being treated at. We drove in silence for a few minutes, then he raised our linked hands and kissed my knuckles.
That gesture, more than any words, struck me right in the heart. Lucas never hid his feelings, but I'd just never truly recognized them. But now I had, and it was a feeling I wanted to hold onto forever.
8
More often than not when I brought Lucas to visit his mom, I would wait outside, simply for the fact that my presence and my resemblance to my dead mother, who'd been Sandra's friend, caused her undue stress. But today Lucas kept my hand in his as we made our way through the facility to his mom's room.
"Luca," Sandra greeted her son as we entered her room, "how lovely to see you. Oh, you brought your friend." Her smile slipped clean off her pretty face when she saw me enter behind Lucas.
Lucas's grip on my hand tightened. "My girlfriend, Hayden," he corrected her. "Yes, I did. I hope that's okay."
Sandra Wildeboer arched a brow at her son, then gave me a flat look. "Doesn't sound like I have much choice, does it?"
Lucas gave an irritated sigh as he sat down in the window seat and pulled me to sit beside him. "Not really, Mom. Not today, anyway. Hayden's been super respectful the last few weeks and waited outside while I've visited you, but it's about time we got some answers. Okay?"
Sandra looked like she'd just bitten into a lemon, and I caught the quick dart of her eyes toward the nurse call button as though she was really considering using her illness to escape this conversation. Then she huffed a short sigh and fixed her gaze to the wall to the side of Lucas. She was already preparing to lie and couldn't look him in the eye.
"What do you want to know, Luca? I've never kept secrets from you." Her voice was hollow and resigned like she knew he’d long since stopped believing that line.
I leaned into Lucas's side slightly, offering him some silent support. I was more than prepared to ask Sandra everything I wanted to know myself. But at the same time, I had to offer Lucas the opportunity to handle this his own way. She was his mother, and for most of his life, she’d been the only family he'd ever had.
"Okay," he murmured, running a hand over his face. "Am I your only child?"
Sandra jerked like she'd been slapped, her face draining of color.
Lucas shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. "I take that as a no. Who? When? How—"
"Stop it," she hissed, cutting him off. "Of course you're my only child. I think you'd remember if there had been any older siblings running around the house, don't you? What a ridiculous question."
"I never said older," Lucas muttered. "But whatever. What do you know about Uncle Jack being in the mercenary guild?"
Sandra swallowed visibly. "Gosh, you're just... Where is all of this coming from, Luca?" Her eyes darted to me and narrowed in an accusing way. "Has this woman already dragged you neck deep into her world? I knew it would only be a matter of time. Like father like daughter."
"I wasn't aware my father had any ties to the Guild," I replied in a cool voice, ignoring the insult. "But your brother had an entire guild arsenal stashed underneath your house. And now there's a mercenary sniffing around Shadow Grove, which seems far too coincidental not to be linked to your family. To Lucas. So do me a favor, Sandra, and cut the bullshit. I'm trying to keep your son safe."
She gaped at me like she was having a hard time formulating a response, then her gaze darted to Lucas and her face creased with pain. Slowly, she shook her head, then she reached out and pressed the nurse call button.
"I'm sorry, Luca," she whispered, her voice choked with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, but you need to let this go. Stop digging, stop asking, just stop. The mercenary guild doesn't exist. Drop it!"
Her volume had raised enough by the end that the nurse who'd just walked through the door gave us a startled look. "Sandy, we okay in here?" The nurse asked, giving Lucas a small frown and me a wary glance.
"I think I've overdone it today, Bryce." Sandra’s voice was suddenly frail and weak, and I fought an eye roll at the theatrics. "Would you mind showing my son and his friend out?"