"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?"
Nurse Bryce gave Lucas and I a hard, accusing look like we'd deliberately stressed his patient out. Lucas just gave his mom a frustrated glare, then stalked to the door with angry steps.
"I asked you to look after him," Sandra muttered as I slowly got to my feet. "I told you to keep him safe. And this is what you do? Don't think I didn't notice he was carrying."
I paused, arching a brow at her. "For once, this has nothing to do with me. Your brother was housing a Guild arsenal below your house, and Lucas somehow knows how to shoot with impressive accuracy. Either you spill some secrets, or we will uncover them ourselves."
Sandra all but hissed at me. "Drop it. If you care about my boy at all you won't keep digging." Her face was ashen and her hands trembling, but her gaze was hard and focused.
"Okay, I think Sandra needs to rest now," Nurse Bryce prompted, indicating that I should leave. We definitely shouldn’t have been discussing the Guild in front of him, that was for sure. Not that he gave any flicker of understanding.
I continued staring down at Lucas's mom, but she just flicked her eyes away from me, pausing briefly on a framed photograph of a military man, then stared out the window in a clear dismissal. Ballsy bitch. I could see where Lucas got his sass from, that was for sure.
With an internal sigh, I continued out of the room and caught up to Lucas near the foyer, where he was pacing with anger and frustration.
"What is her fucking problem?" he spat when I joined him. "It's not her mind, not today. That was a deliberate, barefaced lie. She knows so much more, and she's not telling us. Why? I'm her son! If she can't tell me—"
"Then the threat for her silence has to be pretty severe," I cut him off, giving him a pointed look. "Come on, let's go. She gave us enough."
Lucas hurried to catch up with me as I headed out to the parking lot. "Wait, what? She didn't give us anything!"
I flashed a quick smile at him as we reached the car, and Lucas headed straight for the driver's seat once more. Zed was going to kill us if he checked the garage security feed... and yet somehow that got me all tingly.
"Yes, she did," I replied, sliding into the passenger seat. "Let's head to your house."
Lucas buckled his seat belt but didn't start the car just yet. "I don't get it. Did she say something after I left?"
"Just told me off for not looking after you," I answered in a slightly dry voice. She wasn't totally off base with that accusation; my whole presence was putting Lucas in danger. Chase had him in his sights, and I wasn't stupid enough to think my deranged ex was satisfied with the damage he'd already inflicted. Nope, Lucas would be next for Chase to try and "cross off" because I just knew he was keeping Zed for last.
"She's wrong," Lucas growled, starting the car and rolling us out of the Sunshine Estate parking lot.
I just gave a shrug as I pushed guilt aside to focus on more pressing issues. "Well, anyway. Before I left, she gave me a clue, and I'm pretty sure it was intentional. On her dresser there's a framed picture of a guy in military uniform. Do you know who it is?"
Lucas shot me a confused frown. "Huh? Yeah, of course. That's my dad. Allegedly. I'm starting to question if that was all made up, though. The whole army man died in combat before you were born just seems a bit convenient now, doesn't it?"
I ruffled my fingers through my hair, then gave him a soft smile. "A bit, yeah. But I think she was deliberately giving me a starting point. What do you know about him?"
He grimaced. "Fuck all. His name, Nicholas Porter. That's about it."