Chapter 22 Two - Home

Camilla Cortes' Point of View:

I ran out after Alex confirmed that was in fact my mother's name. I couldn't believe it I knew my mother was crazy but she just plain evil. How could she do such a thing to Luke and his family? Oh my God Luke! She kidnapped Luke when he was a child because she was obsessed with his father. How far was this woman willing to go to get what she wanted? I stopped when I finally registered that Luke was shouting my name. I turned around to stare at him. How could he even look at me after what he just heard? I'm the daughter of the woman he caused his family pain.

"I just want to be alone," I whispered brokenly.

"Please don't push me away," he pleaded with me "I don't care about what Andre said, he's a jerk"

"She kidnapped you Luke," I ran a hand through my hair as I tried desperately to control my emotions "you were a child and she kidnapped you"

"Hey baby," he pulled me towards him "it's okay love, it’s okay"

"It is not okay," I pushed him away from me "how can you be so calm about this?"

He looked away from me when I said that, "the only way you would not be affected is if you already knew"

My eyes widened in shock as it dawned on me, he knew all along.

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Didn't you?" I shouted impatiently.

"Yes," he said quietly.

My breathed got caught in my throat, "how long have you known?"

"Around two days"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I cried "I had a right to know"

I allowed him to wrap his arms around me as I leaned into him for support, "I was going to tell you, but I didn't want to upset you especially since you told me you were pregnant"

Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at him. He watched me intently and raised a hand to wipe away my tears. I don't even know why I was crying. I was beyond happy that I never met the women. I could only imagine how I would have turned out if she had been the one to raise me.

"Don't you hate me?" I asked quietly.

He smiled softly and ran a hand down my back, "I could never hate you"

"When I look at this beautiful face, I only see you," my heart skipped a beat at his words.

I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.

_____________

2 weeks later

I turned over in bed and reached out for Luke, but my hand landed on the empty bed instead. I jumped out of bed and checked the bathroom to see if he was inside, but he wasn't there either. That's odd. Today was a Saturday and I knew for a fact that he didn't have any business to attend to today.

I decided to make the bed and that's when I noticed the envelope that was on his bedside table. It had my name scribbled on it in his handwriting. I took up the envelope and sat on the bed as I opened it. Inside there was a note.

Dressed in red or even white

Go to where I first caught your sight

A scavenger hunt. This should be interesting. I quickly went into the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I wrapped the towel around me as I walked towards my closet. Before I opened the closet door, I noticed that there was a gift bag right in front of the door. It had a sticky pad on it that read 'open me'. Grabbing the bag, I set it down on the bed and opened it. Inside there were two dresses, one read and one white.

Both dresses were bodycon but the red one had beautiful lace attached to it, so I decided to wear that one. I set down the white dress and grabbed my red strappy heels. I applied a bit of makeup, nothing too crazy and a bold red lip. I ran a hand through my hair to tame my curls and got dressed. There was a knock on the door just as I grabbed my purse. I grabbed the envelope and walked carefully downstairs to answer the door.

I was surprised to find Carlos on the other side of the door, "Carlos what are you doing here?"

"Mr. Williams sent me to drive you to your location"

"Do you know where Mr. Williams is?" I hoped he would know.

"I'm not at liberty to say"

I frowned, "do you know my destination?"

"I was told you would give me direction"

Well Luke rally did think of everything.

"Let’s go," I motioned to Luke after making sure to lock the door.

I settled into the plush leather seats and told Carlos where we were going, "we're headed towards the office"

It wasn't a far drive much to my relief. I was very anxious. I loved surprises but I feared I didn't really have the patience for them. I smiled when I saw the building come into view. Carlos parked the car and opened the door for me.

"Thank you"

"I'll be here when you are done"

I just nodded and headed into the building. Luckily, the elevator was open, and I rushed inside. I pressed the button for Luke's floor and waited until the elevator closed. The ding of the elevator alerted me that I had arrived. I stepped out and smiled at the persons I saw. When I turned around, I saw Hailey walking towards me.

"Camilla love," she greeted me with a hug.

"Hailey," I smiled "is Luke in?"

"He's not but he did leave something for you"

"Awesome"

She handed me the envelope and I opened it.

Friendships don't last forever

With family you can never say never

I closed the envelope and looked at Hailey, "thank you"

"Anytime dear"

I left the building and walked back to Carlos who was leaning against the car on his phone. He looked up at me and stuffed his phone into his pocket. I thanked him as he opened the door for me allowing me to slide into the seat.

"Where to?" Carlos asked as he turned on the engine.

"Luke's parents’ house"

He nodded and drove off. The thrill of this whole game was fun and frustrating at the same time. I couldn't wait to see what the end result would be. I shoot a text to Cassie letting her know that it was me, the weird girl that asked for her number. I had found her number in my clothes when I finally unpacked my suitcase last night.

I couldn't wait to hear from her, she seemed like a fun person.

The car slowed down and that's when I noticed that we were going up the driveway off Nat and Chase's house. The car stopped and Carlos got out opening the door for me.

"Just follow the rose petals"

"Thanks Carlos"

He smiled and returned to the car. Taking a deep breath, I walked towards the rose petals and followed the trail that let around the house and to their backyard. I pushed opened the gate and walked into the backyard. I was blown away by what I saw. There were rose petals all over the ground. There was a man sitting behind a piano playing slow and classical music. The nights sky was shielded by a tent and small lanterns were hanging from the ceiling giving the area a beautiful glow.

My breath got caught in my throat when Luke walked out from inside the house.  I was stunned. Scratch that I was floored. Luke was wearing an all-black suit that was tailored to his delicious body. His hair was styled perfectly, and I just wanted to run my hands through it. He looked unbelievably sexy and as he moved towards me, I had to convince myself to not jump him.

"You look...wow," I was really at a loss for words.

"Thank you," he looked smug I probably increased his ego a ton "you however look divine"

My cheeks grew red at his words.

"What's going on?" I asked him "why'd you do all this?"

He grabbed my hand led me to the centre of the tent where there was a lot more lanterns. I could hear the piano more and it sounded as if he was playing a Bruno Mars song, I just couldn't pinpoint which one. Luke looked oddly nervous for some reason.

"I love you," he blew out.

"Aww baby, I love you too"

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he spoke softly, and my eyes were already wet with tears.

"Oh my God," I froze when he got down on one knee.

"My Dad told me that when I met the one, I would know it right away. When we first met you took my breath away, I was in awe of you. The more time we spent together I could feel myself fall in love with you over and over again. You won my heart and I never want it back"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box, "Camilla Cortes, will you marry me?"

I nodded my head frantically as my heart felt so full of love, "yes!"

I pulled him up and kissed him deeply. I was still in shock when he slipped the ring on my finger. My eyes widened when I saw Alex running towards me. I looked behind her to find Nate, Chase, and Nat walking towards us with big smiles on their faces.

"I'm so happy for you," Alex hugged me tightly.

"Thank you so much," my smile grew bigger when I was passed along everyone as they congratulated us on our engagement.

We were inside eating and talking when Chase brought out a bottle of champagne.

"None for me," I smiled broadly.

"One glass won't hurt honey," Nat piped up "we're celebrating"

I looked at Luke who turned to his mom.

"Now might be a good time to tell you that we're pregnant"

"I'm going to be a grandma," she cried happily as she crossed the room and pulled me into a hug.

As I returned the hug I finally felt as if I were home.