Lady Luck: Ashby Crime Family Romance Book 4 Read online

  Lady Luck

  Ashby Crime Family Romance Book 4

  KB Winters

  BookBoyfriends Publishing Inc

  Copyright © 2020 by KB Winters and BookBoyfriends Publishing Inc

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by KB Winters

  Chapter One

  Emmett

  Sunday dinner at Ashby Manor was always a chaotic affair with housekeepers frantically running around to make sure the formal dining room was set to Sadie’s exacting standards. Two uniformed servers busied themselves uncorking wine and organizing serving dishes and spoons and whatever else was required to make sure Sunday dinner felt like the family time it was meant to be.

  “Five minutes,” Sadie told the head housekeeper, a warning in her voice. Even though she had a ruthless streak that ran deep in her petite body, Sadie always seemed a little anxious about making sure things were perfect. Every single Sunday.

  “Emmett,” she smiled as I walked into the dining room. “Come, let’s have a drink.”

  “Sure, thanks.” It was just me and Sadie together in the dining room, waiting for the room to clear. We only had a few minutes to ourselves before the rest of the family and their guests would arrive in the next five minutes. Otherwise, they’d be late.

  “Wine or whiskey?” I said, walking behind the bar.

  Her lips curled into a grin. “Whiskey, of course.”

  I poured two fingers into two crystal tumblers and handed one off to her. “How are things?” I wasn’t all that involved in the Ashby Organization beyond House of Ashby, training champion fighters, but I also wasn’t a fool. I knew a good portion of the Ashby wealth came from underground card games, prostitution, extortion and even some drug trafficking. I’d stop letting it bother me a long time ago, and I never judged them for it. Ever.

  Sadie sighed and leaned against the heavy oak hutch. “Things are as they always are, Emmett. Hectic. Crazy. Dangerous. Take your pick.” She took a long sip from her tumbler, sharp green eyes taking in every detail of my face. “How are you adjusting to being back at the gym? No aftereffects of the attack?”

  Always, but I shook my head, deciding to keep my own secrets. I’d gotten caught in the crossfire when the Rhymers came after the Ashbys, but I wasn’t getting paid to whine to Sadie. We’d get our revenge.

  “None that I’m aware of,” I said, the whiskey smoothing down the lie, “other than being a bit more cautious of my surroundings.”

  I really should start carrying my piece again, for peace of mind, not because I thought I was still in danger. Then again, being as close as I was to the Ashby family, there was always some danger.

  “I’m fine,” I said, raising my glass to our mutual good health. “The fighters are looking good, and we have a few new trainees who appear…promising.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Sadie nodded; her gaze focused just over my shoulder as if her mind was someplace else. “Keep an eye out for anyone to replace Ravager on our roster until he’s healed.” I was more than grateful that Sadie didn’t blame me for that shit show because it could have ended my career as a fight trainer.

  “I have someone in mind. He’s not as young as Rob, but he’s stronger with a harder punch. Come by the gym some time and check him out.”

  She nodded and flashed a grateful grin. “I will. And Emmett, I want to thank you for making time for Vanessa. She’s still fragile and in need of a friend, and I’m told you’ve been a good one to her.”

  I shrugged off her praise, feeling uncomfortable with it. “No thanks necessary. She’s a nice lady, and we kind of get each other.”

  “Doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful, does it?”

  I took a long sip from my own glass, trying to figure out how to answer without giving anything away. “Doesn’t it always?”

  Sadie laughed. “I always appreciate a good piece of eye candy.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, and I wondered what the woman who had been more like a mother to me than my own drug and booze addicted mom was up to.

  Hearing footsteps, I turned then to the doorway. Sadie’d seen her sons before I did.

  “Jasper. Virgil,” she said, waving them into the dining room. “I was just about to have Emmett send up smoke signals to announce dinner.”

  Virgil rolled his eyes and dropped down in his seat at the middle of the table. “Ma, we’re two minutes late.”

  “Two minutes late is not on time,” she reminded him and took her seat at the head of the table, Jasper seated right beside her. “Where is Maisie?”

  “I’m right here,” she said breathlessly, rushing into the dining room. She flung her handbag onto an empty chair beside the window before she took her seat beside Virgil. “Sorry I’m late. Twin billionaires had me running around all day in search of red-headed twin acrobats. They settled for black-haired twins because they used to be Cirque du Soleil dancers.”

  She rolled her eyes affectionately and grabbed Virgil’s glass of whiskey, finishing it in one gulp. “Hey, everyone.”

  Sadie’s lips curled into an amused grin. “Hello, Maisie.”

  “Hey, Maze,” I added with a welcoming smile.

  “Your face is looking much better, Em. Much,” she added, a twinkle in her blue eyes.

  “Thanks, uh, yours too.”

