Lucas. I got a car in the

alley. Real calm-like, we’re gonna get in the car and we’re gonna go for a little ride, to the place I got picked out for us.”

“People will realize I’m missing and come looking for me.”

“Of course they will, but they won’t have any idea where

to look, will they? And by the time they do figure it out, it will be too late.”

“What…what are you going to do to me?”

“Oh, I can’t tell you. It would ruin the surprise.”

“Riley….”

“Suffice it to say, the fun we had last time will seem like nothing compared to what I have in mind for us this time

around.”

Dropping his blood-covered hand from his face, Lucas

swallowed back his fear and the need to be sick, as he

allowed Riley’s words to really sink in.

He’s going to rape me and torture me all over again and
this time, he will make sure I’m dead
.

“I’m almost sad that I won’t be around to see the reaction

when they find what’s left of you.” He smiled, as if he had read Lucas’s thoughts. “It won’t be pretty and I bet your

boyfriend will just fall apart when he sees you carved up

from head to toe.”

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Waving the gun in an upward motion, Riley reached into

his back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs he threw at Lucas.

“Put those on, and then get up slowly.”

Hands trembling slightly, Lucas hooked the cuffs around

one wrist, then the other, cringing at the sound of them

locking in place and rendering him even more helpless.

“Now stand. Time’s a wasting.”

“Is there really a bomb?” Lucas asked, as he stood,

feeling slightly dizzy.

“No. No need for one, really. Just the threat is enough to

distract your boyfriend and his band of deputies for a while.”

“They’ll find you, Riley. Even if you kill me, they will

eventually find you.”

“Oh, Lucas. There’s no if about it. I will kill you and then I’ll disappear. It’s all very simple.”

No it’s not, you bastard. Nic will find you. He won’t rest
until he finds you
.

As much as he wanted to scream those words, he didn’t,

but thinking about Nicholas did make his eyes burn with

tears.

They had finally gotten it right, he had finally gotten past his issues and let Nicholas in and now he was going to die.

He had been so afraid Nicholas would be the one to leave,

but now, thanks to Riley, Lucas knew he would be the one

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leaving and he hated it, hated knowing what his death would do to Nicholas.

If he finds me the way Riley intends for him to find me, he
will never get over it.

Would finding him shot to death inside his office

somehow be better? He would still be dead, in the end, but

at least Nicholas wouldn’t be haunted by the knowledge that he had suffered horribly before he died and maybe, maybe

that might make it easier to accept.

Maybe Nicholas would someday find someone else to

love, because he deserved that. He deserved to be loved, to be happy.

I’m sorry, Nic. I am so sorry for the time I wasted, the time
we could have had. I love you so much.

“Okay, let’s get a move on.” Riley gestured toward the

side door, but Lucas shook his head.

“No.”

Clearly confused, Riley frowned. “No? Excuse me, but I

don’t think you have a choice.”

“But I do have a choice, you sick son of a bitch. I’m

choosing to make you kill me here and now and I’m choosing