“No one will touch you,” Shade promised, Willa didn’t doubt his assurance.
She stepped hesitantly inside, and Shade closed
the door behind her.
“This way.” Shade made a path for her through the crowded room that she imagined was what Sodom and Gomorrah would have looked like. She was afraid lightning would strike any second as she walked across the room.
She was almost at the kitchen when her eyes were caught by a couple on the couch. Winter was sitting on Viper’s lap with his hand under her skirt. You couldn’t see anything, but from both their expressions, you could tell what was going on between the married couple.
Willa almost fell as she rushed into the kitchen behind Shade where it went from bad to worse. Raci was on Crash’s lap, bouncing up and down on his cock. Her back was to the door, but Willa easily recognized her face because it was turned to the side, giving Rider a blowjob. Several members were standing around in the other room in various stages of undress.
Shade opened a door on the wall of the kitchen. When she would have rushed through it, Shade caught her arm.
“Be careful.”
She made herself slow down as she went down the wooden steps. Downstairs, she saw several different exercise machines and weights against one wall, and there was also a couch and chair. The room was large with a metal pole in the center. Thankfully, this part of the house was empty, and she was able to catch her breath.
“This way.” Shade walked across the room, going through a door into a hallway. He went to the door at the end, opening it after a brief knock.
Willa’s mouth dropped open when she went in after Shade.
Rachel was on her knees on the bed, giving Cash a blowjob.
“Dammit, Shade,” Cash snapped.
Rachel’s mouth came off Cash’s cock with a pop. Then her friend frantically began pulling a cover over her, burying herself beneath it.
“I need the room.”
Willa could have sworn she heard amusement in Shade’s voice. She glanced away while Cash pulled on his shoes and boots, picking up his shirt from the bottom of the bed.
“I don’t think Lucky would be happy to hear you say that,” Cash commented.
Shade didn’t respond, forcing Willa to clear up the misconception. “We’re just going to talk.”
Both men laughed at her expression.
“Willa, I knew that.” Cash went to the bed. “Let’s go, Rachel.”
“No, I’m not coming out. Ever. Tell them to go talk at Lily’s house.”
“I need this room,” Shade stressed.
“I don’t care. I’m not—” A loud squeal filled the room when Cash reached under the cover to pull his wife out. Rachel didn’t release the covers when Cash tossed her over his shoulder, going to the door.
“It’s all yours.”
“Thanks, brother, Rachel.”
“You freaking bast—!” Shade slammed the door on Rachel’s insult.
“She’s pretty mad at you,” Willa observed.
“She’ll get over it.”
As Shade went to a large, wooden cabinet against the wall, Willa stared around the room. The bed was huge with a black sheet. It was masculine-looking and … sexy. Willa was ashamed of the sinful feelings rising in her body, knowing her mother would be mortified she had even thought the word.
Shade opened one door of the cabinet then took a set of keys out of his pocket, unlocking the other side. Curious, Willa wandered over to look inside.
There were several drawers inside the cabinet. Some were half-drawers; others were whole; all had keyholes. One at the bottom was twice as large as the rest, and Shade slid a smaller key inside then opened the drawer, revealing leather books. There was also a glass-framed display.
“Have a seat on the couch,” Shade ordered.
Willa took a seat while Shade removed the items from the drawer, setting them down next to her. Then he sat down on top of the coffee table in front of her.
Picking up the display case, she was able to see several medals and a flag.
“Lucky tell you anything about when he was in the service?”
“He told me that a friend’s brother was killed, and he felt responsible.”
“He wasn’t responsible. I’ve told him that, his superiors have told him that, and this tells him he wasn’t responsible”—he gestured at the case—“but he can’t let himself off the hook because he made that promise to Bridge.”
Shade’s face twisted. “The Last Riders met when we were overseas, and we’ve remained friends even after we were discharged. I’ve thought over the years about what has kept our friendship strong, what made the difference between us to keep us from splitting up and just talking occasionally.” Shade shrugged. “We work well together as a unit. We watch each other’s back, and we trust each other. I came to the conclusion that each of us has a code that we live by that makes us the men we are.”
“What’s Lucky’s?” Willa stared down at the picture frame in her hands.
“You tell me.”
“Honor.”
