The Last Husband (19 page)

“Good.”
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I started writing your song.”

“Really?”
She turned to me and grinned. “I want to hear it.”

“Not
yet.” I laughed at her pout. “That won’t work, baby.”

“But,
honey.” She sidled up next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. “Please.”

“Don’t
scare me.” I glanced at her face on my shoulder. “You’ll make me think you’ve
become a Stepford Wife.”

“I
don’t want to get your hopes up.” She moved away from me again. “Well,
whatever, I won’t tell you the lyrics I wrote for you either.”

“You
did?” I was excited to hear that she had gone through with it. “Are you going
to sing it to me?”

“I
don’t know,” she said. “It depends on how drunk I am.”

“Tell
me the first line.”

“And
…?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“I’ll
tell you a first line.”

“Hmmm.”
She considered my offer. “I don’t know.”

“Okay,
three lines then.”

“Three
lines? That’s almost my whole song.”

“Really?”
I turned the radio down and cleared my throat and started to sing.

“One day, people shall
talk of this day, my love

One day, birds shall
sing of my joy, my love

One day, the wind shall
scream the truth to the world, my love …”

“Oh,
Zane. I love it,” she gasped. “Sing some more. Please.”

“I’ll
think about it if you sing some of yours to me.”

“You
have to promise not to laugh.”

“I
promise I won’t laugh.”

“Liar.”
She wrinkled her cute little nose at me and I sighed as I saw we were
approaching the airport. I wasn’t ready to share her with her friend.
Especially because I had a bad feeling that Leeza wasn’t here just to hang out.

“Okay,
now I can’t really sing, but here we go.” She cleared her throat and I looked
over and saw that her face was red. I felt bad for asking her to sing when she
was obviously not into it, but before I could tell her it was okay, she started
singing.

“Zane, there has never
been a man like you

Who has taken my heart
and swallowed it up

I want you to know that
you never have to doubt …”

She
stopped and looked at me awkwardly. “I know it’s not as good as yours. I’m not
a writer like you.”

“It
was beautiful, just like you.”

“Suck
up, why don’t you?” she teased me, but I could tell from the pink at the top of
her ears that she was happy that I enjoyed it.

She
certainly wasn’t a songwriter, but the imperfection of her lyrics hit me hard.
I had taken her heart and swallowed it up. The enormity of those lyrics hit me
like a ton of bricks. Lucky really loved me. There was no rhyme or reason to
it. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I just knew. A sense of calm filled me.
She was in it for the long haul. She was in it for me. She was obviously
uncomfortable, but she had sung to make me happy. I wanted to turn the car
around and go home. I wanted to forget Leeza and her hidden agenda, I wanted to
give up on Angelique, I wanted to forget about bringing Braydon to his knees. I
wanted to be able to let go. For a moment I slowed the car, but then I heard
the song that was playing on the radio. It brought me back to reality with a
swift kick.

“Yesterday.”
I looked at her, stating a fact and not asking for confirmation.

She
nodded and smiled. “I love the Beatles. I hope it’s okay.”

“It’s
fine.” I pressed my foot back down on the accelerator. I had come too far now.
I had to do this for Noah’s memory. I had to do this for the brother I had
lost, the brother who had never given up hope. I had to do this for the boy
inside of me that still loved to hate the Beatles.

***

“Lucky,
this house is amazeballs.” Leeza’s mouth dropped as she stood in the entryway
of our bedroom. I tried not to let my annoyance show on my face. She had been
talking nonstop since we picked her up, and hadn’t really asked Lucky how she
was or what she was doing. Her favorite topic seemed to be herself, and I was
mad that Lucky had such a selfish best friend. “And this room. Oh my gosh,
could you see me in a room like this? Could you imagine the parties we could
have here?”

I
glanced at Lucky, who was sitting on the bed next to me, and I shook my head.
There was no way in hell I was letting Leeza throw a party in my house. Even if
I didn’t think she was somehow working with Evan. She just wasn’t trustworthy.

“Do
you want to go downstairs and watch TV, Leeza?” Lucky jumped up and I watched
as she walked towards her friend. She had the same swinging hips that she’d had
in the diner, but now when I stared at her walking, I just felt a deep sense of
contentment, as opposed to lust and wanting. I still felt the lust, but it was
about more than that now.

“Not
really.” Leeza walked over to the bed and sat next to me, flinging her blond
hair back in what I could only assume was meant to be a seductive move. “I want
to get to know Zane a bit better.” She smiled at me and I noticed that the
smile didn’t quite reach her blue eyes.

“He
has a business meeting tonight, Leeza. He needs to get ready.”

“He
doesn’t have time for his guest?”

“What
do you want to know Leeza?”

“Not
much.” She lay back on the bed and sighed, and I looked up at Lucky and she
stared at us uncomfortably. I jumped up and walked over to her.

“Your
friend is crazy,” I whispered in her ear and she grinned at me before hitting
me in the arm.

“Be
nice,” she whispered back. “Leeza, get off the bed and let’s go downstairs.”

“I’m
coming, I’m coming.” She jumped up and I noticed that she looked sad.

“Is
everything okay, Leeza?” Lucky arched her eyebrows.

“Yeah.
I’m just a bit down.” She pouted her lips and I reluctantly decided to ask her
why.

“What’s
wrong? Is there anything we can do?”

“I’m
just sad ’cause Evan, you know, your friend Evan? Well, he dumped me.” She
batted her eyelashes at me. “I’m a little sad. I thought he was interested in
me.”

“Sex
doesn’t equal interest, Leeza,” Lucky chided her friend and continued on. “You
didn’t even really know him. And don’t get me started on that crap you said
about Zane and how he was a stalker.”

