Chapter 144
“Papa.”
She turned to face Luca when she heard his voice.
She had expected to see Luca with his father, sort of bracing herself to meet the man who hadn’t wanted her in his son’s life. What she hadn’t expected.. was that he’d be alone and staring directly at the man beside her.
The man with the cane.
The man she’d just spent the last few minutes chatting with.
Her breath caught as realization finally settled in.
“Oh, you’re Luca’s father.”
Nick arched one amused brow at her. “You didn’t know? Does my son not take after his old man?”
Sutton’s face flushed.
“No. I didn’t know.”
She turned fully toward him now, awkwardly rising from the bench. “I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
Nick waved a hand easily, still seated. “Don’t be silly. You were kind, and you should never be embarrassed about being kind.”
He reached for his cane and used it to leverage himself upright. Luca stepped forward quickly, automatically steadying him with a light touch, one hand on his father’s elbow.
Nick shook his head but allowed it.
“I told her I’d had surgery. Didn’t say who I was,” Nick said, glancing toward his son. “Your woman is bossy, Luca. I would watch that.”
“She scolded you,” Luca said, shooting Sutton a teasing glance.
Nick chuckled. “She did. Little fire in her, this one.”
Sutton tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You were reaching for your cane. I wasn’t going to just stand around and let you fall on your face.” She hadn’t even known Luca’s father was in the hospital. When the hell had that happened? Wait until she got Luca alone.
Luca held back a smile. “That does sound like Sutton.”
Nick turned to her again, his tone more serious now. “You care about people, and it didn’t matter to you that you didn’t know me. That is a r. nowadays.”
There was a pause. Then Nick reached for her hand and took it in his.
“You are very good to people,” he said softly. “I see that.”
Warmth spread across Sutton’s chest at the unexpected sincerity of it.
lity
Nick held her hand just a beat longer, then added with a small sigh, “And I’m sorry I judged your without knowing. Or rather, I judged what I thought you were. And caused both you and Luca a great deal of sorrow. Welcome to the family.”
Sutton’s skin tingled at the words. She hadn’t expected this first meeting to go like this.
“Thank you,” she said after a heartbeat, That means more than you know.
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Chapter 144
Luca stood quietly nearby, watching the moment unfold between them. She could see he was happy with the outcome of their first meeting as well
His father hadn’t just tolerated Sutton. He respected her. He saw her kindness without pedigree or titles, without her last name attached to anything
Just her.
It was more than Luca could’ve asked for.
Nick stepped back, adjusting his cane. “Alright. Enough rebellion for one day. I’m only cleared for short walks, and if I keep standing here, someone will come wagging a clipboard at me.”
“I’ll take you back,” Luca offered immediately.
Nick raised an eyebrow. “Now you’re acting like a good son.”
“I must be in shock,” Luca muttered with a smirk.
Sutton smiled as Luca helped his father begin making his way down the hall. She walked with them slowly, lingering as they turned toward the wing that housed Nick’s room.
A minute later, an older nurse at the nurse’s station spotted them and came around the corner with a wheelchair, giving Luca a relieved look.
“You’re supposed to buzz to let us know, Mr. De Santis,” she said gently to Nick. “Not walk around on your own. I was just about to send out a search party.”
Nick grumbled something in Italian under his breath, but he sat.
“You’ll be fussed over for the rest of the week,” Luca muttered as he crouched slightly to adjust the footrest beneath the older man’s shoe.
Nick leaned toward Sutton as she followed alongside them for a step. “I was not alone… My future daughter–in–law had me under control,” Nick murmured jokingly. “I was worried she was going to crack the whip. A formidable one at that.”
Sutton chuckled. “Behave yourself.”
“I want to meet my grandson tomorrow.”
Once Nick was settled back in his room and under the nurse’s watchful eye, Luca returned to Sutton, falling into step beside her without a word.
Luca opened the door to her room and helped her lower onto the bed. He set her water bottle out, readjusted her blanket.
Then, he pulled the visitor chair close, turned it toward her, and sat.
Eventually, Sutton whispered into the quiet: “He’ll be okay?”
Luca nodded, his voice low. “He’s lucky. Very. But yeah. He’s okay.”
Sutton let her head rest against the pillow, exhaustion tugging at her again. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but today had taken more out of her than she
realized.
He didn’t answer inmediately. Just looked at her.
Then he stood from the chair, walked to the side of the room, and leaned one hand on the window ledge. The blinds were half–open, letting in the warm gold wash of late afternoon light.
“It happened the day of your accident,” he said finally. “They turned up at JFK without telling me. He collapsed at the hospital.”
Sutton’s brow knit together, watching him carefully. “It wasn’t because-”
Luca shook his head. “It was not your fault.”
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Chapter 144
“Luca,” she said gently. “That’s… I’m so glad he was in the hospital.”
“I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to focus on you and Miles,” he admitted. “You had enough going on?
She whispered, “Come here.”
He crossed the room, slower now, and when he sat again, she took his hand gradually in hers.
“You went through so much that day,” she said softly.
“I’m just glad you all came out of it okay.”
She brought their joined hands to her stomach, resting them near where Miles had grown, and held him there.
“I would’ve wanted to be there for you too,” she said, looking up at him. “Next time, please tell me. He’s your dad.”
His mouth quirked slightly, but the humor didn’t quite meet his eyes. “God, I hope there isn’t a next time. It was the worst day of my life?
“You’ve got a decent father.”
Luca looked at her for a beat. “I didn’t feel that way for a long time. I think the reason I went out on my own was to spite him. It was when I found out about the marriage he had planned for me. For a long time, I resented him.”
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