Page 74 of The Heart

“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 anopwith 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 ayear,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.

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