weeks. I’m here to make sure nothing goes wrong, and there’s no more negative press, here or in the UK, before that happens. Damian and Nicole deserve this time stress-free to plan their wedding, and spend some quality time together without having to put out fires that you create.”
“I’m not planning on raining on their parade,” Dylan grumbled.
I beamed at him. “Good. Then we’ll get along fine.”
Dylan grimaced as he stroked his crotch like he was trying to decide whether or not I broke something vital before he said, “I don’t need a goddamn companion.”
“Oh, I’m not planning on being your companion, Dylan.” I reached down to scoop up Jake. “In six weeks’ time, you’re going to clean up your act, and then you’ll fly back to London for the wedding. After that, I don’t give a damn what you do because Damian and Nic will be on their honeymoon.”
“I’m not going to the wedding.”
Oh yes, you are.
I curled my fingers around the handle of my suitcase. “I assume the bedrooms are upstairs?”
“You’re not going upstairs,” he growled. “Leave.”
“This isn’t your house, so technically, you’re a squatter,” I informed him. “This place belongs to Damian because you signed everything over to him. And I highly doubt he’s going to kick me out. Believe it or not, he likes me.”
He raised a brow. “I highly doubt that. You’re a thoroughly unlikable female.”
I laughed. “I’d be completely likable if you weren’t such an asshole.”
I could see the muscle in Dylan’s jaw twitch, and I knew he was losing his patience, if he ever had any to begin with, so I said, “I’ll just show myself upstairs.”
“If you think you can tolerate six weeks with me, you’re delusional,” he said.
There was something in his voice that stopped me from tossing back a smartass reply.
Something desperate.
Something vulnerable.
Something…tormented.
I hated the fact that I couldn’t completely harden my heart when it came to Dylan Lancaster. I didn’t exactly like him, but he had suffered significant loss.
I headed for the stairs with my suitcase in tow. “We can do this easy and friendly, or you can make it hard. Your choice.”
“What are you, my mum?” he taunted.
“No, I’m your new babysitter for the next six weeks.” I kept heading for the stairs without looking back at him.
“You’ll be gone in twenty-four hours!” he called after my retreating figure.
My heart ached because I could hear a little bit of fear in his tone, like everyone before me had abandoned him, so he just expected that everyone else would, too.
I’m not going anywhere, big guy.
I wasn’t just here to make sure Dylan stayed out of trouble, although that was definitely one of my goals.
Nicole had given me a partnership in ACM, even though I didn’t have the funds to buy in.
In return, I wanted to do something to thank her for being more like a sister than a friend. And for trusting me to take care of her mom’s business. I really wanted to give Damian his brother back. The real Dylan Lancaster. Not the asshole who was currently inhabiting his body.
It was the one thing that would mean everything to Nicole and Damian.
I smiled as I climbed the stairs.
I couldn’t think of a better wedding present than that.
EPILOGUE
Damian
Two Weeks Later…
MAYBE IT SHOULDN’T have been quite so easy for two people from different countries to work out how they were going to spend their life together.
But it wasn’t difficult at all.
My crazy woman loved England. Hell, she even loved the rain, and didn’t mind that it sometimes seemed like London was perpetually gloomy compared to Southern California.
Nicole had wanted to give ACM over to Kylie, but her best friend had refused to take more than a partnership until she could afford to buy Nicole out. I was amazed at how gleefully Nicole had accepted that offer, and had readily given Kylie free rein to run the domestic offices while she stayed a silent partner in the UK. Not that Nicole was planning on becoming a woman of leisure. She wanted to drum up more international business for Kylie whenever possible, and she was planning on returning to corporate law.
One of the things that had made Nicole absolutely ecstatic was finding out that she could actually land a job in London working as a corporate attorney. Essentially, she could practice US law in London, so her résumés were getting sent out to every company that had an available opportunity.
I’d offered to place her in Lancaster International, but all that had