Chapter Thirty-One
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LEENA
I follow Mrs. Campbell up the stairs, glancing around the walls at all the family photos. I smile, stepping closer to one that I recognize immediately as Luke. He can’t be any older than fourteen, and has this giant dimpled grin, his arm wrapped around a smaller boy as the two of them sit on a piano bench together. I frown when I realize the little boy must be Asher.
Now, The Jack of Spades.
“The bathroom is there,” Mrs. Campbell says, pointing toward the end of the hall before pausing between two doors. “The boys can take Lucas and Asher’s old room and Leena honey, you can have Chelsea’s old bedroom. She’s staying in the guest room downstairs with Mark and the kids. Oh, you’ll meet all of them once you get settled,” she adds as an afterthought. She continues speaking, but I’m not really listening anymore. I’m still lingering on how I’ll be staying in a room separate from my men.
I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe that she would point us toward some empty rooms, I would choose one with Luke, and maybe in the dead of night Sebastian could sneak in and join us, at least for a little while. Being assigned rooms isn’t something I particularly like, but I’m grateful that the Campbells would be kind enough to open their home to us all the same.
A sudden feeling of sadness washes over me when the reality that I’ll be sleeping alone tonight finally hits me.
I haven’t slept alone since… well, since the day I was shot.
My stomach drops from the memory.
I haven’t just not slept alone, I’ve been literally surrounded by human contact. I know that I’m my own person and I shouldn’t need that, I’ve never needed that, but for some reason, now I feel like I do. I need my men, want my men.
I don’t want to sleep without them.
Hell, even when they’re gone, Colton is always there to keep me company.
I suddenly remember how I woke up with Sebastian’s big arms holding me between him and Luke this morning. How the near suffocation told me that he craved the contact too. I’m not sure what was going on with him today, but I know him well enough to give him what he needed at that moment. I blush, remembering the smile on Sebastian’s face as we were leaving our room, knowing that Luke and I were responsible for it. I’m sad knowing that I won’t be falling asleep between them tonight because I think that maybe they rely on me too.
Mrs. Campbell opens the door to the room she pointed out as mine, and I follow her in.
I can’t imagine this is what the room looked like when Chelsea lived here, because it’s decorated in the same farmhouse style as the rest of the home, clearly having been converted to a guest room. It’s simple and small, containing a full-size bed and one dresser, but it’s very nice and has a window that will let in the morning light.
Luke sets my bags down on the bench at the foot of the bed, keeping his own duffle over his arm. I really wish he would leave his bag too, maybe argue to stay in here with me, but he doesn’t. He just gives me an apologetic smile. I smile back, letting him know it’s okay. There’s clearly some family dynamic here that I’m not privy to, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
“Well, I’ll let all of you get settled in. Come downstairs when you’re ready, we’ll have lunch and introduce you to the rest of the family,” Mrs. Campbell says, then grabs my hand, placing her other on top of it. “We’re so happy to have you here, Leena.”
“Thank you, I’m happy to be here. You have a beautiful home,” I tell her, and we smile at each other for a moment before she turns her attention back to Luke.
“You, out! It’s not proper!” she says, shooing Luke out of my room. He puts his hands up, then turns and leaves.
Not proper?
And this is the moment I realize why Luke is so nervous.
Shit.
—
After changing into something a little nicer than my comfy car ride clothes, checking my makeup and accepting the fact that there won’t be any midnight trysts this evening, I head across the hall to where my men are staying for the night. I don’t even bother to knock.
As soon as I open the door, I stop dead in my tracks at the sight before me.
I let out a loud laugh that’s nearly a snort before slapping my hand over my mouth to cover it as I continue to snicker. Because the room Sebastian and Luke are sharing has a bunk bed.
I laugh again.
The mattresses are larger than a child’s size, I have to assume Luke was nearly this tall even as a teenager, but still.
Bunk. Bed.
