Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 28

Lucas Reynolds.

I recognized him from old photos, but this version was different. Harder. Colder. The gentle, refined boy from Sophias stories was gone, replaced by something predatory and unforgiving.

He had a buzz cut that emphasized the sharp angles of his face, a jagged scar cutting from his temple to his eyebrow. Single–lidded eyes–dark, flat, empty- swept over the drunk guys like they were insects beneath his notice.

Everything about him screamed danger. From the way he stood perfectly balanced, weight distributed like someone who knew how to fight to the casual set of his shoulders that suggested he could kill someone and sleep soundly afterward.

“Who the fuck are you?’ The broader guy tried to puff up his chest.

Lucas didn’t answer immediately. He just looked at him. I watched the guy’s bravado crumble under that flat, assessing stare.

“Walk away,” Lucas said quietly, his voice smooth as silk over steel. “Right now.”

“Or what?” The first guy tried to sound tough, but his voice wavered.

Lucas smiled. It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen–cold, empty, promising pain.

“Or I’ll make sure the only thing you’re fucking for the next six months is your own hand–after I break every finger on it.”

The guys looked at each other. Whatever they saw in Lucas’s face made the decision for them. They backed away, muttering excuses, and disappeared into the crowd.

Lucas watched them go with that same flat stare, then turned to us. His expression softened fractionally when his gaze landed on Sophia.

“Sophia.” His voice was different when he said her name–rougher, weighted with history and barely leashed fury.

“Lucas.” She stood frozen beside me, her hand gripping mine so tight it hurt.

The tension between them was suffocating. I’d heard about their broken engagement, about how her family had abandoned him when his empire collapsed.

Looking at them now, I could see the wreckage of something that had once been beautiful.

“You’re back,” Sophia managed, and I heard the tremor beneath the words,

“No! The word burst out before I could stop it. Panic flared in my chest. “Please, don’t call him. I don’t want:–”

But Lucas was already speaking into the phone, his eyes never leaving Sophia’s face. “Sterling. Your wife’s at that karaoke place on Bleecker. Come get her.” He paused, listening. “Yeah, she’s fine. Just get here.”

He hung up and finally looked at me. For the first time, I saw something almost like sympathy in those flat eyes.

“You should worry about yourself more, Elena,” he said coldly. “Before you worry about Sophia.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Lucas’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his

Julian’s on his way.”

gaze before he grabbed Sophi‘s wrist and yanked her away. “Worry about yourself first.