Lucas

Lucas Book 2 in the Flex Series The Guards of Mafia St. Clair by USA Today Bestselling Author Celeste Granger Note from the Publisher: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead or references to locations, persons, events, or locations are purely coincidental. The characters, circumstances, and events are imaginative and not intended to reflect actual events. Lucas Book 2 in The Flex Series Copyright 2022 Celeste Granger All Rights Reserved and Proprietary. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or format without written permission from Publisher. Send all requests via email to [email protected] Printed in the United States of America Want to be in the know? Subscribe to my newsletter to be a part of Celeste Granger’s Black on Black Love Fest! https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/k2e1j4 Follow me on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/TheCelesteGranger/ Want to join my reading group, Reading with Celeste? Follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1943300475969127/ Acknowledgment Every time I approach a new manuscript, I feel this overwhelming sense of gratitude. When you never saw writing as such a big part of your life, and it becomes such a great part of your life, grateful is what you feel. When you couldn’t have anticipated such an incredible reading family that shows up for you every time, takes a chance on you, and supports you like family, you feel sincerely grateful. I also feel gratitude for my support team, those that operate in the background, working to help build my brand. You, ladies, are so special, so talented. I appreciate all of it, even when it's hard. Dedication What is yours becomes yours when you claim it and make it your own. Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter One The gray and white marble tile was cool under her bare feet, very cool. She didn’t mind. The coolness that radiated up her legs was nothing compared to the butterflies that seemed like flying dragons wreaking havoc in her stomach. Ambient lighting flowed from the Swarovski crystal chandelier overhead. Even more focused light radiated from the light fixtures over the two raised bowl sinks. Journi nervously paced the porcelain floor in her posh Las Vegas home. It was very early in the morning. The sun hadn’t even risen in the sky. From what she understood, the first day’s offerings were best for the circumstances. She paced some more. Journi had been counting her steps in one direction and then counting the return steps. But as her eyes drifted to the sink, she hand-selected when she had her home built. She lost track of her steps. Journi started to move again and then stopped, her gaze returning to where they’d last left. Her eyes traveled to the sink again, where her fate awaited. One line or two? Journi’s emotions were all over the place. It seemed odd to be excited because her circumstances were less than optimal. It also didn’t seem quite right to be sad, mournful even. Was that a clue as to her destiny? It was certainly a reminder of her past. How much time had passed? Had it been enough? Journi didn’t want to check prematurely. She’d acted prematurely before. That’s how she ended up in the situation she was in. She wouldn’t do that this time and set herself up for the heartbreak of having to wait on the real results. Her steps paused. What she’d just thought in her head, she thought again. Waiting for the results. Journi shook her head in remembrance. That had been part of the problem with her last significant relationship. She got in the habit of waiting for the results, waiting for him to be the man he promised to be, waiting for him to live up to expectations, waiting for him to find himself so then he could find her even though she was already there, waiting for him to give her the love she knew she deserved, waiting for him to lead properly because she was oh too willing to follow. A bunch of fuckin’ waiting. And Journi found herself waiting yet again, waiting for the results of the last time she tried to reach him physically instead of telling him to fuck off verbally. Journi had always wanted children but in the right circumstances. Her present-day situation could hardly be described as right. The timing was not optimal, even though a part of her heart was still optimistic. The other real side of the coin was that her situation didn’t fit her fantasy, although that’s what she had been promised. Journi wanted the dream. Now she stood alone in the beautiful bathroom after peeing on a stick, waiting for the results by herself; despite what the stick said, Journi couldn’t doddle or wallow in her feelings. She had an important business meeting to translate for. The meeting was with a high-profile client, and she didn’t want to mess that up. But before she could get ready for the meeting, she had to read the results. It had to be time, right? Journi padded toward the sink. Her steps were much more halty than they’d been before. The cadre of emotions she felt and the raging war in her belly all made reaching for the stick that much more precarious. Should I pray? She thought to herself, knowing that she and God hadn’t been on the best of terms lately. But she’d been trained to believe that God was a forgiving God despite human failings. Journi had had so many. There were times she thought the Creator’s forgiveness was impossible. It was a little late for that. “Shoulda prayed before I laid down with that bastard,” Journi uttered aloud. She felt like she already knew what it was going to say. She thought she’d follow the script she’d