  Maisie laughed when Virgil frowned at her and said, “I’m your fiancé, you’re supposed to tell me I look good.”

  She shrugged. “You look all right, but now that Emmett’s scars have healed, we can see his handsome face again. It’s a good thing, Virgil. Relax.”

  I knew Virgil was just giving her shit because from the moment I met Maisie, she’d become just like Kat to me. Another sister. “Yeah, Virg, relax,” I prodded, laughing when he flipped me off.

  Cal showed up, alone once again, and silently took his seat beside Jasper, hoping his arrival would go unnoticed.

  It didn’t.

  “And where is Bonnie?” Sadie’s question stopped all side conversations, her tone icy and demanding.

  “She’s not feeling well, Ma.” The fact that he wouldn’t look up when he answered spoke volumes, but Sadie let that part slide.

  “For fuck’s sake, you’d think she was the first human woman to give birth with the way she’s acting. Do we need to call the doctor?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “She’ll be fine, just needs to rest.”

  Sadie nodded but her jaws clenched in anger. “If Bonnie wants to be a part of this family, she’s doing a piss
poor job of showing it.” She snapped her napkin onto her lap for emphasis. “And if she doesn’t, well that can also be arranged.”

  It wasn’t exactly a threat, but it was close enough to one that Cal nodded with more energy than I’d seen from him in weeks, possibly months.

  Madison snuck in moments later, shooting a mischievous grin around the table as she took her seat across from me.

  Kat showed up last, as usual. “Hey, bums, why so glum?” she said, unusually cheery, this time on the arm of my brother. Terry had a mile-wide grin on his face that told me Kat’s tardiness had nothing to do with work.

  Sadie’s lips spread into a grin when her daughter appeared. “Katherine. Glad you could join us.” She nodded at Terry and Kat holding hands. “Does this mean you two have patched things up?”

  Kat looked at Terry with love shining in her eyes and grinned before she turned back to the table at large. “It does. Terry and I are…a thing.” She seemed to struggle over the word, her voice thick with emotion. “We’re giving this love thing a shot, as they say.”

  “Who says that?” Maisie asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.

  “Everyone says that, duh.” Kat rolled her eyes and let out a little sigh when Terry brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

  “This is us, both of us,” he clarified, his icy blue eyes aimed right at his best friend and boss, Jasper, “telling you all that we are a couple. Officially. Whatever the hell that means. She’s my woman, and I love her.”

  Maisie let out a wistful sigh, hands to her chest like the southern belle she tried so hard not to be. “So sweet.”

  “Right?” Kat’s face lit up like a neon sign, and she wrapped her arms around Terry, beaming with pride that he’d finally made the Ashby Princess his and pressed her lips to his. “I love you too, babe.”

  When they finally parted, their two sets of eyes swung to Jasper, who for some odd reason had a stick up his ass about Terry dating Kat. It didn’t make sense to me since, over the years, Terry and Jasper had been closer than brothers. If there was one man in the world he could trust with his sister, it would be my brother.

  Jasper polished off a glass of red wine and smacked his lips together with a sigh as he leaned back in the high back dining chair. “I still don’t like the idea of you fucking my sister,” he began with a growl.

  “We’re in love, asshole, not just fucking,” Terry added, sending Sadie an apologetic smile.

  “Well, I still don’t like it, but as Kat so astutely pointed out, it’s not my place to tell her who she can and can’t love. Especially when she loves the best man I know, and one I know will put his life on the line to keep her safe.”

  “Damn fucking straight,” Terry added as he pulled Kat close.

  “And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his fucking ass,” Jasper added with a smile. “I’m happy for you as long as I don’t have to hear the details of your sex life.”

  Kat flashed a wide grin and hopped over to Jasper, smacking a grateful kiss on his cheek. “Terry can agree to that, but I have to tell you about this thing he does with his tongue—”

  “Goddammit, Kat,” he growled and pushed her away with a laugh.

  “Kidding,” she said and took her seat. “I don’t want to make you jealous, Jas. But thanks for not being a dickhead about it. Anymore.”

  Terry took his usual seat beside Jasper and whispered a word of thanks, which Jas accepted and clapped Terry on the back.

  “Since I’m being not a dickhead, I think it’s time we make some changes.” He stood and grabbed his recently refilled glass of wine and took the seat that had remained empty for the past twenty odd years, at the other end of the table.

  A collective gasp went up around the table from my brothers and Kat as Jasper strode toward the chair once occupied by our father. He sank into the seat we’d honored every Sunday dinner by setting a place though it remained empty as tribute to the man who once headed this family. By that move, Jasper officially announced his position as the head of all that Ashby surveyed, and pointed to his just vacated place beside Sadie.

  “Take it, Terry,” he said, his voice and presence indicating his authority. “That seat is yours now, brother.”

