“Peonies,” I told him.

He gave me a half-grin. “Nice,” he murmured, using The Voice with the Velvet Edge.

My knees wobbled.

“Oh my God,” Marilyn breathed, which was quite a task considering her mouth was hanging open.

“This is lovely,” Mrs. Stark cut in, jumping from the couch, looking nearly giddy with happiness. “Now we can all go to breakfast.”

“Why does Luke have a gash on his face?” Sofia asked. “Is it the same reason Ava has a black eye?”

“We’ll talk about it at breakfast,” Mrs. Stark said firmly, happy giddiness fading fast.

“Ma, I can’t go to breakfast,” Luke told her and my heart clenched.

Shit.

So much for Luke coming to my rescue.

“Oh no! Why not?” Mom asked.

“I thought, you coming by –” Sofia started but Luke interrupted her. He did this by pinning her with a look that would make Satan himself shiver in the fiery depths of hell.

“I came by for Ava because she’s too sweet to tell you what I’m gonna tell you.”

Uh-oh.

I had the feeling Luke was in the mood to be brutally honest.

“Luke –” I started but he kept talking.

“You’ll have breakfast and then Ava’s got some shit she’s gotta do. So I’ll answer your questions right now. Yeah, Ava and I are together, it’s serious, it’s headin’ somewhere important and anything else is none of your business. You don’t like that, too bad. You get breakfast with her then she’s gotta take off. During breakfast, you’ll be nice to her. I hear anything different, then you answer to me. Is that clear?”

Yep, Luke was in the mood to be brutally honest.

“How did this happen? When did it happen? How could it happen?” Marilyn asked. She was, in the face of the impossible fact of a Luke and Ava (and apparently Triumph motorcycles) Togetherness, incapable of being clear she understood Luke’s threat.

“It happened because she’s Ava,” Luke answered like that was all the reason needed and my knees wobbled again at the same time my throat got tight.

“That would be why I’d think it couldn’t happen,” Sofia said under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.

My body got stiff but Luke’s body got preparing-for-gonzo tense. It was then I realized my “fuckin’ sisters” weren’t just bitches, they weren’t very smart either.

“Sofia,” Mom muttered before Luke could retort.

“Sofia,” Mrs. Stark cut in at the same time as my Mom and she sounded pissy, something I’d never heard from her before. “What on earth is the matter with you?”

I looked at Mrs. Stark and blinked. She looked unhappy, not just unhappy but nearly Lucas Stark Gonzo Unhappy.

Wow, definitely pissy and then some.

“Goodness me, we all know they’ve had something special for years. You act like you didn’t grow up and see it like everyone on the block did. Mrs. Weinberg said years ago they would make a sweet couple and when I told Maggie Regan a few days ago she said she knew it would happen all along. It’s not just me who thinks this is hardly surprising. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long.” Mrs. Stark took a deep breath then went on and her eyes moved to her son. “As for you, we are not a Triumph or Harley Davidson family. I keep telling you, Lucas, motorcycles are dangerous. You’re going to give me a stroke, riding around on those things. Now that you’ve got Ava, you need to think before you race around in your Porsche and on those bikes.”

“He’s got a Porsche?” Marilyn breathed.

“You’ve got bikes? Plural?” I asked, staring up at Luke.

“What’s with the suitcases?” Luke asked, ignoring Marilyn and my questions, his eyes on the bags, his mind on a topic he obviously thought was slightly more pressing then the varied options for transport that he owned.

“We’re staying here,” Mom informed Luke.

Luke’s mouth went tight.

“Ava’s sleeping on the couch,” Marilyn shared.

At that, Luke’s entire face went tight and he looked at Mom. “Two choices, either I put you women in a hotel or Ava and me go to a hotel.”

Mom stared at Luke. “But –”

Luke cut in. “I don’t have a lot of time. The one thing I know is, Ava isn’t sleepin’ on the f**kin’ couch. You have to choose, now.”

“Lucas, language,” Mrs. Stark put in and I was pretty certain an hysterical giggle was going to burst forth at Mrs. Stark chiding her son for his language.

“Choose,” Luke clipped and at his tone my giggle died an early death.

“I’m not sure,” Mom said and I could tell she desperately wanted to take Luke up on the offer of a free ride but thought it might appear rude and greedy in front of Mrs. Stark.

Luke could tell too. “You stay here, Ava and me will go to a hotel,” Luke looked down at me. “I get things taken care of, I’ll take everyone to dinner tonight. I don’t and you don’t, I’ll arrange for your family to have a nice dinner and you do what you gotta do.”

“But, we came here to see you and Ava,” Mom protested.

“Ava has shit to do,” Luke replied.

“We came all this way,” Marilyn added.

“Yeah, and you didn’t tell Ava you were comin’ and, I’ll repeat, she has shit to do.”

“But –” Marilyn kept going.

“Take a close look at your sister then take a look at me. Does it look like we got time to drop everything because you hit town with no notice?”

Ho-ly crap but Luke didn’t take any shit. I was impressed more than I was normally impressed.

“What’s going on?” Mom asked, eyes narrowing on Luke.

Luke looked at the ceiling. I tore my gaze away from him and looked at Mom.

“I told you,” I answered. “I have a little bit of trouble. Luke is helping me and we both are trying to sort it out.”

“What kind of trouble?” Mom pushed.

“How many kinds of trouble get you a cut lip and a black eye?” Luke asked, aiming his angry stare at Mom. “There’s only one kind of trouble, the bad kind,” he finished.

“I’m her mother!” Mom, it was clear, had just lost patience. “Why don’t I know what’s going on? Not only is her face all banged up but she’s dating you, of all people. I mean, that George boy I can see Ava with, but you?”