Tell Me You're Mine (The British Billionaires #1) - J. S. Scott Page 0,54

you think this is one big sulk?” I asked her, unable to believe he’d put all of us in hell just to make some kind of point.

“No,” she answered sadly. “I think we all know how much Dylan has suffered. I hurt for him, Damian. He’s my son. But I also know how long he can be hardheaded, so I knew he was going to need time to deal with this kind of pain. We talk when he wants somebody to listen. He doesn’t say much. But he will when he’s good and ready. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be a good mother if I didn’t hate the way you’ve had to shoulder all the responsibility.”

“I don’t mind,” I said hoarsely. “I just want Dylan back.”

“You’ve never lost him,” she reassured me. “Wait and see.”

“You really do think he’ll pull out of this?” I asked desperately.

“I know he will. So stop putting your whole life on hold waiting for him, Damian. And for God’s sake, don’t throw away your chances with a decent woman. I’m not getting any younger,” she said adamantly.

I smirked. “Please don’t start counting your grandchildren before they’re made. How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not marriage material?”

“Nonsense,” she argued. “You’d make any woman a wonderful husband. And I wish you’d get the deed done so I could start pestering your wife for my grandchildren.”

“I’m not thinking about getting married, Mum. Why don’t you give up and badger Leo for a while?”

She made an inelegant sound that I rarely heard from her. “That boy will never settle down,” she complained. “I can barely keep him in England for more than a week or two. He’s coming home tomorrow, but I doubt he’ll stay long.”

“I’m going to have to call him—”

“Never mind,” my mother interrupted. “I’ll fill him in if you’re hell-bent on following through with this ridiculous plan. I’ll ask the staff not to mention Dylan, too, but I won’t tell them why.”

I tossed back the last of my tea and put the cup in the sink. “Thanks, Mum. I have to run. Don’t forget to take down those pictures.”

She paused before she said reluctantly, “I’ll do it, but I hope you know what you’re doing, Damian. It’s going to be hard to dig yourself out of this one.”

“You’re a peach, Mum. Have I told you that lately? I’ll bring Nicole around so you can meet her.”

“Don’t try to flatter me into submission, Damian Lancaster,” she said in an ominous tone. “And you won’t just bring that girl around. You bring her to me. She can’t stay at your house if you’re trying to sell some kind of sweet love story. Besides, she’d be bored there with you if you’re keeping the same work schedule. I think it’s time for me to arrange my first social event since your father passed away. And I’ll accept some of your charity event invitations in your name. The press will already be at all the large, important functions, hoping some well-known family will do something newsworthy.”

I swallowed hard as my head started to hurt again. Dad was gone, so there was no reason for my mother to be forced to entertain anymore. “There’s no reason for you to do that—”

“There’s every reason. I’m still the Duchess of Hollingsworth, and my son has a love interest. I think there’s been enough sorrow around this monstrous estate. Leo will be here to attend. Please don’t think I can’t play the delighted mother in this whole plan. I fulfilled the role of duchess quite well all these years.”

I certainly couldn’t argue with her about anything she’d just said. At one time, our Surrey estate had hosted enormous social events, and most of the time it had been filled with laughter, music, and parties.

I’d grown up surrounded by family and friends.

I guess I’d just forgotten what it was like to be happy during the last five years.

My mother had stopped hosting the social scene, and the entire estate had gone silent when we’d lost my father.

Just when the pain of losing my father had started to dull, Dylan’s problems had begun, so there had never been any attempt or desire to actually leave that empty solitude of mourning.

“You actually want to host an event?” I asked, astonished.

“If it will get you married faster, I’ll do one every single night,” she said amiably. “I can’t avoid hosting some of the snobs, but not everyone in our social circle is a