And maybe a normal sized human would fit in the small space just fine, but these two men and all their brawn look fucking ridiculous.
Sebastian is lying on the lower one, his arms crossed behind his head, and he’s looking up at Luke who’s diagonal across the top one, leaning over the side to chat like it’s a fucking sleepover.
They both look over at me standing in the doorway, unable to hide their own smiles. They know how they look.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart? Does it really surprise you that we would fit in such a tight space?” Sebastian winks at me.
“Does it really surprise me that you’re on the bottom?” I give him a pointed look. Luke bursts out laughing, rolling to his back on the upper bunk, a hand on his stomach as he laughs.
Sebastian runs a hand over his face to keep from laughing and I start to chuckle at his effort.
Luke is still laughing.
“Very funny, the both of you,” Sebastian grumbles, then puts his large hand on the beam above him so he can get out from under there without hitting his head. I snicker at that too. “Come on, let’s get this over with,” he says, slapping a hand onto Luke’s chest, pulling him right off the top bunk by his shirt.
Luke makes a sort of yelp as he scrambles to land on his feet with a thump. And that finally has Sebastian laughing.
I’m suddenly a little jealous at whatever they’re going to get up to in here tonight while I’m all alone across the hall. I study the beds, thinking of just that…
I’m still busy pouting at the thought when Sebastian plants a kiss on my forehead as he squeezes past me and heads down the hall. I turn my glare at Luke, finding him looking guilty and apologetic.
My gaze softens. I don’t like seeing him like this.
“I’m sorry, I should have told you this would happen. I honestly didn’t even think about it,” he says, stepping closer and grabbing my hand.
“I know. It’s alright. I can handle myself, truly.” I look up at him, wanting to reassure him, because I realize this is probably a lot more stressful for him than it is for me. Sure, I want them all to like me, want to make a good impression, but Luke’s the one who is wrestling with how much he’s going to tell them. And by the sounds of it, that won’t be much at all.
When we make our way downstairs to the large dining room for lunch, Mrs. Campbell and two other women are busy bringing dishes out from the kitchen and setting them down the center of the table. The women I haven’t met yet stop and smile when they see me. They both look to be about my age, so I have to assume from what Luke has told me that they’re the oldest of his three younger sisters.
“You must be Leena!” the one that looks to be closest to Luke’s age says, putting her hand out. “I’m Chelsea, it’s nice to finally meet you!”
“Hello,” I say, wondering at the word “finally.” How long ago did Luke tell them about me?
“Move! It’s my turn!” the other one says, struggling around her sister, a hand on her very pregnant belly as she reaches out the other to me. “Hi! I’m Jessica!”
I shake it, smiling. I’m surprised at how excited they seem.
“It’s so nice to meet you both. Can I help?” I offer, gesturing to the table.
“Nope! We’re nearly finished. But we’ll take your help come dinner. You should see the mess Ma has planned for it.” Jessica rolls her eyes.
“She really overdid it this time. But that doesn’t surprise me seeing as it’s the first time Lu’s ever brought a girl home,” Chelsea says.
I turn to look at him with wide eyes. Really? He shrugs.
“What, he didn’t tell you?” Chelsea says. “Way to blindside the girl, bro,” she lectures before heading back into the kitchen.
“Really, Lu?” Jessica chastises as well, then shakes her head before turning back to me. “Please, sit!” She gestures, trying to do the same. Sebastian is there in less than a second, helping Jessica slowly settle her pregnant self down into the seat across from me.
Luke pulls out my chair and I give him a little bit of a side-eye, one that he avoids as I sit. I’m once again confused by this newfound information.
I know for a fact I’m not the first woman Luke has slept with, not even close. I can give it a wild guess as to why he wouldn’t bring home one of the girls he and Sebastian shared, but what about the others? Why hasn’t Luke ever brought anyone here?
