Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
LUKE WOKE WITH the same headache that had dogged him for the past week. The fear of Black finding out about him and Emmy was still very real although he’d won a brief reprieve. Because when he’d risked going downstairs the day after Akari had her baby, Emmy had disappeared again, and this time she’d taken Black with her.
Nate had been sitting at the kitchen counter when he found out. Black sent a text message saying Need some time to talk, back in a few days.
That was it.
Nate had read the message aloud, calmly set down his mug of coffee, then flung his phone across the table and put his head in his hands.
“Black’s taken a leaf out of Emmy’s book. She’s corrupted him.”
“They could probably do with a bit of space,” Carmen said, the voice of reason. “They’ve both been through a lot.”
“I suppose,” he’d grudgingly agreed. “An extra week won’t make much difference.”
At least they hadn’t completely disappeared like on previous occasions. After five days of wondering, Mack had tracked their phones to the Caribbean. Jed wheedled someone he knew into sending a satellite photo, and as he zoomed in, those clustered around the screen saw a tropical island several miles from the nearest land.
“Reckon that’s the place?” Jed asked.
“Definitely.” Mack pointed to one end of the beach.
Beside two sunbathing figures, someone had written “FOXTROT OSCAR” in giant letters in the sand.
“She knows us so well.”
Mack turned off the monitor. “Let’s leave them in peace.”
Emails went back and forth, and Black agreed to the Takedas temporarily moving into the guesthouse at the back of his property. Bradley flew into action, converting one of the three bedrooms into a nursery faster than Luke could iron a shirt.
Watching the man do his thing was something to behold. Emmy may have claimed he drove her up the wall, but Bradley could certainly organise stuff. In less than a day, he’d got a team of workmen in to make the cottage child-proof and install new furniture. Akari would sleep in the newly decorated nursery with the baby while her parents and brother took the other two bedrooms.
Kitty would be moving in with the Takedas too, much to Luke’s relief. He’d got used to the big cat now, but while it adored all the women in the house, it didn’t seem so keen on the men. Luke had been giving it a wide berth. Kitty also seemed quite taken with Emmy’s dog, Lucy, and the fact that a jaguar wandering through the house with a Doberman seemed quite normal now showed just how accustomed Luke had become to the crazy lives Emmy and her friends led.
Which was good, since it looked as if he and Mack would be staying at Riverley Hall for a while. The whole ceiling at Mack’s apartment needed replacing. Bradley was sorting that out, as well as the renovations on Emmy’s house, which had just been started. A lesser man might have had a breakdown, but Bradley simply donned a pair of sparkly dungarees and got on with things.
Then Tia arrived with Ryan in tow, and Luke had to admit he seemed a decent enough chap. They weren’t sharing a bed, Tia claimed, but they’d chosen adjoining rooms on the third floor. Luke could guess from his own experiences exactly what happened after the lights went out.
He should act like a responsible brother, shouldn’t he? He’d spent too many years ignoring his sister, and now that Emmy had helped to repair their relationship, it was time for him to step up to the plate. He needed to speak to Ryan about the rules, although he dreaded the thought of doing so. What should he say?
Google was little help, but when he caught Ryan on his own the day after he arrived, Luke decided to wing it.
“Have you got a minute?”
“Sure.”
Luke ushered him into an empty room on the first floor. Some sort of office by the looks of it.
And after a few words of mumbled small talk came the difficult part. “Ryan, tell me honestly, are you and Tia seeing each other?”
Ryan looked him steadily in the eye. “Yes, we are. I care about her, and I promise you she’s not just some hook-up.”
Now what? He’d half expected Ryan to deny it, although he appreciated the man’s honesty. Someone should write a manual for these discussions.
“As her brother, I feel I should say...”
Ryan held up a hand. “Let me save you the trouble. Emmy’s already phoned and had this talk with me, and quite frankly, there’s nothing you could say or do that would scare me more than she does.”
“Oh, in that case... Well, good.”
“Can I go now?”
“Almost. Just one more thing. If I stood watching the door to your room each night, would I see you sneaking out into Tia’s?”
The other hand came up too. “No, I swear.”
“In that case, I think we’ll get on fine,” Luke said, tension seeping away.
He should speak to Tia too, but he had even less idea what to say to her than he did to Ryan. Could he get Emmy to help there as well? Or Mack?