“Yes. I met Lucky when he was still a pastor in the service. I was in and out of camps during different times, and I never had much contact with him then, but even from what little I saw of him, I saw the war taking its toll on him. After Knox’s wife Sunshine died, he couldn’t do it anymore. He couldn’t tell one more brother that someone they loved wasn’t coming home. I thought he would leave the service then, but he re-upped, went into Seal training, and came out at the top of his class. If Lucky couldn’t save them with the Bible, he had made his mind up to do it with a rifle. His sense of honor had him wanting to make sure he could bring as many brothers home as he could, even if he had to sacrifice all his beliefs, even if it was his own life he had to forfeit.”
“John 15:13: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,’” Willa quoted softly.
“He went on all the dangerous missions in the worst areas. Then Bridge asked Lucky to watch over his kid brother when they were told to empty a village before the enemy attacked, and Lucky promised he would.
“Willa, what I’m about to tell you is classified.”
“I swear to God I won’t repeat what you tell me,” Willa said earnestly.
“I know you won’t, or I wouldn’t have told you as much as I have.”
Shade leaned forward, putting his forearms on his thighs as he recounted Lucky’s past.
“We were given six hours to evacuate a village of sixteen hundred. I was in place on a ridge to alert them if any enemy approached, but I was ordered not to make my presence known. There was intel that a target the government wanted taken out would be present when the enemy forces attacked, and the government wanted that target bad.
“Two squads went in. Lucky, Kale, Razer, and four others were in one. They would get the refugees out. The other squad would take them to safety. The evacuation was going well until one of the refugees didn’t like being rushed and turned on the soldiers. He grabbed Kale’s gun and turned it on him. He was shot in his leg and arm.
“The rest of the soldiers continued with the evac while Razer and Lucky worked on Kale. It took time, and the enemy was getting there sooner than the intel had predicted. Lucky called for air evac for Kale, so Train and his team were on the way to get them out. At that point, everyone had been evaced except Lucky’s squad, and it was those ten men who were left to face the Hell that was about to open up.
“Keep in mind, I wasn’t allowed to break cover and give them any support. The target I was after was too important. I had to watch those men fight one of the dirtiest fights I’ve ever witnessed. Lucky brought down soldier after soldier, but they needed a break so Train could land the helicopter and get the men out.”
“What did Lucky do?”
Shade’s mouth twisted. “The crazy bastard went and found a break in the enemy line then sneaked out of the part of town that wasn’t covered. He sneaked behind enemy lines. It was a suicide mission. He set off explosives that gave Train time to land and get the squad on board.”
“How
did Kale die?” Willa whispered, barely able to talk without bursting into tears.
“He bled out. He died when Lucky was setting off the explosives. The men tried to get his body to the transport. Two men were shot trying. Razer still tried, risking his own life until the command was given to leave him.”
Willa bit down on her hand, realizing it must have been torture for the men to leave one of their own behind.
“The helicopter took off without Kale and Lucky. Both were irretrievable.”
“Lucky was left behind?” Willa cried out.
“The squad had no choice; he was behind enemy lines. Train had his orders, and he had to think of the lives on that helicopter. He had his own team to protect, plus the remaining squad members.”
“What happened to Lucky?”
“The lucky bastard kept them chasing him for an hour. They got close enough to shoot him three times, yet he kept managing to find hiding places for short periods of time. The last one got him in the back, but he managed to find cover between two rocks.”
“How did he get out?”
“Train defied orders and came back for him alone. He wasn’t allowed to fly for six months and was demoted for that stunt.” Shade’s hand tapped the glass that covered the medals. “He received these for saving those lives that day, but he won’t even look at them. I had them framed for him, though, because he deserved every damn one of them.”
Shade reached for the other medals, and he flicked one open and laid it on her lap. “He received this for saving a village when he was a pastor. He stayed behind because there were children he refused to leave. The children were sick and couldn’t be moved. The squad left him behind. The only one who stayed was Razer. He received a medal also.”
Shade laid another, bigger leather book on her lap which he flipped open. “He was given this for saving a U.S. envoy that was escorting food to a town that was slowly being starved to death. Only five men have been given this medal since it was made.”
The last leather book was set on her lap and contained nine different medals of various sizes with a larger one at the top. “Lucky was awarded the one at the top from the president. The rest are from the different states that contained the drug and firearms pipeline that Lucky busted while undercover as Pastor Dean.”