Has he never had a real girlfriend and just stuck to the one-night stands? I can’t picture him being the kind of person who has issues with commitment. He’s the most committed, attentive man I’ve ever been with. Probably even more so than Sebastian. So, what am I missing?
I glance over at Luke again, who is making himself busy taking a large gulp of the water sitting in front of him. Huh.
Sebastian comes to sit by me, and I stare at him next, seeing if he’ll give up whatever the fuck that was. He shakes his head, the motion subtle, and I figure he’s right.
We can talk about this later.
In fact, we maybe should have gone over this long before now. But talking about my men’s past relationships was never particularly high on my priority list of conversations.
A younger woman walks into the room, earphones in and her eyes glued to her phone. Which can only mean that this is Addison, Luke’s brooding teenage sister. His description, not mine.
“Addie, are you going to say hi?” Jessica lectures.
“Oh. Hey,” the girl says quickly, her eyes meeting mine for half a second before going back to her device. Jessica looks frustrated, but I just smile, remembering the days before I left home when I acted exactly the same.
“Sorry,” Jessica apologizes for her.
“No need.” I smile with a chuckle just as Chelsea comes back into the room dragging a man by the arm to come meet me.
“Leena, this is my husband, Mark,” Chelsea tells me, then turns to go after her children, who just ran screaming through this room and into the next.
Mark offers out a hand to me.
“Nice to meet you, Leena. And I hear you’ve already met my children.” He gestures toward where they disappeared with a chuckle. A second later, Chelsea returns with their son in her arms, dragging Isabella along behind her, then settling them in the two chairs between her and her husband.
“Leena, I presume?” an older man says, and I turn in my chair to find a very tall man standing behind me. No one has to tell me that this is Luke’s father. If the blond hair and striking blue eyes didn’t give it away, then it’s the way he’s casually standing with his hand on the back of Luke’s chair, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Just like Luke.
“Leena, I’d like you to meet my father,” Luke introduces us, and I feel like I should be standing or something for this, so I try to.
The man studies me for a moment, and some emotion crosses his face. It’s almost as if he recognizes me.
“Oh, don’t get up on my account,” he says, reaching a hand out to me. I smile, staying in my seat as I take it.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Campbell.” I smile up at him. And I really mean that. Because meeting Luke’s parents, meeting the people who raised him is… important.
“Please, call me Henry. Thank you for joining us, we’re very happy to have you in our home,” he says, his words warm and welcoming.
Then he turns his attention to Sebastian, who reaches out a hand to him.
“Henry,” Sebastian says, smiling at the man in a way I haven’t seen before. I think it’s admiration, which makes sense. Sebastian’s father never earned his respect, not once up until the day he died. My father hasn’t even tried to earn mine, so I’m feeling something similar. I know Henry has always been a good father to Luke, even over the past few years when Luke and Sebastian took the assignment to keep me safe and lived away from here.
“Sebastian, how you been, bud?” Mr. Campbell says, gripping his hand firmly.
“Been good, sir.” Sebastian smiles again, his voice a little deeper when he says it.
“Good, good,” he says before turning to Luke who has gotten up from his chair so he can give his father one of those handshake turned hugs that men are so fond of.
“Good to see you, Lucas. Stop being such a stranger, will ya?” Henry says, smiling at his son.
“Hey, dad. Yeah, I know. Sorry we missed Thanksgiving,” Luke replies.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You were on an op with the fancy business you run,” he says dismissively, but I can tell by his tone that he’s proud of him. I love that.
“Okay, eat up! And don’t be shy, there’s plenty more!” Mrs. Campbell calls out as she brings the last dish to the table and settles into the seat her husband pulls out for her. He gives her a kiss on the top of the head before sitting in his own chair beside her. It’s sweet to see.
The volume only increases as everyone in the room catches up with what they’ve missed since they saw each other last, or laughing over what the squirming kiddos across from me are doing. I manage to make it nearly all the way through my plate before being dragged into the conversation.
