Chapter One
“We’re clear then? I want this mess with the all equity rate cleared up by close of business Friday. We can’t be seen to be letting things slide just because the dollar is a little fragile. I don’t want to hear any more excuses.”
No one spoke or met his eye, and Dylan Johns let loose a grim smile. He resorted to threats and intimidation more and more often these days. Maybe he needed a holiday.
Too bad.
“Great. What’s next?”
“Excuse me, sir?” Dylan’s assistant must have been listening at the door, waiting for the pause. “There’s someone in your office for you.”
“Not now. We’re in the middle of—”
“Sorry, sir, I think you’ll want to take this.”
Dylan looked up. His assistant had been with him for three years and knew this meeting had been booked for over a month. Her face gave nothing away, but the hard edge in her eyes made him stand. “I’ll be right back. Gary, go through the acquisition premiums on the Luther portfolio with everyone.”
Dylan stood and walked through to his inner office.
The woman who turned toward him bore almost no resemblance to his sister-in-law. Tears had carved tracks through her makeup, and her face was puffy and red.
“Lily?” Dylan reached for her instinctively. “What’s happened? Oh my God, the kids?”
“No. They’re fine.” Lily wilted into him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. You’re busy.”
Dylan held back a grimace. Lily was prone to exaggeration, but she didn’t usually turn up at his office a sobbing mess. “Stop it.” With a firm grip on her arm, he led her to the plush couch, which afforded an amazing view over a glittering slice of Sydney Harbor. “We’re family.” He handed her his navy silk handkerchief and sat beside her, putting a hand on her knee.
She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“I said it was okay. What’s he said? He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
“No, no. It’s just…” She wiped ineffectively at her eyes, smearing her makeup further. “I saw something on his cell. A number I didn’t recognize, and I asked him about it. He went mental. Accused me of all sorts of things.”
Dylan patted her knee to stop himself from clenching his fists. “I’m sure he didn’t mean any of it.”
“I bloody knew it!”
Dylan recognized the owner of the angry voice even before he looked up. He steeled himself to be calm. “Brian, whatever you’ve done this time isn’t any of my business, but don’t you think you should cut Lily some slack?”
“That’s right. Stick up for her again.” Brian wrenched his arm out of Dylan’s assistant’s grip. “Get your hand off my wife’s knee.”
Dylan lifted his hand in mock surrender. “Calm down. Don’t think I won’t have security throw you out if you don’t get a grip.”
He stood to face his older brother, and the two men glared at each other, eye to eye. If it weren’t for the frown lines and the gray nudging at his temples, Brian could have been Dylan’s reflection. His older brother had the same broad shoulders, flashing green eyes, dark hair, and a firm chin set in grim determination.
You’re doing Lily and the kids no favors getting him angrier. Dylan shook his head almost imperceptibly at his assistant, and she stepped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. There would be no need for security. No one needed any more of a scene. Dylan turned to Lily. “So what do we need to do to sort this?”
Lily stood. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing. Really. I shouldn’t have come.”
“Of course it’s nothing.” Brian’s eyes glittered dangerously.
“I’m talking to Lily just for a moment, Brian. Perhaps you’d like to wait outside for five? Just so Lily can gather her thoughts.”
“So you two can plot about getting rid of me, you mean.” Folding his arms across his chest, Brian stood firm. He was clearly going nowhere.
Dylan looked carefully at his brother. Was that really hurt in his eyes? “Hang on a minute. Do you think—”
“I should go. The children will be coming home from school soon.” Lily made for the door.
Dylan took her arm again. “Wait. We all need to talk about this.”
“No. Let her go. It’s the two of us who need to talk.” Brian pushed Dylan’s hand away and led Lily to the door. He whispered something in her ear. She nodded tightly, and Dylan sighed inwardly at the way her tears seemed to have miraculously dried up.
Brian waited for the door to close before he turned back to Dylan. “You have to get out of her head.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. She’s my wife.”
“She’s your wife again now, is she? What about the last twenty times you’ve disappeared these past ten years? Has she been your wife then? Or perhaps when you were in bed with your Yankee mistress, what about then?”
“I haven’t disappeared. And it’s hardly been twenty times. Anyway, she’s still my wife. I’m back now, aren’t I?”
Yes. Not that I’m sure I like it. “You can understand why she might have a few trust issues,” Dylan said dryly.
Brian turned his back to Dylan and stalked to the massive window. “Sure. She doesn’t need to now, though.” His shoulders hunched as if he was building up to something. “She relies on you when I’m not here, but I’m back. She took me back. And she is my wife. We’re never going to make it work if every time we have a fight she comes running to you.” He turned, and Dylan was shocked at the pain that tightened Brian’s face. “We’ve got to try and make this work. You know what it’s like to not have a father. I want the kids to trust me again. Give me a chance to figure things out with Lily.”
Every fiber of Dylan’s being hummed with resentment. Brian wanting forgiveness and space was a bit rich after the way he’d bailed out on everything. These past ten years had been a mess as far as Dylan was concerned. First there’d been an affair, which had taken Brian over two years to end. Then he’d been away more than he’d been home as he checked out a series of “business ventures” that never turned into anything tangible. He’d returned four months ago full of apology, and Lily lacked either the strength or the inclination to kick him to the curb. “Why should I trust you?”