“What hit you?” Lucky’s face was confused and I slowed down.

“I had a conversation with the Agent in charge of the case yesterday, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. He told me that Braydon had a partner, someone who was actually running the show. I thought it was Evan and I suspected Leeza of being here to do something bad to you.”

“Oh Zane.” Lucky looked upset and then angry. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? Shouldn’t I have been warned if you suspected that about my best friend?”

“I asked Leo to keep an eye on Leeza and all her movements.”

Lucky was silent and I could see her eyes becoming more distant. “I was wrong about Evan and Leeza. I owe her an apology, I suppose.” I made a face, but Lucky didn’t laugh, so I continued. “Angelique was the partner. She was the perfect foil. No one would ever suspect a beautiful supermodel of running a huge drug cartel.”

“Angelique is a drug trafficker?” Lucky’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

“I know.” I shook my head. “It turns out that she and Braydon have been working together for years, and she was the brains behind the whole thing.”

“She was the brains?” Lucky made such a funny face that I laughed and she scowled at me. “I’m not forgiving you that easily, Zane. Why were you out all night?”

“I wasn’t in her bed, even though she wanted me to be.” I cut myself off before I made the situation worse. “Look, Angelique came from a very poor family, and in all her life, all she has ever wanted was money. After our alliance, I blew her off and I guess I became a bit of a challenge to her. Men didn’t reject her - she rejected them. I think she convinced herself, in her own sick way, that she loved me, or rather she was trying to do everything she could to get me, to prove something to herself. I have never wanted to be with her. And I’ve never really liked her. Last night, when I realized that Angelique was Braydon’s partner, I called my contact at the FBI. He told me to stay until they could get over there. Well, let’s just say they didn’t get over until about 3 a.m.”

“It’s 10 a.m. now.” She glared.

“I was taken in for questioning.” I grabbed her hands. “I’m so sorry, Lucky. Please forgive me. I never thought this would happen.”

“You thought I’d just continue being a fool in the dark, here? Waiting for you to get back from your fake business meeting?” She cried out, but she didn’t remove her hands from mine.

“No, Lucky, never that. I wanted to tell you but …” I paused at the look in her eyes.

“But you didn’t trust me.” She snapped.

“I do trust you.”

“You don’t trust me to look after myself or to be safe. You don’t trust me, Zane. What do I have to do to show you that I love you and I’m here for you? I’m not a little kid or some fragile doll. I can handle the truth, Zane. Life has thrown some shit my way, as well, and I survived. I’m strong. I’m a strong woman. And I can’t be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t see that.”

“Lucky…” My heart stopped once again at her words and I imagined my life without her in it. It would be bleak and uneventful. A life without Lucky in it would be no life at all. “Please don’t leave me. I do trust you. I swear to God. The FBI told me to keep it to myself for the sake of your safety and the case.”

“You still should have told me.” Her stare was obstinate and I caressed her face.

“Please be patient with me, Lucky. I’m trying my best to be the man that you want. But it’s hard for me to give up that control. I’m scared you’re going to walk out and leave me. I’m scared I’m going to lose you. I’ve never felt these emotions before and I love them. They make me feel alive. They make me feel like I never have to worry, ever again. But sometimes, that old devil jumps on my shoulder and whispers in my ear, and I get worried, and angry, and afraid.”

“There is nothing to be worried about, Zane.” She held my hand next to her cheek. “I’m not your mom, I’m not going to leave you.”

“I just want you to be safe, Lucky. Please know that I would never have done anything with Angelique last night. I can’t even look at another girl. You’re it for me, Lucky. You’re the one.”

“I need to see it.” She rested her head on my shoulder and looked up at me. “Last night, I thought my heart was breaking. I was so scared and worried. I didn’t know what happened to you. I even thought that, maybe there had been another car accident, and that something had happened to you.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry I didn’t even think about that.” I held her in my arms as she cried, and I felt her body trembling against mine.

“I was so scared, Zane. I didn’t know what had happened and you weren’t returning my calls. And then after Braydon told me about Angelique, I didn’t know what to think.”

“Don’t remind me of Braydon. I’m going to have a serious conversation with Leo.”

“Please don’t.” She looked up at me. “He doesn’t know I saw Braydon. Don’t be mad at him.”

“He should have known and seen everything. He was supposed to be your bodyguard.”

“Oh please Zane, don’t blame him. I don’t want this to affect his payment.”

“Payment?” I looked at her and laughed. “Leo’s richer than I am.”

“He is?” She looked surprised. “Then why is he a bodyguard?”

“He’s not really.” I shook my head. “It’s a long story and it’s not mine to tell.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed and I took her hand and led her to the backyard. I wanted to go to the living room, but didn’t want Leeza to be hiding somewhere, listening to our conversation.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but it’s not really my place.” I squeezed her hand as we sat down on the lounge chair. “But if you want me to, I will.”

“No, that’s okay.” She smiled at me briefly. “I hope one day he’ll tell me himself.” I watched her face as she spoke and I was annoyed at the pleasant tone she had for Leo. “I like him a lot.” She continued. “I hope we become real friends.”

“I see.”

“Oh Zane, don’t be stupid.” She poked me in the ribs and I looked up to see her shaking her head. “I don’t like Leo like that, okay? You don’t need to get all pouty and jealous.”

“I’m not pouty and jealous.” I retorted.

“So, what happened to Angelique?”

“She’s in custody. And so is Braydon. They arrested him a few hours later. It seems Angelique turned on him within hours.”