“So Leena, how long have you two been together, and when did you guys meet?” Mrs. Campbell asks, pointing between me and Luke.
“Oh, um,” I start to say, then shove another bite of food in my mouth to stall as I panic for a moment. What in the fuck do I tell them? That my father paid her son and Sebastian to stalk me for over a year, and I didn’t find out until I was shot and they kidnapped me?
Yeah… I better stick with the basics.
“It’s been over five months now. Luke was a regular at the coffee shop I was working at,” I say.
“Oh wow, he must have really liked you then. Lu hates coffee. So does Seb,” Chelsea says. I look between my two men, shocked by this revelation.
“I like it black. Sometimes,” Sebastian says, trying to hide his smile. I glare at him. Then at Luke. But then I realize that it makes sense.
I haven’t seen either of them drink it since we’ve lived together, not unless I gave it to them.
These bastards.
“I just wanted to talk to you,” Luke says, smiling over at me. I know that much is true, because they weren’t supposed to talk to me, but they did it anyway.
Every single Friday for a year.
“Okay, but how did you end up dating? Did he just ask you out? That doesn’t seem like him,” Jessica teases. And again, telling them that the three of us were stuck together in a safehouse, then got really horny and wound up fucking on literally every surface of the place doesn’t seem like the best way to go, I decide to take some liberties on the matter.
“No, he didn’t just ask me out. He came in every single Friday for a year, bought coffee and then just left without saying anything,” I tell them, then look over to find Luke rolling his eyes. Oh, how fun this is for me.
“Oh yeah, that sounds more like him,” Chelsea says.
“Hey, be nice to your brother,” Mrs. Campbell lectures both her daughters.
“So then what happened?” Jessica asks and again, why not have a little fun with this?
“Well, it wasn’t until another man took a shot that he decided to kidnap me. We’ve been together ever since,” I say, and I’m so proud of the straight face I’m currently managing.
Sebastian, on the other hand, is choking on his food.
I look over at Luke, finding his composure not much better. He turns to face me, putting a hand on the back of my chair. Then chuckles again before speaking.
Good. He needs to lighten the fuck up, he’s been squeezing the hell out of my knee this entire meal.
“I did not kidnap you, we had a lovely time. And clearly, it worked out.” He smiles that broad, dimpled smile that has my breath hitching.
“It did.” I smile sweetly back, enjoying how unravelled my little joke made him.
“So Leena, where do you live?” Mrs. Campbell asks and I look over at her, a little confused by the question. Didn’t we already establish that Luke and I have been together nearly six months?
“ Mom !” Jessica says in a tone that is just as much disbelief as it is admonishing.
Luke sets down his silverware, pushes back his plate and laces his fingers together on the table in front of him. He takes a deep breath before he speaks.
“She lives with me, mom,” he says in a tone that is incredibly flat.
“So you guys are married? Or at least engaged, I hope?” she asks him in all seriousness, and my eyes go wide.
“No, Ma. We’re not married , we’re not engaged , people live together when they’re in a relationship. Especially when they’re thirty-four years old,” he says, giving her a reprimanding look.
“Well that seems silly, living together when you have to stay in separate bedrooms,” she says, poking at her food uncomfortably.
“We don’t–” Luke huffs out a long breath, gathering his composure, then lays his hands flat on the table. “We don’t stay in different bedrooms. We stay in the same room. Which is fine, and normal, because we are two consenting adults,” he says, as if he were explaining it to a child. But she doesn’t answer him, she just turns toward Sebastian.
Uh-oh.
“So does that mean you moved out? How do you feel about all of this?” she asks, and he grows very calm. Surprisingly calm, as if he were expecting this question. Which, if he’s known this family since they were kids, I suppose he would be.
“I still live there too, Mrs. Campbell, and I am completely fine with it,” he says, trying to reassure her.
She doesn’t seem reassured at all.
“But don’t you think it would be better if you were at least engaged? What will people think?” she pleads with Luke, but it’s Henry who finally steps in.
