a husky whisper.
“Not intentionally,” Damian rushed to assure me. “All this started long before you, Nicole. I made my brother a promise when he was at the weakest point of his life, and I meant to keep it. I’ve been putting out fires for Dylan for the last two years by either squashing any press information or letting people think it was me and not Dylan who pulled some asinine stunts. If I took the blame, those small articles were eventually deleted. But I knew I couldn’t resolve the naked orgy thing that easily. It was front-page news way too fast, and big social media news by the end of the day.”
Jesus! It was going to take me a long time to work all of this out in my head.
“I believe you,” I said on a sigh. “Honestly, as unbelievable as it sounds, it’s the only thing that really makes any sense. I just wish you would have trusted me enough to tell me the truth once we got here to England. I take it that Bella and Leo were in on the deception, too?”
He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Yes. I’m sorry. Everyone at Hollingsworth House knew not to mention Dylan’s name, too, but they didn’t know why. Please don’t blame either one of them. Mum adores you, and so does Leo. In their defense, they both hated the fact that you were in the dark about Dylan.”
“In the end, they’re your family, Damian. If nothing else, I’ve definitely discovered that the Lancaster family is loyal to their own blood.” Damian was the perfect example of that. He’d supported Dylan at the cost of his own reputation, and I knew how annoying it was for him to be in the public eye, even for good PR. “Why is it that nobody suspected Dylan?”
Damian shrugged his shoulders. “I think everyone assumed he was keeping a really low profile to mourn his loss, and get through it. It was probably a lot easier to believe it was me.”
“Even though you’ve never done anything like that before?”
“Truthfully, neither has Dylan. At least, he hasn’t as far as the general public knew. I owe you for everything you’ve done, Nicole. I’d much rather be a smitten billionaire duke than a man-whore.”
I locked eyes with him, and even though he was smiling ruefully over his joke, I could see the inherent hurt in those expressive green eyes. “Dylan’s hurt you. A lot.”
He nodded, not even trying to hide the truth. “He has, but he crossed the line this time. He hurt you, and that’s totally unacceptable to me. I’m done covering for him, and trying to protect him. It’s been two years. I’ve given him his space and time to work everything out. He’s on his own if he wants to keep acting like a wanker. I have to learn to accept that I’ve done all I can. The ball is in his court now.”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before I broke it. “Thank you for coming here to explain everything. It doesn’t fix what happened, but it helps me understand it better. I’m glad that I wasn’t exactly sleeping with the devil.”
Damian stood. “Don’t leave like this, Nicole. Not now. And for God’s sake, not in the economy section of my airline. The seats definitely weren’t made for tall people like us. Come home with me. I’ll fly you back across the pond myself if that’s what you really want, but you look exhausted right now. Let’s sleep on this. Let me show you all of the pictures and videos I have of my family, and give you a chance to meet with Mum and Leo. My little brother is insisting now that he won’t leave until he gets to talk to you, and make sure you’re okay.”
As I looked up at Damian’s tormented expression, I was tempted to accept. I felt physically and emotionally spent, and I wasn’t sure I’d gotten all the information I wanted to get complete closure.
Maybe I’d never quite get over Damian, but I needed to try. If I didn’t, I’d be completely scarred for life.
I wavered. Maybe I should go with him. I did leave everything at his place, even my laptop.
“Come. With. Me.” His voice was little more than a growl as he held out his hand. “Please.”
It was that damn “please” word that really tempted me to take Damian’s hand. He was a man who probably never had to ask for