Killing Lucas Read Online Free Page B

Tony
    L ucas was no closer to not strangling his brother than he had been two hours ago when Tony had come up with his cockamamy plan. There was already no avoiding seeing Kiloran on TV or at the movies the few times a year he went—since their break up, she seemed to be in every tenth film trailer he saw. And now the one woman he never thought he would ever have to see again in person was sitting next to him in the back of Tony’s gas-guzzling SUV.
    In the last hour, he had done things that yesterday he never would have considered. He’d held her hand as they’d walked through the front doors of the Boston police headquarters to the car waiting for them and, as they’d approached the media that had secretly been tipped off by Tony, had wrapped his arm around Kiloran and pulled her into the protection of his much larger frame. Tony had stayed back briefly to answer a few questions while the police officer had pulled them away to a safe place to switch into Tony’s car.
    To Lucas’s surprise once they were behind the tinted windows, Kiloran had moved over, giving him the room he so desperately needed. Casting a direct look at Tony’s reflection in the mirror, Lucas asked, “So what did you tell them?”
    “No comment.”
    “Damn it, Tony, what the fuck did you tell them?”
    “Calm down, Luc. I told them ‘no comment’ to every one of their questions.” Tony looked through the rearview mirror at him with one eyebrow raised.
    Lucas sat back. He would be damned if he’d apologize for a situation Tony had put him in. Looking behind them, he saw nothing but empty streets. If they were being followed, it wasn’t by car. But then it had only been twenty minutes since their escape through the paparazzi, so even that news had to take a few minutes.
    Tony turned on the radio to catch the last part of the DJ saying, “—the couple, who reportedly split years ago for unknown reasons, seems to have reconnected and were seen—” Silence returned as Tony pressed the Off button. News traveled fast and furious. With any luck they would draw out the madman in a manner of days, not weeks. And Lucas could go back to his quiet world. A world he was, if not happy, content in.
    “Haven is packing you a bag, so when we get there you can leave as soon you want.”
    “What bag? I don’t have anything other than what you loaned me last night.”
    “Yes, well, about that. Mom stopped by with some clothes for you. A new wardrobe, in fact. Luckily, J.C. went with her and helped.”
    Leaning forward, Lucas nearly jumped in the front seat. “Please tell me they aren’t there waiting for us.”
    “No. Haven told them she wasn’t sure how long it would take, and then J.C. said she wasn’t feeling well and asked Mom to come and watch Zoe while she got some rest.”
    “So only your wife will be there when we arrive?” Kiloran spoke for the first time since entering the car.
    “Yes.”
    “Thank God.” Had Lucas not seen the look of relief on Kiloran’s face he would have believed the words were only in his thoughts. Turning, he took a second to observe her as she looked out the window. And for a moment he allowed himself to think about what this must be like for her. Walking into a room with him and his—justified—hatred would have been bad enough, but into the lion’s den with Lucas’s mother and sister would have been even worse for Kiloran.
    Not that she didn’t deserve to be thrown to the lions. After all it had been she who had slept with another man not twenty-four hours after putting Lucas’s ring on her finger. Staring out the window, he let the memory he had tried so hard to let go of wash over him.
    Opening the door to the house they shared in Hollywood Hills, he came home like a romantic schmuck, bottle of her favorite wine, a bouquet of wildflowers—her favorite—and smile as wide as the canyon below them. He had come home early to surprise her. He was anxious to tell the family her answer; they knew he was