Page 14 of Lucky

“Listen up!” Lucky commanded, authority resonating in every syllable. The room hushed at once, every pair of eyes locked on him. “Trinity just got an anonymous letter left on the bar. She was told to meet Viper at the park. He wants her to deliver a message to me. That’s obviously not going to happen. We are going to go in her place.”

“Could be a trap,” Raptor warned, his calculating gaze sharp.

“Then we'll be ready for it.” Lucky's tone left no room for doubt. "We protect our own, and right now, Trinity is in the line of fire. We move fast, we move together.”

“Damn right,” Savage agreed. “And when we face Viper, he better have some damn good answers.”

“Answers or not, he's gonna feel the full wrath of The Watchmen,” Lucky vowed. The raw edge in his voice spoke of a ferocity that would accept nothing less than justice. Loyalty was mandatory. “Let’s come up with a plan a, b and c. Slash, I want you to…” He barked out orders, breaking the men into teams.

Lucky turned away from the men he led, his mind already racing with the intricacies of their strategy. He felt the weight of leadership heavy on his shoulders, but within him burned an unwavering resolve. “Betrayal will be met with justice,” he murmured to himself. His words were a silent promise to the woman who held his heart, “and I am the hand that will deliver it.”

TRINITY

Trinity's hands trembled as she wiped down the counter, her movements automatic and devoid of the usual care she put into her beloved Day & Night. She’d sent Jasmine home, and although they were normally open on a Tuesday, canceled the night’s Naughty Girl’s Book Club meeting. The coffee shop was a sanctuary, a dream made real with the scent of roasted beans and aged paper from the bookstore. But now, instead of peace, she felt anxiety and fear. Her pulse thrummed in her ears; each beat a Morse code of trepidation. Her mind was a carousel of chaos, spinning with the image of the note written in Sharpie on a napkin. What did this mean for her? For Lucky? She’d never met Viper, didn’t know him. What would cause him to turn on the club?

One thing she’d figured out really early was that these men were fiercely loyal and protective. She knew they’d do whatever it took to defend what was theirs. She shuddered thinking about what they’d do to someone who not only threatened it, but also betrayed them.

“Damn it,” she whispered, gripping the edge of the counter until her knuckles blanched. She hated feeling this way. Lucky’s business was not impacting her bottom line. A knock on the door startled her. She saw Dax standing there, badge and gun on his hip. Grabbing her purse, she hurried to the door. Quickly, she unlocked it, stepped outside, then relocked it.

“Do you have another key? Jay needs it to come install security equipment today,” Dax said.

Trinity paused. Could she afford it? The security system Jay was going to install couldn’t be cheap. She’d way surpassed her daily goals at Day & Night but she needed to put the extra income back into the store. “I need to talk to Lucky about it more before?—”

“I don’t normally interrupt people, but we need to get moving, just in case. I know Lucky and I know Jay even better. They are going to make sure your shop is secure, whether you give them permission or not. If I were you, I’d save myself from a hot butt for what is going to be inevitable anyway.”

“It’s not that I don’t want the security. I’d like knowing my employees were safe when I wasn’t here?—”

“It’s admirable that you are thinking about your employees, but your safety is as important,” Dax reminded her gently.

“Yeah. It’s the cost of the system. These things can’t be cheap.”

She wasn’t expecting Dax to start laughing. “If I’d known that was why you were hesitant, I would have started there. Finances are not an issue. Jay… Let’s just say he buys in bulk and gets a great discount.” Dax winked at her, and Trinity knew there was more behind it.

She knew when to quit, however, and took the key off the chain and handed it to Dax. “I don’t have another copy beside the one Jasmine has.”

“I’ll have Jay make a copy. Let’s go.” He opened the door of his black SUV and escorted her in. They drove for a few minutes before they pulled up beside another dark SUV. Dax rolled down his window and passed the key to the huge passenger in Jay’s car.

“Hey, Trinity. Doing okay?” Tank asked, accepting the key.

“I’m good, Tank.” She’d become quite familiar with her best friend’s boyfriend and Daddy.

“Behaving yourself?” His slight wink made Trinity giggle. It didn’t matter that Tank was much younger than she and Delilah, he’d made it clear he was in charge.

“Better than Delilah.”

“That’s not hard to do, you might have to raise your bar a little higher,” Tank teased. Dax let them know he needed to go and rolled up the window before heading toward The Watchmen’s compound.

The gates opened as they approached, once again Trinity wondered about it. “I never have to stop and push in a security code or anything.”

“These gates are monitored in a secured room on the compound. The cameras leading up the road let the men on security watch know who is coming before we get here. Only the members put in their own unique code. It’s a way to log in their coming and goings.”

His answer gave her more questions. She didn’t ask, though; they’d pulled to a stop in front of the main building where the meetings were held. The same building where she’d been introduced to the officers merely two weeks ago. Walking inside with Dax, she could feel the charged atmosphere.

She looked around until she found him.

Daddy.

His presence filled the space, authoritative and fierce. Trinity's breath hitched at the sight of him. He turned around as if he felt her enter the room. Their eyes met. His normally kind, patient eyes now held the storm within, dark clouds swirling over a sea of anger. Subconsciously, she took a step back before she realized the anger wasn’t directed at her.

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