The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers Book 1)

by Jordan Marie

  And just like that, his words strike like a dagger into the pit of my stomach. David Riverton is a king at knowing exactly how to wound an opponent. It’s how he got to where he is in life.

  “I’m not discussing Banger with you. You don’t deserve to even mention his name. If you came here to remind me that I’m the scum beneath your gardener’s fingernails, I got it. I got that message a long time ago, Daddy. I don’t need it again. You’re just wasting your time.”

  “I came to tell you that you need to tell Gray you’ve changed your mind and leave him alone and return to Kentucky.”

  “What? Why in hell would I do that?”

  “Because if you don’t, I’ll destroy that damn garage you came and begged me to save years ago.”

  “The garage is mine. I paid the last payment on it three years ago,” I tell him—damn proud of that fact. “There’s nothing you can do to it now.”

  I’m trying to sound self-assured, but I’m not. The truth is, I’m scared. Riverton has money, and with money comes power. When Banger’s medical expenses were destroying us, we took out a second loan from a high rate lender. They paid off the first part of the medical bills while Banger was in remission. When the cancer came back with a vengeance and we had both loans and more medical bills piling up, I swallowed my pride and bargained with the only thing I had to keep it: the dirty truth. Riverton gave me the money in exchange for my signature on documents stating that I would never reveal the truth about my mother’s sperm donor. I paid off the second loan with the money and have been working like hell to pay off the original loan ever since. I got it done and the place is completely mine, now… I hope. Something in his eyes tells me it’s not going to be that easy.

  “You know how I know there’s none of me in you, Claudia?”

  “I haven’t grown horns and a pointy tail yet?”

  “You didn’t even bother reading the contract that you signed.”

  “I did,” I tell him, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

  “The details are always in the fine print. Specifically, in this case, the one that says, if at any time I find you are no longer abiding by our terms set forth in the contract that I will demand the entire two hundred and fifty thousand dollars back or you will hand over the deed to the garage.”

  His words rob me of air. There’s no way I would have signed that, right? But then again, I think back to when I was a kid who felt like she was drowning. I hated coming to Riverton and I knew that I was going to lose Banger—no matter what I did. I just wanted to make sure he was comfortable. I wanted him… not to worry.

  “I… don’t believe you,” I lie. Oh, God. What have I done?

  “But I think you do.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’ve not violated the terms of our agreement.”

  “But you have. You’re insinuating yourself into my life and interfering with my business. You’re causing problems for my daughter—my true daughter.”

  “I haven’t! I haven’t done anything to Cammie!” I growl, and I hate that I can hear desperation in my voice.

  That’s when Riverton plays his trump card and I should have known he had one. He brings out a manila envelope he had under his arm. He opens it up and takes out some photos he had inside, throwing them on the coffee table between us. I lean down and pick one up. It’s a grainy photo obviously taken from a security camera which shows me entering an employee-only entrance at the country club back home. The others show me in the room. There’s even one that shows me turning the sprinklers on. Several others are pictures of Gray and Cammie. I look at them and then back up at the monster who fertilized the egg I was unlucky enough to hitch a ride on.

  “I think that picture would tell all the story I need. Don’t you?”

  “Get out,” I tell him, my voice quiet as the implications of what this could mean settle upon me.

  “I’ll expect you to disappear from Grayson Lucas’s life before the tournament in Georgia next week,” he says calmly, gathering up the photos.

  “You can’t make me do that.”

  “I thought that would be your answer, so here’s your official notice. I foreclose on your garage at the end of the month, unless it’s paid in full. I hope being Lucas’s whore is worth your garage, CC, because that’s all you are. Men never pick women like you permanently. I had to explain that to your mother, too.”

  “Get the fuck out of here!” I yell, grabbing wildly and throwing something from the table at him. I shouldn’t have bothered because once he has the photos, he’s gone, leaving only the foreclosure papers and likely feeling secure in the knowledge that he’s destroyed my world.

  What do I do now?

  56

  Gray

  “You okay, Cooper?”

  “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

  “Sweetheart, I don’t know if you realize this, but you’ve barely said two words.”

  “I’m just eating, Gray.”

  “Really? Because all your food still seems to be on your plate.”

  “Okay, fine,” she sighs, pushing her plate around. “Some things came up at home today and I need to get back and try to figure them out.”

  “Well, that’s clear as mud.”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” she says with another sigh. I study her face. She looks so lost. I want to shake her for not letting me in.

  “Try me.”

  “The shop. It… appears there was a problem with the loan, and instead of having it paid off, there’s an… an outstanding balance now.”

  “Let me pay it.”

  “Gray!”

  “What? I have it, and the garage is important to you. I can pay it. Problem solved.”

  “No. Problem is not solved. I’ll deal with it. We’re going back to Kentucky tomorrow anyway.”

  “Can you promise me one thing?”

  “Depends on what it is,” she says, smiling a little.

  “If you can’t work it out that you will at least consider taking the money from me, it can be a loan. You can pay me back, if you insist.”

  “Gray, you don’t even know how much it is.”

