39
Luke sat behind his desk with a cigar in his mouth and a shot of rum in his hand as he examined the forms he kept for inventory. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was used to staying up into the wee hours of the morning, spilling over the inventory, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t get exhausted after doing so.
Sighing, he closed the folder. He was going to head for home now and try to get some sleep after all. The inventory can wait until tomorrow. He stepped back in surprise as he looked up and found Lucky standing in the doorway. The look in the young man’s eyes was the same as they held when he had found out about Luke raping Laura.
"Cowboy?" Luke slowly approached his son. "What’s wrong?"
"Dad," Lucky swallowed, not sure how to broach the subject. Rape had torn their family apart once before, nearly destroying them. Tom was responsible for that, and now he was back, ready to put them all through that hell again. "They let Elizabeth’s rapist out of jail."
Luke blinked in shock. How? Why? What were the powers that be thinking? Didn’t they know all that sick bastard had done. How he had almost destroy not only poor Elizabeth’s life, but the life of his family as well? "Oh boy. How is she taking it?"
"Exactly how she’s expected to. She’s trying to remain strong, but it’s obvious that she’s hurting."
Luke shook his head. Love and concern for his daughter in law was evident in his eyes. He’d do anything to protect her for this new development. His frown deepened as he looked even more closely at his son, wondering how he was handling his anger at what had been done to Elizabeth. From what Luke could tell, something else was wrong here. It was something beyond Baker getting out of jail. "Cowboy. What is it? Something else is wrong here. Tell me what it is."
Tears shone in Lucky’s eyes as he went to
embrace his father, needing Luke’s strength for what he was
about to tell. "He’s Paula McCoy’s brother
dad."
"What?"
"He’s my biological uncle," Lucky broke into a sob, the truth crashing back down on him.
Luke’s arms tightened around his son, wanting to comfort and protect him from any more revelations from the horrid McCoy clan. Why couldn’t they just leave Lucky alone? Why was it so important for them to destroy the boy’s psyche.
"They were so smug dad! And then he had the gall to say that it was in the blood, that since he was a rapist…"
"NO!" Luke pulled Lucky away from his body, gripping his arms tightly as he stared into they young man’s troubled blue eyes. "No Lucky. Don’t go there. Not again. Rape is not hereditary. It’s not in your genes or in your make up. I don’t care what that bastard said. For goodness sake, that anger you had towards me for a full year is proof of that! Lucky, son, don’t let them do this to you. Fight it!"
Lucky swallowed and nodded, knowing already that this was what Luke was going to say. He just needed to hear it from his father personally. "What am I going to tell Elizabeth dad? She’s going to want to leave me and…"
"No Cowboy. She won’t do that. Not now and not ever. She loves you so much, maybe more then your mother loves me. She’d never hold your biological family against you."
"I can’t face her dad."
"You have to son. She needs you now more then ever. You’ve never let her down before, don’t start now."
Lucky sighed. "His dad was right. He couldn’t avoid Elizabeth, because she did need him. But he dreaded telling her about Tom. What if she left him? What if all his fears came true. It’d destroy him. There would be nothing left to live for.
"You’re right dad. I’m going to tell her. First thing when the sunrises. No more hiding out in Stefan’s office."
"That’s my boy," Luke pulled Lucky into another embrace. "Just know that no matter what happens, your mother and I are proud of you and that you’re a good, upstanding young man. We hold you in the highest regard."
"Dad," Lucky pulled away, love for Luke shining in his eyes. "You once told me that I was the role model in this family. But it’s not me. It’s you. You’ve been the rock through all the hard times. You’re what held us together. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t mom…it was you."
Luke smiled. "But you were and still are my motivation. No matter what anyone says, you are my son. You’re not even related to the McCoys. So don’t let anything that Baker say get to you. Go home and be a good husband to your beautiful wife."
"Thank you dad," Lucky headed for the door, now feeling a bit stronger about telling Elizabeth about Tom.
"Anytime Cowboy," Luke smiled, watching Lucky leave the office. "And don’t worry about Tom Baker. I’ll take care of him. Spencer style."
~*~
Lucky found Elizabeth setting at the edge of their bed. Her eyes clearly revealed her worry, sadness, fear and a bit of anger. "It’s one o’clock in the morning Lucky. Where have you been?"
Lucky entered the room and sat next to her, taking her hand in his. It was time to tell her about Tom. There was no getting around it. But he wished his dad was there. Luke could make the hardest task seem like child’s play. "I was at my dad’s club getting some good advice."
"Oh," Elizabeth frowned. Advice? Advice for what? Did it have to do with her? Did he not love her anymore? She quickly shook that thought out of her head. Lucky loved her. He’d never leave her, especially now with Tom back. "Lucky…what’s going on? You spent all day in Stefan’s office and then you leave in the middle of the night to go to your father’s club to ask for advice. Please, tell me what’s going on. Whatever it is, I can help."
Lucky took a deep breath as he tightened his hold on her hand. This was harder then he thought. "Today, Nikolas and I went to the park in search of Tome. You probably know that by now huh?"
Elizabeth just nodded, her confusion growing. "What happened?"
"We found him in the park. Nikolas and I kind of knocked him around a couple of times before realizing that he wasn’t there alone. He was with his sister and her brother. Paula and Calvin McCoy," His voice cracked at the end and he looked away, not wanting to witness her face change as she put together the pieces of what Lucky had just told her.
She blinked in surprise as the pieces indeed came together. Paula McCoy, Lucky’s biological mother, was Tom Baker’s sister? Why that made Tom Lucky’s…Uncle! Now everything was clear. Now she understood Lucky’s self-exile and the self-hatred that flashed in his eyes. "Oh Lucky…"
"They were so smug when they told me. Then he began talking about how rape was in the blood…"
Elizabeth gasped. Those horrible people had done their research obviously. They knew exactly which buttons to push with Lucky. They knew how to exploit his worse fears. "Lucky, look at me. Look at me and listen hard to what I say."
Lucky looked up into her beautiful eyes, feeling surprise a the love he saw in them. Love and compassion for him.
"We have had this conversation once before, remember? You’re not capable of such a thing of rape. It’s not in who you are. Believe me, if any one should know, it’s me. How many times since my rape have you been tempted to kiss me? Hug me, anything like that?"
Lucky smiled shyly, remembering the first few months after Elizabeth’s rape. "More times then I can count."
"And in New York, when we almost made love…you never pushed me to continue Lucky. You could have, but you didn’t and could tell that you really wanted to. So I know that rape is nothing you could ever do. No matter who you’re related to."
Lucky sighed. She was right and he was stupid to even let Tom Baker affect him like that. "I’m sorry Elizabeth. For locking myself away like that. The main reason I did was because I was afraid that you’d leave me once you found out that Tom’s Paula McCoy’s brother. I had myself convinced that you would want nothing to do with me."
"Well you convinced yourself wrong. I love you Lucky. No matter who you’re related to. Never doubt that again."
Lucky smiled, pulling her into a tight hug. "I promise never to doubt your love again."
Sighing happily, the couple cuddled close together and drifted off into a dreamless sleep, feeling safe and secure in each other’s arms. As long as they were together, nothing can touch them. Not even the knowledge of Tom Baker’s newly found freedom.