“Wow.” Lucky looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. I think they will get lighter sentences if they are able to get Sanchez, the guy who’s running half the drugs from Mexico to L.A., but they will still go away for a long time.”

“Wow!” Lucky exclaimed again and held on to me tightly. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been okay.”

“I’m sorry, Lucky. I wasn’t thinking.” I stroked her hair around my fingers. “Forgive me?”

“If you promise me you won’t do anything like this again without telling me.”

“I promise.” I paused. “Let me clarify, I promise to be open and honest with you and to trust that you can handle whatever comes up in my life.”

“I hope no more drug trafficking cases come up.” She made a face. “I mean, I’m glad you got Braydon and Angelique, but I’m not sure I could go through all of this again.”

“I promise no more drug trafficking.” I slid my hand to her knee. “I promise to focus all of my attention on you.”

“Oh really?” She giggled and I was happy to see the light back in her eyes as she stared at me and swatted my hand away.

“Oh yes, I’ll get out my copy of the Kama Sutra and I’ll spend hours each night devoting myself to your body.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’ll be tiring, but I promise to give it my all.”

“That’s one promise I think you’ll be able to keep, all right.”

“You forgive me?” I held my breath as I looked into her eyes, searchingly. “Say you forgive me.”

Instead of answering, Lucky leaned in towards me and kissed my lips softly. I could taste the remnants of orange juice on her lips. I sucked on her lower lip before plunging my tongue into her mouth and she grabbed the back of my head. I felt her fingers running along my scalp and I pushed her onto her back so I could feel her br**sts crushed against my chest.

“Really, guys?” Leeza’s voice echoed through the backyard and I groaned as I sat up and pulled away from Lucky. “Lucky, I don’t know how you were able to forgive him so easily.”

“Leeza…” Lucky’s voice held a warning.

“I’m just saying.” Leeza whined. “Are we going to go and do something today, or am I expected to sit at home and watch Maury and Days of Our Lives?”

“We can drive you around Los Angeles.” Lucky jumped up. “Is there anywhere you want to go specifically?”

“Beverly Hills, 90210.” Leeza’s voice was excited and I rolled my eyes.

“Leeza, can you give Lucky and me a moment please? I need to ask her something,” I said.

“Whatever.” She twirled around and walked back into the house.

“I know she’s your friend, Lucky, but she really annoys me.” I muttered as I watched her friend leave. Even though I knew Leeza wasn’t planning something with Evan, I still couldn’t stand her. I was hoping in my head that she was on her way back to Florida very soon.

“What did you want to ask me, Zane?” Lucky looked at me with a worried expression and my heart went out to her. I felt ashamed of myself for making her feel that way. I made a vow to myself that I wasn’t ever going to give her a heavy heart again.

“So, remember when I asked you about going to London?” I took her hands in mine and used my fingers to trace the lines in her palm.

“You mean the other day?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and watched her face, carefully. “So, I was thinking, what about it? We could go for the weekend - just you and me. We could just take a break away from everything and relax.”

“But, London?” She half-smiled, considering my proposition. “It just seems so far away.”

“I just want to take a trip away, you and me. Somewhere romantic.” A light bulb flashed in my head and I exclaimed. “Or we could go to Paris. See the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. We could eat French pastries in bed and shop along the Champs-Elysees.”

“Well, I don’t have money to shop, but I do love croissants.” She smiled at me. “And I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.”

“See? It was made to be. You, me, and Paris.” I kissed the tip of her nose and we walked back inside the house. “This is going to be the trip of a lifetime. I love the French. They are such a romantic and passionate people.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.” I laughed. “We could learn a thing or two from them.” I winked at her and she blushed. I felt a secret thrill that I could still make Lucky’s cheeks redden with embarrassment.

“I don’t really know much about the French, aside from the fact that they love French fries and that they got rid of their monarchy during the French revolution.”

“I can’t say I know much more than you, but Noah was obsessed with all things French. One of his favorite movies was called Jules et Jim and he would make us watch it every few years.”

“Oh really?” Lucky gave me a peculiar look. “Was there a reason why Noah liked France so much?”

“Not that I know of.” I shrugged. “Noah was a man with eclectic tastes, not that you would have known that by the look of him.”

“Oh?”

“Most people looked at him and thought he was just a playboy.” I laughed. “I suppose that’s how you thought of me as well.”

“Well, I…I didn’t really know you well,” Lucky stuttered.

“It’s okay.” I stretched my arms and turned to her. “So are we down for Paris?”

“This weekend?” Her voice was hesitant, but I could sense the excitement in her tone.

“No time like the present.” I grinned.

She laughed. “I guess so.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” Her voice was small and I lifted her up and swung her around. We were both laughing, but as I set her down, she gave me a worried look. “Don’t ever lie to me again, Zane. I don’t think I can go through what I went through last night.”

“I am so …” I started, but she held her hand up to stop me.

“I know how important Noah was to you, and I know you have been after Braydon for the last year, but I hope this is the end of it, Zane. I’m not sure my heart, or my sanity, can continue on like this. And I don’t know if our relationship could get through one more hurricane.”

“For you, I’d weather any storm, my love.” I traced the lines around her eyes and it saddened me that I had made my Lucky cry. She was the woman who had snuck into my heart without me even knowing it. She was the woman that had made me believe in love and she had broken down my walls. She was the last person that I wanted to make sad. Seeing her cry for me made my heart break. I wanted to see her with a smile on her face. She was the one I should be making happy. She was the one I should be lifting up to the heavens. I vowed to myself that I was going to make sure that no more tears would be shed on my behalf.