Fuck! Now why in the hell had I brought that up right now?

  I found a quiet corner and pulled her into it. I needed to explain, and I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her. I took her hand. “I want you to stay, Nicole. We can sign the agreement with Lancaster, and you could work on developing more business here in the UK.” I didn’t say it out loud because I already knew she’d protest, but let’s face it, there was no end to the business I could send her way. I had a hell of a lot of connections both in the UK and Europe.

  Her eyes went wide as she leaned her back against the wall. “You actually want me to stay?”

  I nodded. “I do.”

  “But my whole life is back in the United States. I know you aren’t asking me to stay forever, but I can’t be away from ACM for much longer.”

  Oh, hell yes, I was asking her to stay forever. That was exactly what I wanted, but I wasn’t quite sure I should blurt that out right now. She already looked confused as hell. Did I really want to give her a chance to turn forever down flat? “Then stay another month or two,” I suggested. “I don’t want you to go right now.”

  Or ever! Definitely not ever.

  I continued, “Kylie is doing a great job operating your domestic business. Stay and work on expanding here.”

  I’d settle for temporary if it would eventually get me to forever. I needed more time, and a clean slate to work with after I told her about Dylan.

  If she could get over the fact that I hadn’t told her the entire truth about the orgy and naked picture, I’d do everything in my power to make damn sure she fell in love with me.

  My gut ached as I watched the expression on her face. There was a lot of uncertainty in those beautiful blue eyes, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “I don’t think I can actually open an office in London. It’s too expensive.”

  I had a plethora of commercial property in the city I’d gladly hand over, but I answered carefully, “You can figure that out later. You can do a temporary office upstairs at the house, and stay with me.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You want me to actually stay at your gigantic palace? Convert one of your upstairs bedrooms into an office?”

  “Of course. I just said I wanted you to stay.”

  I didn’t give a damn what she did to my house. She could blow up the whole damn thing as long as she left us a room with a bed.

  “Damian…I-I don’t—”

  I put a finger to her mouth to keep her from answering. “Don’t answer right now. Think about it, Nicole. We’ll talk after this ridiculous gala is over.”

  In the meantime, I needed to find a way to stop her from saying no like she nearly did just a second ago.

  She nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll think about it. Right now, I really need to pee.”

  I glanced toward the powder room my mother had set up for the guests. “There’s a line for the loo down here. Do you want me to take you upstairs?”

  She smiled. “I know where it is. I think you should find your mother and let her know you’re here.”

  “I should,” I agreed. “I’ll see you back down here in a few minutes.”

  “Damian?”

  My head came up sharply, and my eyes locked with hers.

  She continued, “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to stay…” She paused. “Never mind. We’ll discuss it later.”

  I wanted to call her beautiful ass back as I watched her depart from the ballroom. Her unfinished comment made me edgy, concerned that her words might have been a prelude to a really large no decision.

  I shook my head as I looked around for my mum.

  Letting Nicole say no to staying here wasn’t an option.

  Well, unless she had no objection to me going back to the US with her.

  The whole geography thing didn’t really matter as long as Nicole ended up somewhere with…me.

  CHAPTER 32

  Nicole

  AFTER I USED the bathroom in the east wing, I rifled through the fridge in the sitting room and found myself a cold bottle of water.

  I was a little sweaty, so I’d taken the time to cool off and fix my makeup.

  Honestly, I’d just needed a few moments outside the crowd to digest everything Damian had said to me.

  He wants me to stay. He doesn’t want me to go. And what in the hell did he need to tell me that he hasn’t already said?

  I took a few gulps of the water, and a couple of deep breaths.

  My heart had been doing a happy dance when Damian had asked me to stick around, but my head was telling me I needed to hightail it back to California before Damian Lancaster had a chance to break my heart.

  “Who am I kidding?” I said aloud to the empty room. “It’s already going to break my heart to leave him.”

  And it certainly wasn’t going to get any easier if I stayed for a month or two longer, because I’d know the end was coming. I’d probably be doing a countdown to my broken heart every single day.

  What am I expecting? A declaration of his undying love and a confession that he can’t live without me?

  I let out a long sigh, hating myself for allowing Damian to get close enough to break my heart.

  I should have known that I wasn’t the kind of woman who could do a wild fling. Not with somebody like him, anyway.

  Bottom line: I loved Damian so much that it was going to shatter my heart into thousands of little pieces to say goodbye to him, whether that happened tomorrow, or in a month or two.

  I downed the rest of the water and dropped the bottle into the trash, wondering if Damian wanted me to stay out of a misguided sense of gratitude.

  Does he just want to help my company expand because I’d helped him out of a tight spot?

  That was possible, although I had to admit that I didn’t think that was the entire reason for his offer to hang around.

  There was some mind-blowing passion and sex involved in our relationship, and I had no doubt that Damian cared for me.

  Unfortunately, that just wasn’t enough.

  I needed to get back downstairs. Nothing was going to be resolved before Damian and I had a chance to discuss it later.

