What happens when you walk into a mansion with two Walkers? The rest of the Walker Wolves circle, ready to take a bite out of you. In there eyes, Delle and I were dating the heirs. Even though Andrew had given away his rights, that didn't change the fact that being close to Luke made him a threat in their eyes.

Delle had proven she could hold her own— a clever dragon with a pretty face. But me, dressed in a light pink dress, with zero threatening background? I was basically a walking pixie girl with a background of sass, acting and pretty bright colors.

Grrr... I'm terrifying. Fear the pixie pixie princess. 

I could practically smell the drool, Walkers hungry for a bite, eager to tear into flesh and rip apart the threat until they got what they wanted. It made me miss the paparazzi. At least I could scare them with a few words. The Walkers however...

Mrs. Walker sat tall at the head of the dining room table, face all sharp lines. Andrew sat next to her, Delle by his side. Delle looked across the table with a dangerous, intimidating smile at three men, Walker Cousins who looked anywhere but back at Delle. 

She had a knack for scaring people, and in this case, that was a very good thing. Better to have them thrown off by her, and underestimating me. 

Scary cop, pixie cop. 

Luke and I walked in, my arm on his. The gesture drew all eyes and I could practically feel everyone assessing, staring me down, wanting to peel away my skin to see how I ticked. To break in and analyze every part of this potential threat in the pink dress. 

"You finally joined us," Mrs. Walker said, sounding utterly bored as she swirled her wine glass, looking at me with a raised brow. "And you brought a marshmallow peep. Cute."

The three cousins chuckled, following her lead, their gazes going from appraisal to open sneers.

Good. Underestimate me.  

I allowed myself to blush, feeding into the narrative of a non threat. Someone playful. "I'm quite fond of Easter," I replied before Luke could say anything. "Although I'd prefer to be compared to something with chocolate."

Luke looked down at me, offering a hint of a smile as he pulled out my chair, fingers brushing my back in encouragement as he pushed my chair in as I sat. "I have to agree. Far more delicious."

Plates were placed in front of each of us with perfect synchronicity. Each had a tiny dollop of food— a small pink looking paste with a leaf sitting next to it. Apparently the pink thing was food and I couldn't tell if the blob was the entire meal or just a tiny hint of what was to come. 

I glanced at Delle for help and she smirked to herself, as if she could sense my look and with very unlady-like manners, she scooped up the entire dollop with a random spoon among the bunch, and shoved the glob into her mouth. The Walker Cousin's looked at her, aghast, shocked by her barbarian eating style. 

Mrs. Walker gently took up a small amount of the goop with a much smaller spoon and took a bite, and I could have sworn the timing was meant to help give me an example of what to actually do, versus Delle's game to just mess with the high strung cousins. 

I decided to follow Mrs. Walker's lead, and eat the goop with a Polly Pocket sized spoon. 

"So..." said Mrs. Walker putting down her spoon and gently touching her cloth napkin to the non existent food on her lips. "How has work been?" she asked, her cold eyes turning on the three Walker Cousins, as if conducting an interview. 

They all seemed to snap to attention, eager to prove themselves, and I had to admit, I was impressed by how quickly she yanked their focus and shoved them into a fighting ring with each other. 

They knew the spot at the head of the family was up for grabs and were willing to do just about anything to prove they deserved it. Mrs. Lindsey Walker was going to make them work for it. I hid a smile as Lindsey addressed one of the three cousins. 

"Alexander, how is your fiancé?" 

Alexander, who's sandy blond hair was slicked back out of his face, showcasing his unusually large forehead, offered a tight, thin lipped smile. "Dee Dee sends her regards. Wishes she could be here," he said in what sounded like a lie. "Work keeps her positively busy." 

He changed the subject, instead choosing to focus on his work accomplishments, like a man spouting off his resume line by line. I quickly came to learn that Alexander Walker was the CEO of several large newspapers across the United States, and by the succinct, precise way he spoke, adjusting his three hundred dollar silk tie as he went through several dry stories, I deduced that his passion at said newspapers were for current events, the stock market and most likely despised opinion pieces and advice columns. The world was as black and white as the ink and paper he printed stories on. 

He talked about sniping several small, family owned newspapers, monotone as he discussed how he had torn the small businesses apart, pulling the best pieces into the larger companies and shrugged off the ashes left behind with a simple "it's just business," attitude. 

Halfway through a story about the rise in ink prices and the miraculous way he hadn't allowed it to affect the newspaper's bottom line, Lindsey turned away from him in a clear dismissal. 