“That’s
what Evan told me!” Leeza cried out. “He told me I should let you know.” She
pouted again as she looked at me. “How was I to know? I barely know him. You
barely know him.”

“I
know him a lot better than you do. Do you think I’m an idiot?” Lucky’s voice
was taut.

“Well,
you did just come here on a whim.”

“I
don’t expect you to understand, Leeza, but I don’t want you trying to sabotage
my relationship. You’re one of my best friends, and that won’t change, but I’m
not the same girl, anymore. I changed a long time ago.”

“What
did you do to her?” Leeza turned around and pointed at me. “Did you turn my
best friend against me?”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, coldly, irritated and annoyed.
The last thing I needed was for this to become a volatile situation. I didn’t
know what Evan was planning, but if he was as involved with this drug
trafficking as I thought he was, and it went as deep as the FBI said it did,
then Lucky was in some real danger with Leeza around.

“Leeza,
let’s go downstairs.” Lucky grabbed her friend’s arm.

I
put my hand up. “Wait.” I walked over to Leeza and gave her a big smile- a big,
fake smile. I really wanted to interrogate her about what she knew, but I knew
it wouldn’t be smart. “Maybe we got off to a bad start, Leeza. Hi, I’m Zane.” I
offered her my hand. “I’m Lucky’s boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?”
Her jaw dropped open. “I thought you guys were just sleeping together.”

“Leeza!”
Lucky’s voice was angry. “Let’s go get a drink.”

“Lucky,
you go downstairs. I want a quick word with her.” I smiled gently and waited
until I heard her going down the stairs to speak to her friend. “You listen,
and you listen good. I don’t know what game you’re playing, and I don’t know if
you realize just how much trouble Evan is and what sort of trouble you’re dragging
Lucky into, but you better believe that I’m on to you and what you’re doing. If
I find out you have betrayed Lucky in any way, I will make sure you never see
her again.”

Leeza
stood there with her mouth hanging open and I saw some saliva escape from her
mouth. She looked at me in shock and I thought my words really struck a chord.
There was no way I was going to allow her to jeopardize Lucky’s safety or the
case against Braydon and Evan. I gave her one last, hard stare, and stood by
the open door, ushering her out of the room.

As
I got ready for my dinner date with Angelique, the nerves in my stomach
threatened to bring me to my knees. Angelique and I had a connection, and I
couldn’t let it go. I had been excited about this night and this moment for a
few months. Our relationship together hinged on this moment, and as much as I
loved Lucky, I couldn’t let this go. I couldn’t let Angelique go. Not now when
we had come this far.

Chapter 8

Lucky

“Take
good care of them, Leo,” Zane whispered urgently to his friend, and it was all
I could do to not roll my eyes.

Zane
had been acting weird ever since we picked Leeza up, and I wasn’t sure why they
had that near-fight in the bedroom earlier. Both of them were acting a bit
weird, and I wondered if there was some history there that I didn’t know about.
I laughed to myself at my thoughts. There was no way Leeza would have slept
with him and not told me, and I knew that Zane would have been honest with me
about it, as well. We were a team now. We told each other everything.

“You
never told me Leonardo was so gorgeous,” Leeza gushed to me and played with her
blonde hair. “Do you think I have a shot with him?” She flattened her short,
black skirt and ogled Leo. Leeza’s mood had improved since Leo had arrived, but
I could tell she didn’t like Zane at all. “He’s a creep” had been her exact
words to me.

“I
think he may be seeing someone,” I lied. I didn’t know how to tell Leeza to
slow down with the guys. It was a conversation we’d had before, but she had
gotten mad at me and called me a “Holier-than-thou, born-again nun.” I had
tried to tell her that her sentence didn’t really make sense, and that I was
only thinking about her best interests, but she had shot me down.

“If
he ain’t married, he’s available.” Leeza grinned at me and walked over to Leo
and Zane. “Why, Leo, I’m happy to see that L.A. has some
good looking
men.”

Zane
looked up at me and rolled his eyes at her comment, and I stifled a laugh. I
couldn’t stop myself from staring at him in his dark, grey suit and tie. He
looked so handsome and debonair, and his hair was shining and his eyes were
sparkling. I wasn’t sure exactly what business meeting he was going to, but it
was obviously an important one.

I
walked over to him and linked my arm through his. “You look very handsome
tonight,” I whispered into his ear while breathing in his delicious, manly
scent.

“Thank
you, my dear.” He looked me over from the top of my head to the tips of my toes
and licked his lips. “You look beautiful. I’m jealous that you’ve never gotten
this dressed up for me.”

“Well,
you could come to dinner with us instead.” I kissed him and he grabbed me
around the waist and kissed me back.

“I
wish.” He took a deep breath. “I promise that, tomorrow, it will be you and me,
and a nice dinner out, wherever you want.”

“I’d
like that.”

“And
we’ll both get dressed up.”

“Will
you wear a tux?”

“A
tux?” He groaned and caught me laughing. “I’ll wear a tux if you wear a prom
dress.”

“Prom
dress?” I shivered. “A big pink frilly mess?”

“It
doesn’t have to be pink; it can be a black frilly mess.”

“Or
a purple one, I suppose.”

“What
am I supposed to do when you guys go acting like high school kids?” Leeza’s
voice was sharp and I looked at her bitter face.

I
wasn’t sure what to say to my friend. I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t happy for
me. Maybe it was because I was the girl that never had the best relationships.
I was always the one that Leeza could look at and say well, “Lucky’s
relationship is worse than mine.” We had bonded over our bad relationships the first
two years of college, and she had understood my need to take a break from that
scene after my parents had died. But she had never understood why I never went
back to the partying scene. I suppose she didn’t think it was fair that I now
had a hunky boyfriend and she still had no one. But that still wasn’t an excuse
to be a bitch.