  I was heading toward the door when I heard a muffled noise coming from the master suite Damian had used when he’d stayed here.

  It had almost sounded like…a feminine laugh.

  I shook my head, and was determined to ignore it when I heard a deep, male voice, too.

  What the hell?

  I stepped nearer to the closed door, wondering if the old estate had a resident ghost or two, and I listened.

  There was a giggle.

  And then a moan.

  Followed by that deep voice.

  I couldn’t make out words, just muffled sounds.

  I should go. It’s none of my business if somebody found their way upstairs, right?

  The problem was that nobody should be up here. The stairs were blocked off, and only the family was allowed upstairs.

  Well, and me. I was allowed past the chain, but only because Barnaby knew me, and I’d already been a guest here.

  I slid a little closer, close enough to put my foot on the bottom of the door and apply a little bit of pressure to it.

  I had to know if someone had snuck up here to steal something. There were priceless furnishings everywhere.

  If I could do something to protect Bella’s home, I would.

  The door wasn’t completely latched, so it opened a crack.

  In for a penny, in for a pound.

  I grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open wide, ready to run if I saw anything I couldn’t handle.

  There was only a male and a female in the room, and the two of them didn’t appear to be stealing anything.

  If they were, they were doing it half naked on the bed.

  The pretty brunette female was half out of her pink ballgown, while the male was bare from the waist up. His lower body was covered by a sheet, so I didn’t know if he was completely nude.

  And I really didn’t want to know.

  I’d obviously interrupted something very intimate, and my cheeks flushed as I grabbed for the doorknob to close the door again.

  I could tell Damian, and let him decide if he wanted to investigate.

  I was way too mortified about interrupting a private moment to deal with this situation.

  The door creaked as I started to close it, and I cringed when the guy on the bed suddenly swung around to face me.

  Busted!

  “Well, hello, beautiful. Please come in. Three is never too many in my bed,” he said in a welcoming tone.

  Oh, dear God!

  I put my embarrassment aside long enough to realize that I knew that face.

  I knew that gorgeous body.

  There was no mistaking those distinctive, peridot-green eyes.

  And I definitely recognized that deep voice with a British accent, even though the tone was somewhat different.

  “Damian?” I’m not sure why I asked, because I already knew exactly who was lying in that bed with a hand up the skirt of the woman’s pink dress.

  My entire world upended, and then started to spin.

  “Why?” I cried out like a wounded animal, keening the single word as tears flooded my eyes.

  Damian stared back at me with an empty-eyed gaze I’d never seen before.

  No embarrassment.

  No remorse.

  No affection.

  There was absolutely no emotion radiating from those beautiful eyes at the moment, and it completely crushed me.

  Deciding that I didn’t really need to know why, I fled.

  I slammed the door closed, went and retrieved my purse and clothes off the couch, and then sprinted out of the east wing, visions of Damian’s smug, detached expression still haunting my brain.

  “No! Wait a minute!”

  I heard Damian’s call from the bedroom as I made my escape. I ignored it. Did he really think he was going to talk me into a threesome?

  Bastard!

  “It’s not like he ever promised me exclusivity or anything,” I whispered harshly as I rushed down the hall and toward the stairs. “He never promised me anything. Nothing.”

  My brain was trying to convince my heart not to break. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working.

  My vision was blurred from the tears coursing down my face, and I decided to try harder.

  It was my problem, not his. He was free to fuck any woman he wanted. There was no commitment between the two of us. There never had been. I’d always known it was a fling, right?

  Maybe so, but…I just didn’t see him as the type of guy to do that in his mother’s house, or during one of her events.

  Or while another woman he was currently fucking was in the same damn place!

  He’d looked just like he had in that damn orgy picture, his eyes wild with what I could assume was lust.

  “My mother used to say that a leopard never changes its spots. I guess she was right.” I panted as I ran down the stairs.

  What in the hell is wrong with me? Had I really bought that story about the whole orgy thing being a setup?

  Yes. Yes, I had, and I wasn’t a stupid woman. I’d believed Damian Lancaster because I’d wanted to believe him, not because it really made sense.

  Dammit! I cursed when I couldn’t get the chain undone at the bottom of the stairs. So I simply ducked under the barrier, and raced through the crowd to get out the door.

  All I wanted was escape.

  From this house.

  From the memories of Damian and me together.

  From every snobby rich person present who would never understand the kind of pain I was suffering right now.

  “Nicole. Wait! Where are you going?”

  For an instant, I thought it was Damian calling my name, but it was Leo, and he caught up to me the moment I got outside.

  “Nicole!” He grabbed me by the shoulders to stop me. “What in the hell is wrong? You were running like the house was on fire.”

  I could hardly lie to him. I was probably a mess. My tears were falling hard and fast, so I knew my makeup was beyond repair, and probably smeared everywhere.

  “I have to get to Heathrow, Leo. Something happened. It’s an emergency. I’ll explain later. Can you help me?” My voice sounded pathetic, even to my own ears.

