Luke Almeida

first appearance in FWF

**Luke Almeida** is the main love interest in *Flirting With Fire* who also appeared in *Playing with Fire.* He, like his foster siblings, is a firefighter at Engine 6 of the Chicago Fire Department and bartends at their family bar *Dempsey's on Damen*. He holds the rank of lieutenant and was formerly in the military.

## Character Background

His birth mother was a meth head and his birth father was always absent. He got separated from his younger sister Jenny in foster care and she died when she was eleven. Luke got placed with Sean and Mary Dempsey along with five other kids. Like his foster siblings, he followed in his foster father's footsteps and became a firefighter. He is of Cuban descent.

## Relationships

### Lisa Sullivan

Lisa is Luke's ex-wife. She often nags whenever he does something for his family. Their marriage ended when she cheated on him with Detective McGinnis.

*"Lisa was always looking for more, expecting all these extra layers she'd unveil as we got to know each other better. But I'd shown her all I had. There were no hidden depths. No inner child struggling to break free. I'm just a simple guy. I love beer, sex, and hockey. I hate liars, Sting, and art that doesn't have people in in it. I thought keeping her safe and loving the hell out of her would be enough, but it wasn't. She didn't think I had sufficient emotional intelligence, whatever the hell that is. What it boiled down to is that I wasn't ambitious enough for her. Yeah. She's a lawyer, and the blue-collar thing floated her boat for a while, but she wanted me to strive for more. Lieutenant, arson investigator, out of the FD altogether. She said my family held me back. I told you already how important it is that I protect them. For now, that's all the ambition I need. I wasn't a great husband, Kinsey. I should have talked to her more. Listened to her needs."*

### Kinsey Taylor

She was assigned to take care of CFD image after Luke Punched Detective McGinnis and it was caught on video.

### Sam Cochrane

Sam Cochrane is one of the mayor's biggest campaign donors and owner of the Chicago Tribune. His paper had done a scathing editorial on Luke's video and made repeated calls for head- rolling every day since. Cochrane co-owned our bar with his father Sean before they fell out. Now Sam's daughter, Darcy, is living with his brother Beck. Sweet girl. They're vacationing in Thailand as we speak.

### Detective McGinnis

*"Daniel used to be a friend of mine. We'd play hoops, get sauced together, have dinners at my house."*

### Biological Family

His biological dad was never really in the picture and skirted the edges of the law. He left when Luke was really young. And his mom wasn't exactly there for him either. She was too busy searching for her next high. she died in a meth lab accident when he was nine, so he moved to a group home. He lived with his grandmother for a while, but she couldn't always take care of him.

## Gallery

### Face & Outfits

FacesGreen SuitSage T-ShirtBlack & Gray T-ShirtBasketball JacketBlue ShirtCFD T-Shirt
## Trivia

* He was with the marines for four years.
* He is really good at football.
* He was in Iraq till '07 , Wyatt was in Afghanistan.
* *"I graduated with honors in hair holding. Used to do it for Alex back in her teens. And Gage when his hair was longer."*
* *"We get a couple women a month coming in to get their wedding rings removed rather than go to the ER. The day before last we had five, yesterday close to 15. They seem to think it's as good as a divorce. Snip the ring and they're free to roam. Right into my arms."*

* He lost his mother to breast cancer.
* *"Sean and Logan died. Wyatt and I were both serving in different units. He was in Afghanistan, I was in Iraq. We had to make a decision about who would leave. It's allowed under hardship rules. They were still minors. Beck had just turned 19, and in the eyes of the social services that wasn't good enough. My godfather, Larry, would have stepped in, but he was going through chemo at the time. There had to be someone else around to look after them. Alex had been adopted by Sean and Mary and she was 17, so her status was secure. But Gage was 16. Too old to be fostered by anyone else and too young to be without an official guardian. He would have ended up in a group home. Gage has always known he was gay. You should have seen him when he arrived at the house, Kinsey. This scrawny 10-year-old waltzed into the kitchen and announced, **"Hey, everyone. I'm Gage and I'm a homosexual."** I mean, who does that? The kid is brave as hell, but in a home, without us backing him up, I wasn't sure he'd be okay."*
* *"Well, if you were to ask her, she'd  say it was because Mom and Dad loved her best. With kids in foster care the preference is to return them to their birth parents, so that's what happened for most of us. In care or with the Dempseys when our parents couldn't cope, back with them when they were doing better. Yeah. It's harder than think no. to sever parental ties. If a parent refuses to give their kid up and there's a chance they could still do the job, the legal battles are long. No. Bio Mom was already toast literally – because of a crack house fire, and Bio Dad didn't exactly abide by the law. He was also a stubborn prick wo had clear ideas about ownership. And even though he had no chance of a relationship with me because he was rarely around, he wouldn't sign off on it."*
* *"It was variations of the same for the others except Alex, who was a toddler when she landed at Camp Dempsey. None of us needed it signed and sealed. Sean is my father. Mary is my mother. Of course, being a Dempsey isn't hearts and shamrocks 24/7. Getting away from them for a day or two can be pretty fucking awesome."*