"Jeffery, how is the travel business?" she asked, eyes falling on a auburn headed Walker Cousin whose hair was a mess of curls. Jeffery waved a hand, giving an easy smile that was bright against his tanned skin. It was the kind of smile that was supposed to be salacious but had far more bite than most women found comfortable shooting their way. 

"Our jets have been booked solid for by several politicians on tour. Our hotels have been abuzz thanks to several different celebrity sightings, and actors choosing to have their weddings at our locations." He offered a small shrug, brushing off the success as something inevitable. "Not to mention that the rumors of us moving into the luxury high end cruise line space has sent our stock value up several points." 

He paused, looking up at me with a flirtatious smile, leaning in as if to share a secret. "Rich idiots will pay anything for an exclusive experience. It's like printing money." I wasn't sure if Jeffery was trying to make an ally out of me by expressing that his own kind were idiots, trying to put me at ease with his joke, or just openly flirting with me to rattle Luke. 

But when I just blinked back, unmoved, and Luke continued to eat, looking bored, Jeffery leaned away, a flicker of disappointment on his face. Then he glanced to the final Walker Cousin with a lazy smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The calm, careless facade didn't match the shrewd set of ice blue eyes that calculated his odds as he glanced at the final Walker Cousin who had yet to speak of his own accolades. 

"Law is law," said the final cousin, his black hair cut short, his hands cutting into the second course as it landed before him without glancing around the rest of the table, as if he didn't need to bother with gloating. That the mere fact that he was the only lawyer at the table was proof enough. He took a slow bite of chicken before he finally glanced up. "It's the Walker way."

Then the lawyer turned towards Andrew, bored with Lindsey's questions. "How's your business? Do people pay money for the overpriced toothpicks you widdle?" 

Andrew ignored the jibe. Instead, flipping the question back on the lawyer. "I heard you lost your last case, Greg. What's that, your... tenth case this year? Must be a new record. Surprised the firm has kept you on considering you've lost them their winning streak." The lawyer, Greg went quiet, no longer smug.

Jeffery, seeming to realize that the second Walker brother hadn't been asked a question yet, turned a lazy smile on Luke. "How'd you like my jet? Heard you refused to travel with the others. Still afraid of flying?" 

Luke took a large bite of food unfazed as he answered without skipping a beat. "Jet was adequate. Still afraid of spiders? Must not be, considering one has been crawling along your neck for the last two minutes."

Jeffery bit back a screech as he smacked his own neck, almost falling out of his chair to get off what he quickly learned was a non existent spider.

I watched them talk in quick, rapid jabs, like professional boxers in a ring, each going for fast hits, assessing for weaknesses. 

This family is utterly exhausting. 

Alexander joined Jeffery, focusing on Luke, hoping to break him. "So is marshmallow peep here going to trade you in for Andrew like Kacey Grail did? Or is she smart enough to realize you are the more useless of the Walker Brothers upfront?"

The air was suddenly sucked out of the room at the mention of Kacey Grail. 

I expected Luke to be ready with another jab, but the light vanished from his eyes. He remained deathly silent, frozen in place. Delle, sensing the need for intervention spoke, her eyes turning dangerous as she took in Alexander, who had the good sense to swallow nervously. "Leaning on old information? What's the matter Alexander, nothing new to contribute? Or do the people you hire to write also come up with talking points for family dinner?"

Alexander and Jeffery shared a look at Delle's intervention, registering Luke's weakness. Alexander wasn't distracted by Delle's taunt. He had spotted blood in the water at his words and needled his knife in farther, twisting it, hoping to make him bleed. 

"It must really irk you..." Alexander said, leaning forward, a slow, cruel smile curving across his mouth. "....that Kacey lied, and then dumped you for your brother when she realized she had gone after you for a fortune you had no intention on keeping."

The mention of Kacey Grail rattled me. Kacey had lied her way into dating Andrew after dumping Luke when she realized she had gone after— what she assumed was— the less likely of the two to take over the Walker empire. Luke was left heartbroken and watched Andrew come home with his ex-girlfriend. But upon realizing what Kacey had done, Andrew dumped her on the spot. 

Watching Luke at the table forced a canyon open inside of me. One of the downsides of working as a gossip columnist was knowing far more about Luke Walker's past than was fair. He knew so little of mine and yet I had dug up nearly everything about him. Most of it unshared information, stolen.

Kacey's deception made it all the worse. Luke hated being lied to and had barely forgiven Delle for her detective work, deceiving both he and Andrew to uncover a killer. 

And as I sat at the table, surrounded by sharks I realized, that the chance of me surviving a confession to Luke about the depths of my dishonesty were slim. There was no going around it, he would be hurt. And the Walkers in turn, would remind him of that... EVERY. CHANCE. THEY. GOT. 