  My only thought was to put as much distance between myself and Damian Lancaster as possible right now. I had my passport and ID in my purse, and the clothes I’d worn to Bella’s home this morning.

  Damian could send me the rest of my things. It was the least he could do. I never wanted to step inside his ridiculous castle again.

  Leo nodded solemnly. “Of course. I’m sorry, Nicole, whatever it is that happened. You look terrible. Do you want me to find Damian? He’d want to be here with you.”

  I shook my head vigorously. “No! He already knows. I just need to get to the airport.”

  Leo motioned to Damian’s driver, and the Phantom moved forward.

  “Isn’t Damian going with you?” Leo asked as I rushed to the limo.

  “Not this time,” I babbled. “He has work, and this is…personal for me.”

  Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie, but my explanation was probably about as clear as mud.

  Luckily, Leo didn’t question me further. “Take care of yourself, Nicole. Damian can tell me the rest.”

  I threw myself into his arms because I couldn’t let myself leave without saying goodbye to Leo. He’d been good to me, and I’d started to become silly enough to consider him the brother I’d never had. I’d call Bella later and thank her for everything she’d done for me. I wasn’t strong enough to talk to her right now without throwing myself in her maternal arms and sobbing like a five-year-old child.

  “Oh, wait!” I said to Leo when I pulled myself away from him.

  I pulled my earrings off, then the bracelet, and finally the necklace. “Please give these back to Damian. They were just a loan for tonight.” I pressed the diamonds into his hand before I jumped into the back seat of the Phantom.

  “Be safe, Nicole,” Leo called out, and then he closed the car door.

  “Where to, Ms. Ashworth?” the driver asked politely.

  “Heathrow Airport please,” I said loudly as I started to search my purse for my phone.

  I had no idea how I was going to get out of England tonight, but I’d search for flights and standby possibilities on my way to London.

  Tears blurred my vision, and I quickly reached for the button to close the partition between me and the driver as we got in motion.

  And then, finally, I let go of the sobs that had been screaming for release since the moment I’d found the man I loved in bed with another woman.

  Maybe I didn’t have the right to be brokenhearted since Damian had never promised me anything more than what we’d had.

  But I was.

  I was devastated, and I sobbed halfway to London, whether I had the right to my pain or not.

  CHAPTER 33

  Damian

  “I’D LIKE TO go find Nicole.” Mum had tried to drag me to another group of people I hadn’t seen for years, but I didn’t follow her this time.

  Nicole had probably arrived back downstairs a long time ago, and I was tired of greeting people without her.

  I was relieved when I saw Leo coming toward us. Maybe he could take over for me while I went in search of Nicole.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” Leo told me. “I wanted to see if everything was all right with Nicole. I hate to say it, but she didn’t look good when she left.”

  “Left?” I questioned. “Where in the hell did she go?”

  Leo shot me a confused gaze. “I thought you knew. She said you did. She took off for Heathrow almost an hour ago. I put her in the Phantom myself. She was crying, Damian, and she looked pretty frantic. She said she had an emergency. Something bad happened, but she said that you already knew about it. For some reason, she took off the jewelry she was wearing and asked me to give it to you. I had Barnaby lock it up.”

  Fuck! “I don’t know a damn thing. She went upstairs to use the loo, and I haven’t seen her since she came back downstairs. I assumed she was mingling until we caught up with each other. Why in the fuck was she crying?”

  Every single one of my senses was starting to alarm as I strode toward the stairs, went under the chain, and took the steps two at a time.

  I told myself not to panic as I entered the east wing, but my voice of reason wasn’t responding.

  “Maybe she left a note then,” Leo said reasonably as he and Mum followed behind me. “Do you think she found out about Dylan?”

  “Fuck! I hope not!”

  “I doubt it,” Bella commented. “She’d be upset, but not that upset.”

  The three of us made short work of searching the sitting room and the master suite she’d used when she’d been staying here in Hollingsworth House.

  There was no sign of her anywhere.

  Mum didn’t try to hide her concern. “She took her purse and the clothes she was wearing this morning.”

  “Fuck!” I raked a frustrated hand through my hair. “Why in the bloody hell did she leave without saying anything? That’s not like her. She’s not the flighty or dramatic type, and she wouldn’t go without saying something.”

  “Maybe she had a family emergency, Damian,” Leo suggested.

  I shook my head. “She’s an only child, and her parents are gone. She doesn’t have any close family anymore. Friends, yes. But not family.”

  “She said it was personal,” Leo said thoughtfully. “So maybe something happened with one of her friends.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” I said in a raspy voice. “She would have talked to me first. No one can get her to America faster than I can in a private jet.”

  “She wouldn’t tell you if she thought you were a total wanker,” a deep voice said from behind us.

  I whirled around, and saw Dylan leaning nonchalantly against the doorjamb of the second master suite in the east wing. The room I’d used when I’d stayed here with Nicole.