“Go away,” Molly said.
As a collective whole, they backed up a few feet.
“Further,” Molly said, then whipped the curtain closed again and stared at Lucas. “You were unconscious.”
“I was in and out. Okay, mostly out, but I definitely heard you say you love me and ask me not to die so sweetly that I told myself I had to make it just so I could say it back to you. I love you too, Molly.”
Her heart kicked. “You love me. But you lied to me. Love doesn’t lie, Lucas.”
He didn’t smile, didn’t blink, just let his dark eyes lock onto hers. His mouth curved into a soft, remorseful smile that made it difficult to remember to keep her distance. So did the white bandage around his head.
“You know that I’m not good at this,” he said, worry in his expression. Or maybe it was regret. “I’m out of practice.”
“So am I,” she said. “But I didn’t lie to you. I wouldn’t.” She was aware that she was self-destructing this, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Maybe because a little tiny part of her was relieved that there was an out.
“Molly—”
“I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” he said. “What about me—”
“You do what you want.”
“No,” he said. “Don’t go. I can’t come after you—”
“I don’t need you to.” She backed away from him. “Take care of yourself, Lucas.”
And then she forced herself to walk away.
Chapter 26
#IOnlyWantYouForChristmas
Lucas watched Molly walk out of the small cubicle and—he was afraid—out of his life. He struggled to sit up and had barely made it upright before everyone except the one person he wanted crowded back in.
“Man,” Archer said. “Even I know that when a woman says ‘do what you want,’ you don’t do what you want.”
“What do you do then?” Lucas asked wearily.
“You go perfectly still. You don’t blink. You don’t even breathe. You just play dead.”
Lucas closed his eyes. He felt half dead and wondered if that would count . . .
A harried-looking nurse showed up and gasped at the number of people squeezed into the small space. “Is this a party or a hospital?” she asked tartly.
“It’s both,” Elle said. “But the party’s really just a pity party for our dumbass friend who just screwed it all up with the love of his life. I know you said only two of us at a time back here, but it’s going to take all of us ganging up on him to make him see the light and rectify his dumbassness.”
The nurse eyed Lucas. “You screwed up?”
“Yeah.”
“Men,” she said with a shake of her head, and started checking his vitals. She pulled the stethoscope from around her neck to have a listen and then gave him a long, hard look at whatever she heard.
Probably his heart dying.
“You need to rest,” she said and turned to Elle. “I’m sorry to interrupt The Dumbass Intervention, but—”
“Hey,” Lucas said, closing his eyes. “Lying right here.”
“You’ll have to fix his life for him later,” the nurse went on. “He really does need some quiet.”
When she’d shoved everyone out, Lucas felt relief. Finally, he could hear himself think. But . . . he could hear himself think. Molly was gone, and given the look that had been in her eyes, she was going to stay gone.
Which meant it was official—he really was a dumbass.
He woke to an annoying beeping that told him he was still in the hospital. He sat straight up and then went utterly still, fighting both pain and nausea.
Thanks to an infection in his leg, they’d admitted him instead of letting him go home. That had been two days ago. Two long, restless days and nights of high fever and barely consciousness. He’d dreamed that Molly had been at his side the whole time, alternately holding his hand or stroking his hair from his eyes. He was certain he’d heard her mutter “dumbass” affectionately as well, but every time he managed to wake himself up and crack open his eyes, the chair by his bed remained empty.
He sat up now, staring at it. Wishful thinking, no doubt.
“Problem?” Joe asked, coming into the room.
“I thought I heard . . .” He shook his head.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Joe tossed a duffle bag to the bed. “Thought you might want some clothes that your ass won’t hang out of.”
Lucas stripped off the hated hospital gown. “If I don’t ever see another of these in my entire life, it’ll still be too soon.” He gingerly set his feet on the floor. His thigh was healing where the bullet had ripped through, but it still hurt like a sonofabitch. He very carefully slid his legs into the jeans Joe had brought, forgoing underwear since he didn’t know if he had enough in him for the extra step. “Tell me what happened with the case.”
“Let’s start with why you kept it from me. I get why Molly did, but not you, Lucas.”
Lucas drew a deep breath, which hurt like hell. “She’s good, man. She deserved a shot at this case. And it wasn’t for me to decide to bring you in on it. She’s her own person and not only that, she’s good at this. You’re going to have to come to terms with that. Now tell me what the hell happened when I was passed out.”
Joe took in what Lucas said and nodded, not looking happy but resigned. “It turns out that Santa had told the elves the truth on one thing—the Christmas Village itself really wasn’t making much money. One to two grand a weekend. But their gambling profits were coming in at ten to twelve grand and they were stupid enough to be claiming the illegal gains in order to wash the money through a legitimate business. They cooked their books, but didn’t count on one thing.”
“Molly,” Lucas guessed.
“Molly,” Joe agreed. “Tommy Thumbs and Janet are going away for money laundering, conspiracy to launder illegal gambling profits, racketeering, and lots of other fun stuff including murder one. Santa’s already six feet under.”
Lucas nodded and reached for a T-shirt. “So,” Joe said casually as Lucas pulled it over his head. “You and my sister.”
Lucas pushed his arms through the sleeves and shoved the shirt down before looking at Joe. “Yeah. Me and Molly.”
“So you freely admit it, that you were fucking around with my sister when you were supposed to be protecting her.”
“I was protecting her,” Lucas said. “And it wasn’t fucking around.”
Joe raised a doubtful brow.
“It wasn’t,” Lucas said, closing his eyes. Even though all he’d done for days was sleep, he felt exhausted to the bone. “It’s different with her.”
“So different that you did your usual be-a-dick until you’re dumped move?”
“You want to go there with me?” Lucas asked. “Because whose fault is it that she’s mad at me for lying? I fell in love with her, Joe. I didn’t mean to, and God knows I didn’t want to, but it’s the truth. I know she doesn’t believe me, but that doesn’t make it any less real. And seems to me that only a few months ago you fell for Kylie while protecting and helping her as well, so please, tell me more about this whole thing being so wrong.”