Speaking of Mack, she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The One. Luke loved everything about her, and he was sure she felt the same way about him. He’d never even dreamed of meeting a woman who shared his love of electronics as well as his sense of adventure in the way she did. That she was beautiful and completely uninterested in his money was an added bonus.
And this week, he’d seen how Mack behaved with Akari’s baby. She adored the little boy and spent hours helping Akari with him. Luke wanted children one day, and more than anything, he wanted them with Mack.
So he’d gone and done it. One day while Mack was out at work, he’d bought a ring. It came from Cartier, impressive but not huge, a simple three-carat diamond set in platinum. It was like Mack: stunning and uncomplicated. Nothing like Emmy. Emmy was as confusing as women got. Good to have as a friend, terrifying to have as an enemy, and as a wife? He shuddered at the thought. No, he didn’t envy her husband that job.
Luke hadn’t worked out the proposal thing yet, but he planned to do it soon. He wanted his ring on Mack’s finger to make sure every other man knew she was off limits. Permanently.
Today was out of the question. He wanted to come up with something special, something memorable, and that would take time he didn’t have right now. Because after a full day of meetings, they were going to a charity ball in the evening.
The last Blackwood Foundation fundraiser he’d attended had left a bad taste in his mouth, but Mack wanted to go and so he’d take her. Luke had learned that Emmy’s pet charity operated on both sides of the Atlantic, and for reasons he didn’t fully understand yet, it was close to her heart.
Still, Luke had made a half-hearted attempt to get out of going. “I’m not sure my tuxedo fits,” he’d told Mack.
“Oh, that’s fine. You don’t need to wear one.”
“It’s not black tie?”
“No, it’s fancy dress.”
“Fancy dress?”
“Bradley decided to go with a theme this year—The Heroes and Villains ball.”
“I heard a rumour a nasty computer virus is going to hit that day.” Luke might even write it.
“Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud. Bradley’s organising costumes for both of us.”
“Super. Fantastic.”
“I’m going as Poison Ivy.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
Mack leaned in to kiss him, and suddenly the potential embarrassment didn’t matter so much anymore. As long as she was happy. Luke still dreaded to think what costume he’d end up in, but before he found out, he needed to go to his new office.
The Richmond subsidiary of HC Systems was almost ready to open, despite distractions of the Colombian variety. Blackwood’s people had assisted to no end, with Sloane helping some of Luke’s London staff to relocate and Emmy tasking her HR department to headhunt suitable candidates for the other roles. The fledgeling company had even landed its first two contracts, thanks to Emmy’s recommendations.
Luke’s investment in video conferencing technology meant meetings with his London team were easy, and apart from a few late nights and early mornings due to the time difference, running HC’s head office remotely was going smoothly. And that meant he was free to spend most of his spare time in Virginia with Mack. A year ago, the commitment would have given him palpitations, but everything had changed. He’d changed. Mack had changed him. Next up was house hunting, and the thought made him heady with anticipation.
Meeting Ash had been the start of a rollercoaster ride—scary, exhilarating, and fun—but now he was about to step off into the next stage of the adventure. He couldn’t wait.
Early evening found Luke dressed to kill in the Joker’s purple suit while Bradley fussed around, organising last-minute alterations and a multitude of stylists. Honestly, was make-up really necessary?
“I thought we’d go with Heath Ledger’s Joker rather than the Jack Nicholson version, so much more malevolent, don’t you think?” Bradley asked as he rushed past with his arms full of yet more costumes.
Luke didn’t have time to agree before he was gone.
Apparently, the make-up was “absolutely vital. How can you even think of going without?” and by the time Bradley’s team had finished, Luke looked in the mirror and didn’t recognise himself. His hair had a greenish tinge and added extensions, and his face? Whoa. The man never did things by halves, did he?
Then Mack walked in wearing a green leotard covered in sparkly ivy leaves, green tights, green stilettos, and a floor-length cape. Her hair was even redder than usual, and her eyebrows had been replaced with leaves.
Luke took one look at her and groaned. “Bradley, Mack needs a different costume.”
“What do you mean? She looks amazing!”
“I know. That’s the problem. I don’t want every man in the place staring at her for the entire evening.”
Bradley shrugged. “They won’t all be staring. I expect some of them’ll be gay.”
Oh, that made all the difference.
Mack rolled her eyes. “Luke, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going home with any of them. I’m going home with you, and I love this costume.”
“Fine. But I’m not leaving your side all night.”
“Even better.”