Page 103 of Heartbreak Hero

“Hey, Lark,” Levi said.

“Sir.” Lark nodded.

Levi didn’t know the man’s full name, but Lark had been working for his father since college. Lark had to be in his sixties now.

“They’re waiting for you in the study,” Lark said with his hands folded.

“Who?” Levi frowned. “This is just a short visit.”

He got a sudden feeling of foreboding. Whomever was in the study, it was probably a setup.

Damn it.

Levi glanced at the closed front door.

“Thinking of escaping?” Harvey asked, jogging down the grand staircase at the end of the foyer.

With ten years between them, his brother was in his late twenties—blond hair, blue eyes, and a quick smile.

“No.” Levi acted affronted, but yeah, he had been thinking about it.

“He won’t run,” Bennett scoffed, coming down the stairs after his brother.

The twins were identical, but Levi had always been able to tell them apart.

It made it easy because Harvey had a slight bump on his nose from a fall when they were kids, but that wasn’t the difference Levi noticed. Harvey’s eyes were a touch lighter blue than Bennett’s. Levi had noticed that when his mother had brought them home from the hospital. There were differences in the way they spoke and talked that helped too.

Levi smirked at first one twin and then the other. They both hurried forward and gave him a hug.

“Come on, there are some people in the study you need to meet.” Bennet grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the long hallway.

“Let’s not.” Levi made a face.

“Come on,” Bennett said and gave Harvey a wicked smile.

“Okay…” Levi stalled by dragging his heels. “What are you two hatching?”

Harvey snickered. “It wasn’t us this time.”

They reached the study door, and Levi gave a slow sigh.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his parents, but the pressure to conform to their rules made it difficult for him to stay.

Perhaps this time would be different? He shoved that thought aside. Nothing much ever changed, and he didn’t see them softening even in the face of his father’s illness.

The door opened and Levi stepped inside with his brothers crowding in behind him.

The door closed, and there was no hope of escaping.

The first thing Levi saw was his parents and then the richness of the room with its expensive furnishings, thick plush carpet in a color his mother called caramel. Paintings of eighteenth-century cherubs graced the wall in gilded frames. A massive wall of glass sat at the far end overlooking the garden and grounds of the estate.

Light laughter and chatter filled the room.

His mother spotted him first. Olivia Huxley had her blonde hair pulled artfully back in a tight bun. She wore a pale pink dress that reeked of money. His father, Edwin Huxley, wore a typical brown suit that Levi knew cost a mint. His dad had combed his dark hair back and away from his forehead, and the style accentuated his tired gaze.

“Levi, darling,” his mother said, standing gracefully and walking forward to take his hands.

But his attention had gone to the other couple in the room.

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