Luke lifted his eyes, nothing but darkness in his gaze, his voice low and dangerous as he stared down his cousins. "Who said I wouldn't keep all of it?"

The air was thick with a dangerous charge. Luke taunting the others with what they wanted most. Threatening to keep the keys to a kingdom he had grown up despising. Delle's eyes took in the expression of each person at the table, calculating, analyzing. Both of us looking for a murderous promise in their gazes, holding our breath as we scanned for answers.

But instead of seeing one person whose eyes promised murder we saw three.

...

Silence followed that terrible excuse for a family dinner. With Luke's declaration that he may just keep everything, the dining room fell into a dangerous quiet. Silent promises sent across the table in the form of staring daggers.

The plan worked. Luke's words had thrown his cousins off kilter, giving Delle and me a chance to openly analyze them, as they visibly panicked. I mulled over my findings, silently processing the entire way back to Luke's apartment, while Delle texted me her notes the entire way back to her own. I quickly added theories and observations to the app that I used to write all of my past gossip articles in, wanting to keep my thoughts organized.

My Notes:

ALEXANDER WALKER: "The Newspaper Man" - Good at digging up dirt, could be the one leaking things to the press. Does he have blackmail on the others? Could that make him powerful enough to blackmail to the top?

JEFFERY WALKER: "Travel Man" - Lent Luke a jet. Knew where Luke was going to be for the shoot. He would have access to hotel information and could be the one who left a note in Luke's hotel room.

GREG WALKER: "The Lawyer Man" - Next in line after Luke for the Walker Empire. A lawyer always takes over. But his track record proves his potential to take over is wavering. What would he do to secure it?

Looking down at what I had written, I nodded. It was a start. And it definitely confirmed one thing, a Walker was the one behind the attacks and threats. And which ever one it was, clearly had someone on the inside of the studio. Which only made the whole world of celebrity that much more terrifying. 

I couldn't trust anyone. My own past was proof of how little you truly knew someone. 

Luke was quiet. The type of quiet that was full of unspoken thoughts as the elevator doors opened up onto his apartment floor. As he moved towards his room, seeming lost in thought, a dark cloud hovering over his every move, I finally broke the silence.

"Are you okay?"

He paused, his back to me. The apartment was dark. He hadn't bothered to put on the lights as he came inside, leaving him in shadow, the moon sending long pale light spilling through the living room glass wall, struggling to bathe the room in light.

"I'm tired of the games... with my family... with the press... all of it."

His fingers raked through his ink black hair, finding the moonlight and flashing against the dark strands. "When I did my short stint in college, I dated a girl named Kacey Grail."

My heart hammered in the silent pause as Luke collected his thoughts. "You don't have to tell me," I said my voice tight. "About your past relationships." He was in a dark place after being at his childhood home. So it wasn't the time to reveal my secrets, and it felt unfair for him to bare his.

I wasn't sure if he heard me because he continued. "She was... vibrant, clever. Walked up to me in a bar, bought me a drink." He paused, moving towards the glass wall, walking out to the infinity pool on the balcony. I followed.

Luke sat down at the edge of the pool, eyes on the Los Angeles skyline. "She had me believing that I was the most interesting person in the room. Said all the right things." His fingers trailed patterns along the water.

"At the time, I thought it was fate. Love at first sight. That it was this magical thing." He shook his head, a harsh laugh falling out of him. "What a lie."

I stood in the doorway, frozen. Blood roaring in my ears.

You need to tell him Em. Tell him that you lied. That you are sorry. That you don't want to be remembered as a con artist who came into his life and played him for a fool.

"Luke?" I said, voice uneven.

His eyes were back on the horizon. "It's okay," he said as I hesitantly walked towards him, my fingers peeling off my wedged sandals as I went. "I'm okay. I just don't like my mistakes thrown in my face."

I settled onto the ground next to him, my feet sinking into the cool water. "Falling for someone isn't a mistake," I said quietly. "She conned you. Created an illusion for you to love. Loving isn't the problem. It's the lies." I swallowed, turning to look at him. "You don't have to explain your past. You don't owe that to me."

Luke rolled up his pant legs, took off his shoes and settled his feet into the water next to mine. "And what if I want to share my past with you?"

"You shouldn't," I said quietly.

He looked back at me, dark eyes assessing. "And why do you think you aren't worth sharing with?" His leg gently brushed mine in the water. "You are worth so much more than you seem to believe."

His fingers tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, eyes distant as he nestled the hair into place. "When Delle and Andrew got together, when she admitted to having lied..." his hand fell from the side of my face. "I was angry. I was convinced that our last name was a curse to all potential relationships. My mom, Andrew's... had booth been burned by my father. And both me and Andrew had been burned because we carried that same name."