  “I don’t really give a fuck, CC. You’re important to me. Not the money. And if I win the tournament in Georgia, I can buy three garages once I put that with the money I got from signing the Riverton contract.”

  “You’d really do that?”

  “Definitely. You don’t seem to have grasped it yet, sweet lips, but this thing between us is special. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here and I’m staying here.”

  “Sometimes, life throws curveballs that are beyond our control, Gray.”

  “Good thing for you that I’ve become a master at learning just how to hit balls so they curve the way I want them to.”

  “Ouch. That was a really bad pun.”

  “They can’t all be gold. How about you give up pretending to eat and I take you back to the hotel and ravage you.”

  She drops her fork in her plate and grins at me—and this one almost reaches her eyes. “I was hoping you would suggest that.”

  I throw some money on top of the bill the waitress left earlier, then get up and walk over to her seat, pulling it back and helping her up.

  “I do aim to please,” I tell her, kissing her lips gently. “It’s going to be okay, Cooper. I promise. I will always be here for you.”

  She hooks her hand against my jaw and looks into my eyes. Then she burrows her head into my neck, placing a gentle kiss on my chest.

  “I could love you, Grayson Lucas,” she whispers, and it feels so close I can almost taste it.

  “I’m counting on it, sweet lips. I’m counting on it,” I tell her, trying to swallow down the emotion that’s choking me. CC doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve made it my goal that she falls in love with me. I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen. I’m keeping her.

  Forever.

  57

  CC

  “I’m sorry, CC. There’s nothing I can do. The contract cle
arly states the terms of the loan and I’d say the pictures you described would sway a jury or a judge.”

  I hold my head down, the phone away from my ear. Mack is a local lawyer in town and, as lawyers go, he’s about the only one I trust not to rat me out to Riverton. He is new to the area, having moved here after marrying Belinda, a local girl who’s a few years older than me.

  “So I’m royally fucked?” I ask, my eyes still closed.

  “The only alternative is to take out a loan on the bank again. The garage would clearly be worth that.”

  “You forget one thing, Mack.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Riverton owns all the local banks. You don’t think he’s already put word out against me?”

  “You really think he’d go that far?”

  “I know so.”

  “What about an online lender? Or a national bank?” he suggests.

  “I’ll try it, but my personal credit rating isn’t that great.”

  “I’m sorry my news isn’t better, CC. Hell, I’m even sorrier I wasn’t around to keep you from signing this ridiculous contract.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Back then… even now, I would have signed anything if it meant making sure Banger would keep from worrying and be able to die in peace.”

  “He was a lucky man to have you. There’s still a small chance we can go to court and win because of the outrageous contract terms and your age.”

  “Yeah,” I answer him, but I know that’s not going to happen. For one, I don’t think I could handle court and having my mom’s sordid past out everywhere. For another, I doubt there’s anything like a fair trial around here.

  “I do my banking in Lexington. Go talk to a Jim Graves there. Tell him I asked you to contact him. See what he can do.”

  I write the name down with little hope, then Mack and I say our goodbyes.

  I’ve only been back in Kentucky for a couple days. I’ve had trouble breaking away from Gray to try and figure out what to do with the garage. If I told him, he’d buy it. That’s tempting. Fuck, it is. But, I can’t let him do that. This is my problem, not his, and I’m not about to ask a man I… care about… to bail me out of a mess I made. That reeks of something my mother would have done and that’s not who I am—or ever will be.

  I need to talk to Jackson and warn him. He deserves a heads-up. I’m just not sure I know how to tell him. Telling Mack was bad enough. It made it sink in deeper. It made it real. I’m going to lose Banger’s garage. I don’t care so much for myself, but the thought of his legacy being gone… of giving up my home for Riverton to tear down and put another Cash-n-Dash store or something else equally stupid kills me. I feel so stupid for signing that damn contract. I wasn’t lying to Mack; back then, I would have signed a deal with Lucifer himself if it meant making sure Banger could die in peace. Too bad that’s exactly who Riverton turned out to be.

  “Woman, you’re making us late!” Gray says, sticking his head in the door. He looks so happy and he says I’m the one who makes him that way. What happens when I fuck this up? What happens when he discovers I’m not worth sticking around for? I do my best to plaster on a smile. I can’t let on to him that my whole world is crashing down around me.

  “I told you I had business to do, Crayon Man.”

  “I know, I’m just anxious,” he says, coming further inside. He walks over by my desk and sits on it, ignoring the papers that litter it. “Hey, you okay, sweet lips?” He bends down to study my face.

  “Just tired,” I tell him, trying to joke it off. “You’re wearing me out.”

  “Well, I was pretty spectacular last night, if I do say so myself. What was it… three or so world-shattering orgasms?”

  “Stop bragging. Nobody likes a show-off.”

  “That’s not what you were saying last night,” he grins, and even as down as I am, I have to smile a little. He’s crazy. “Seriously, are you okay? All joking aside, you don’t look happy or tired. You look like you… want to cry. And that’s not a look I want my woman to have ever.”

  “Your woman? Careful, Tarzan is showing his loin cloth again.”