“Alright, that’s enough, Bernice. Lucas can make his own decisions, so can Leena. Leave it be,” he says kindly, but firmly.
“So… Chels, when do your kids head back to school?” Jessica asks, changing the subject. Chelsea picks up on it, immediately launching into a long-winded monologue about the kids, which I’m incredibly grateful for.
Eventually, the conversation slowly moves back around to me. Where I grew up, how I like my new job, how our business is doing, before we’ve run out of things to say and it’s time to clean up.
And then, as she slowly gets up from the table, Jessica asks the question that has my heart sinking with sorrow, “Hey Ma? Is Ash coming for dinner?”
“I don’t know. I called and texted him, but I haven’t heard back. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately,” Mrs. Campbell says, sounding a little heartbroken as she gathers the nearby plates.
“Figures,” Chelsea says, sounding annoyed with her brother. Apparently, skipping out on family events is commonplace for Asher. Except this time, the three of us know where he’s at, and that he won’t be coming here for dinner tonight, or any night soon. I can’t imagine he would be dumb enough to come to his family’s home for a holiday considering the role he’s taken on. I know that better than anyone, thinking back on all the times my father never came home for… well, anything.
Once Mark has run off to the living room with his children, Addison has disappeared down the hall to her room, and Luke’s mom and sisters have made their way into the kitchen, my men and I are left alone in the dining room with Luke’s father. He stays seated, his jaw tight and fist clenched as he stares off at nothing.
“Lucas, what did Asher do?” he asks knowingly. Luke runs a hand over his face before meeting the man’s eyes.
“We should talk in your office,” Luke says, and the two men on either side of me stand. I almost turn toward Sebastian, toward what is usually an outstretched hand to help me up, but then I remember myself and turn toward Luke instead, finding his hand waiting for me. We stand and start heading toward the hall, but Mr. Campbell places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“You two go ahead. We’ll catch up,” he says to Sebastian and Luke. I freeze.
Luke’s eyes dart to mine, but I glance up at the pained look on the older man’s face beside me, then turn to my men, giving them a little nod. They look reluctant, but they agree, slowly making their way out of the room.
Once they’re gone, Mr. Campbell’s hand slides away and he looks at the far wall, closing his eyes and gathering his thoughts for a long moment before he speaks.
“Did Lucas tell you that my brother… my whole side of the family, actually, is in the Deck? Ace of Clubs?” he asks without looking at me.
“Yes. He told me,” I say quietly.
“Then you know I recognized you the second you walked in here.” His eyes glance down at me. I nod, remembering the look he gave when he first saw me. An ache begins in my chest. “I know what went down with Jack of Spades, saw pictures of the aftermath, no thanks to my son. I know that he and Sebastian got you out of there and I know what they risked in doing so. I know that you’re all wanted by the Deck because of it. And now, he brought you home to us. So I will ask you this only once, because I love my son and feel the need to do so.”
I nod again, urging him to continue.
“Where do your loyalties lie?” He stares down at me, jaw clenched, but hopeful.
I take a deep breath, matching his gaze and not looking away as I reply.
“What my father does, what the Deck is doing, is wrong. I’ve always felt that way, which is why I left at sixteen and never looked back.” He looks surprised, maybe even a little pained by that revelation, but I continue, “I’ve always been on my own. I’m so very grateful that I don’t have to be anymore. I’m in love with your son and I never want to hurt him. I promise,” I nearly whisper.
He stares at me for a long moment, taking in my words.
I stare back, needing him to believe me. Needing for Luke’s family to accept me. Because I don’t have one of my own outside of the guys and our team.
Not really.
And I might have just lost the only person I have left, unless we can find her.
“Okay,” he says firmly, his mind seemingly completely made up. It surprises me. Then he pulls me into a tight hug. He lets out a breath, then kisses my hair and I close my eyes in relief. “Welcome to the family, Leena Hart.”