He closed his eyes, falling back into a memory. "One night, I went for a drive. The paparazzi had grown aggressive, shouting questions about my grandfather everywhere I went and I needed a bit of time to think, away from the shouts."

Luke looked down at the water, taking in the skyline's reflection in the pool. "The rain made the city a blur of colors through the glass." 

His voice grew softer, dark lashes stark against his skin in the pale moonlight. "I got to a red light..." He smiled softly to himself. "And I saw this girl with rainbow hair."

My heart stopped.

Luke leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the night sky, the moon carving curves across his skin. "She was standing inside a pizza shop, laughing with someone behind the bar." Luke's eyes found mine. "She was... the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Wearing a Super Mario shirt, and these long neon socks that went up to her thighs." He swallowed, looking away, a blush burning up his neck.

I couldn't breathe.

"I parked, got out of the car and was halfway to the pizza shop when I got recognized." He shook his head. "I knew I'd never have a normal conversation with her. Not when going anywhere in public had become an ordeal. So... I ordered a pizza hoping she would show up at my door."

I turned to look at him more fully, his gaze all encompassing as he stared at me again. "They sent Jake to deliver the pizza. So the next week, I tried again. And again. And again. Jake kept showing up."

I laughed at the look of frustration on his face. "It became routine. So the day that it changed... I wasn't ready. She showed up and nearly gave me a heart attack when I found her standing in my kitchen. I was so surprised that I ruined that first meeting."

He was quiet for a long moment. His leg brushing mine again. "It was only while she was standing there, horrified that I realized I had seen her before."

His fingers brushed mine, as if it was a habit he just couldn't kick. "Back when I didn't know who Delle was, I saw the same rainbow haired girl when I was visiting Andrew in the hospital. It was just a brief glimpse as she moved down the hall. But I couldn't wrap my head around talking to her. Not when I was so worried about Andrew."

I remembered that night. Carter was in the hospital after a scare. He had fallen and cut himself. Bled everywhere. I happened to be inside the hospital when the entire building was thrown into lockdown because Andrew Walker arrived, dragging the paparazzi there with him. I remembered seeing Luke sitting outside of his brother's room, head in his hands, terrified as the world outside flashed with cameras, trying to get a peek at one of the worst days of his life.

Carter had kept most of my attention, but...

"I remember you," I said quietly, my fingers moving up to touch the hair at the base of his neck, the feel of silk in between my fingers like a slice of heaven. I remembered thinking he had the most beautiful hair I had ever seen when I saw him in that hallway, fingers buried deep in the roots of his mane. And even then I wanted to trace the tattoos along his arms until I could uncover each story they told.

Looking back on it, I couldn't believe he remembered me.

"You were sitting outside of Andrew's room," I said quietly, forcing my hands to let go, not daring to push things further. Truth had to come first.

"I miss your long hair. I hated when they made you cut it."

His eyes turned darker at my admission and his mouth curved into a soft smile. "As soon as they let me, it's coming back," he promised, repeating my words about my own hair.

"Good," I replied.

An electrical current buzzed between us, and I had to fight the urge to pull him in for a kiss. To get lost in his arms, fingers in his hair, his lips against mine.

No kissing until you tell him the truth.

"Luke... I have to tell you something." I opened my mouth to tell him everything, needing to get it out when I heard someone behind me. Turning, I found Carter standing in the doorway. He looked apologetic, like he really hadn't meant to interrupt anything. "Sorry. I... I can't sleep."

Luke offered him a smile. "I know just the thing," Luke said, standing. "Hungry?"

Carter nodded, still more reserved than before my parents had shown up, his fingers gripping a stuffed animal in a vice grip. He hadn't been sleeping well.

Luke turned back to me in question. I shot him an encouraging smile.

"Later," he promised. I nodded in response. 

I can blow up my life later. 

They walked inside while I sat frozen on the balcony. Hearing Luke's words over and over.

And I saw this girl with rainbow hair... She was... the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

I tucked those words close, knowing that the story was not going to end with him trying to see more of the girl with the rainbow hair.

---

Thank you for reading chapter thirty three! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!

Em is going to tell him the truth! What will Luke think when he finds out? 

Would you ever want to read Luke's POV and his attempt to meet the girl with the rainbow hair?

What do you think of Luke's Walker family?

Who do you think is after Luke?

Will Em and Delle find the culprit? 

CHAPTER QUESTION - Have you ever attended a fancy dinner? How did that go? Did they serve any food that you hadn't heard of before?