  Sadie raised her glass in the air with a smile. “It’s about damn time,” she said, her gaze bounding from Kat to Jasper and finally landing on Terry. “For all of you. Now, let’s eat and talk business.”

  This was usually the part of dinner where I tuned out and focused on the platters piled high with delicious food and the endless supply of top shelf alcohol. But lately, I was more invested in learning as much as I could about Ashby’s enemies, since knowing them could mean the difference between life and death. So I shoveled roast and carrots and potatoes in my mouth while doing my best to look mildly uninterested.

  Jasper’s words meant more to me now that he’d taken over his father’s spot, technically Sadie’s former spot, at the foot of the table. “Still no word about Savannah Rhymer,” he growled.

  “Mueller is laying low,” Kat said, “but his friends are still staying in one of the suites.”

  “Any word on Molly?” Madison mostly—and wisely—stayed silent during talk of Ashby business, other than to ask about her missing sister.

  Guilt flashed in Kat’s eyes and she shook her head. “Nothing yet, but that means she hasn’t turned up at a morgue either.” Kat was definitely hiding something but Madison didn’t seem to realize it. “Oh, and I spotted a certain redheaded Fed snooping around Emerald Isle.”

  Sadie and Jasper sat up straighter simultaneously. “What?” I couldn’t say who actually asked the question since they both spoke at once.

  “She didn’t question anyone, just sat in the lobby and observed who came and who went. Poor idiot doesn’t realize she’s barking up the wrong tree.”

  Emerald Isle was the crowning achievement of legit Ashby businesses and they would never destroy it by mixing it in with their other businesses.

  “I wouldn’t mind if Jas put a few guys on to watch her, though.”

  “Done,” he said easily, nostrils flaring in anger. “She’s the last thing we need to fucking worry about with Brendan trying to make a name for himself away from the old man.”

  And so went Sunday dinner, an odd mix of loving family, ruthless business and wisecracks.

  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Chapter Two

  Vanessa

  I should’ve accepted Kat’s invitation to dinner.

  It was about the thirtieth time I’d had that thought today. I puttered around the enormous, five-bedroom house that my late husband Lance had insisted on buying for us, trying to take my mind off my loneliness. Lance bought the house back when we planned for a big family. And then Lance was killed before we ever got a chance to start on our dreams. Without Lance, hell, even with Lance, this house was too big. It was too much house for two people. For one person, it was just pitiful.

  So many rooms in the house sat completely empty with no furniture or décor because I was too exhausted, too depressed, too over it to do anything about those rooms. They weren’t going to be nurseries, not for a long time, if ever, so why bother with them? As for the guest rooms, how many did I need for a family who never came to visit?

  My parents insisted they couldn’t cross the threshold of my home because I lived in ‘Sin City.’ They had no desire to get on the wrong side of the Lord, but it was more than that. They’d never forgiven me for leaving our small Missouri town, for wanting more out of life. For wanting a bigger life than Moose Hook, Missouri, had to offer.

  They’d come to visit me in Glitz exactly one time, the day of Lance’s funeral. They’d shown up, not to support me, but to remind me that this wasn’t my home, wasn’t where I belonged. They used the death of my husband, my childhood sweetheart, and the only man I’d ever loved, to try to convince me to give up and come back home. “Where you belong,” my daddy insisted with his trademark scowl.

/>   It didn’t matter that I hadn’t lived in Moose Hook since I was nineteen years old, since I’d followed Lance to Illinois for Navy Basic Training. We married almost two years later before heading to San Diego for another assignment and then finally moved to Coronado for BUD/S training where he achieved his dream of becoming a SEAL. I’d spent almost as much of my life outside of Moose Hook as I had within the town’s narrow limits.

  None of that mattered to my ultra conservative family who believed a woman had no business living alone. They didn’t care that I’d spent months on end alone while Lance was on assignment doing good work for the government. Of course, it was all highly secret, and he couldn’t tell me about those missions, not even once they’d ended and Lance had returned safely to my waiting arms again.

  None of it mattered to my family, except for how things looked to their judgmental friends. Apparently, a widow needed to either come home to live with her parents or marry someone else right away.

  For the sake of propriety.

  “Give me a fucking break!” I stomped around my empty living room and said it again. “Give me a goddamn fucking break!”

  It felt good to say it out loud, even if there was no one around to hear it. Over the years, speaking my mind was something I struggled with but in the months since I lost Lance, my love, my partner in life, I realized that if I didn’t get my feeling out now, I never would.

  Better late than never, sweet cheeks. I couldn’t help but smile whenever Lance’s voice came to me, lifting me up and forcing me to be the strong woman he always saw within me. It was so hard when he was alive. My parents were always a shadow. But now, without him, I had to become that woman for him and for me, and I was determined to do so.