  “I’m serious, Jane… I mean CC.” He winks. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”

  “It’s just work, Gray. I told you the garage was having some financial issues. I’m just trying to wade through and figure out how to fix it.”

  “Let me give you the money.”

  “Yeah, that’s not happening. I’ve been in business a long time and weathered some pretty rough storms. This is just a minor bump,” I lie. “I’ll get through it.”

  “My beautiful CC. Always so independent. Are you ever going to let your guard down enough to let me take care of you?” he asks, pulling our faces closer. I close my eyes and let his warmth and the feeling of having him nearby wrap around me. His words are beautiful and he’ll never know how much I wish I could trust them enough to try. Though Gray is one hundred percent honest in his offer, he doesn’t know me yet. Not really. It’s just a matter of time when he finds out what my mother, and everyone else I’ve loved, had already discovered. I’m not the kind of girl worth a forever commitment. Even my own ‘father’ knows that. I might be Riverton’s biological daughter, but what kind of monster would do this even to an illegitimate child?

  “You took care of me last night. Remember?” My thoughts are bordering on self-pity and, though it’s tempting, I can’t go there. It’s time I stiffen my back. I don’t want Gray to see how low I really am.

  “Oh, sweet lips, I definitely remember.”

  “We have thirty minutes before we’re meeting your mother at the airport. If you were to hurry, I’d say you could take care of me again.”

  “You sure, C?” He pulls away to look at me again. “I mean, not that I wouldn’t love to, but you don’t actually seem in the mood for sex.”

  “I am,” I assure him, reaching down to massage his already half-hard cock through his pants. “I’m more than sure. When you make love to me, Gray, I forget everything else around us. Everything in the world stops and it’s just you and me. I really need that right now.”

  “CC…”

  “Come on, Gray,” I urge him, standing up and taking my clothes off while he sits there and watches. “Show me that nine-iron the world brags about.” I grin. When I have my clothes off, I look up at him. “Besides, there’s something I’ve always wanted to try and never have.”

  “Fuck,” he groans as I reach over and pet the hard outline of his cock, squeezing it. “What’s that, baby?” he asks, his voice muffled because he’s standing up and undoing his pants.

  “Being bent over my desk and fucked hard,” I tease him, leaning over and sticking my ass out to tempt him even more.

  “Christ. You’re perfect, CC. Have I mentioned that?” His hands bite into the cheeks of my ass, pulling them apart.

  A few seconds later, Gray gives me what I need, and I was right. Everything but the two of us cease to exist as he slides into me and makes the world disappear.

  58

  Gray

  “Please tell me you did not just have sex on CC’s kitchen table,” I state, already knowing they did and just hoping someone can deny it so I can try and live in ignorance.

  “It’s a strong table, dear,” Ida Sue says, buttoning up her shirt.

  “Almost as good as the one back home,” Jansen agrees as I hang my head down in shame. I would be completely humiliated if I didn’t hear CC’s muffled laugh. I look over at her and her head is hiding in the back of my arm, her body moving in mostly silent laughter. She’s been so down that, just like that, I forget the fact that my mother just had sex on my girlfriend’s table and I’m thankful they’ve cheered her up.

  “Don’t laugh. You’ll just encourage them.”

  “Jansen doesn’t need encouragement, dear. They make those pills now that do that.”

  “Mom! For Christ’s sake.”

  “You know how I feel about you bringing the Lord in your foul language,” she grumble
s.

  I love my mom, but her mind constantly leaves me scratching my head. If the Lord would be upset with me for using his name, I’m not sure how he’s supposed to feel about my mom having sex on a kitchen table with her boyfriend.

  “Lovey, damn it. You aren’t supposed to tell anyone about those damn pills.”

  “Relax, Jansen. Gray and CC are family and there’s nothing wrong with having to prime the pump. If Gray isn’t already doing it, he’ll probably have to soon. He’s not getting any younger either.”

  “Mom, do you think you can reel it in before you scare CC off?”

  “Dear, CC is not going anywhere. Are you CC?”

  “Well, I mean…”

  “A blind man could see that she loves you,” she says. I hear CC’s gasp and squeeze her into me encouragingly. “Please tell me you’ve told that girl how you feel about her,” Ida Sue scolds.

  “I haven’t wanted to scare her,” I try to explain.

  “Horse shit. I ought to set your ears on fire, son. A woman likes to know how a man feels about her. She needs to know she can depend on you. That she matters.”

  “She matters, Mom.”

  “I know that, son, but it’s not me you’re knocking boots with. You need to tell her,” she says, crossing her arms.

  “I think I’d better go. I’m going to be late. You sure…” CC starts, her body tense.

  I might want to strangle my mother right now, but the door is open and not saying anything will give her the wrong idea. I turn her to me, holding her neck gently, letting my thumb sweep across her chin.

  “You matter, CC.”

  “Gray, come on. Your Mom means well, but you don’t have to say…”

  “I love you, Claudia Cooper. I’ve loved you forever.”

  Her face goes white, and she trembles a little in my arms.

  “Gray…”

  “I love you, sweet lips.”