5. Edward
Edward
" A bsolutely not." I set down my coffee with enough force to make the bone china rattle, but Daphne merely smiled—the kind of smile that meant she'd already won and was just waiting for me to realize it.
Daphne stormed through my study door like an army general who'd just spotted a tactical advantage, dropping into the chair across from my desk with a theatrical flourish.
The morning light caught the predatory gleam in her eyes. “Edward! Perfect. I have the most brilliant idea." She pulled out her phone, gesturing with it like a conductor's baton. "And no."
"You don't even know what I'm going to ask."
I closed the file folder with deliberate precision. "I know that particular tone. The answer is still no."
She rolled her eyes, a gesture she'd perfected at age five and hadn't bothered to refine since. "Don't be such a grumpy hermit. Lili needs to get out, and you should show her around London."
The words 'Lili' and 'tour' in the same sentence made my chest tighten in ways I refused to examine. I'd spent the last three days in my London penthouse precisely to avoid this scenario.
"She's perfectly capable of exploring on her own. London has an extensive public transportation system."
"Edward Grosvenor. You cannot seriously be suggesting that I let my best friend navigate the Underground by herself when she's still figuring out the coin system and thinks 'brilliant' means 'smart.'"
"She's a grown woman."
"She's my guest."
"She's your guest, not mine."
Daphne leaned forward, her expression shifting from wheedling to something more serious. "Please. She needs this, Edward. She's been working so hard, and I think she's worried about something." Her voice carried a note I couldn't identify. "You know how it is with career uncertainty."
Career uncertainty. The phrase hit closer to home than she could know. I thought about Malcolm's latest call, about deadlines and acquisitions and the ticking clock that would destroy everything Lili had built in London.
What made it even more difficult was that my job prevented me from sharing this highly confidential business strategy with my family.
"I'm sure she'd prefer to explore with you."
"I can't." Daphne's response was too quick, too sharp. "I have that meeting with the Royal Opera board today, and then drinks with Cressida, and Mother has that dreadful charity luncheon tomorrow that I absolutely cannot miss or she'll disown me."
"Daphne—"
"Besides," she continued, her voice taking on that sing-song quality that usually preceded her most outrageous requests, "you're brilliant at showing people around. Remember when you gave that tour to the Japanese investors last year? They donated five million to the arts foundation afterward."
"That's entirely different."
"How?"
Because those investors hadn't made me forget my own name. Because they hadn't smelled like Texas sunshine and vanilla. Because I hadn't spent sleepless nights imagining what it would feel like to kiss them until we were both senseless.
"Those were business associates."
"Exactly! And this is personal, which should make it easier."
Easier. Right.
I stood, needing distance, and moved to the window overlooking the estate's gardens. Movement in the garden caught my eye.
Lili knelt among the roses, her phone propped against a stone as she gestured enthusiastically at something the camera couldn't see. Even from this distance, I could see her animated expression, the way she moved like she was conducting an orchestra of flowers.
She belonged here, I realized with startling clarity. Not in the formal gardens or grand ballrooms, but in places where beauty grew wild and natural.
Where authenticity mattered more than artifice.
The thought terrified me more than any legal challenge ever had.
"I have work to do," I said without turning around. "The television acquisition is due to be reviewed next Monday."
"Work, work, work." Daphne's voice carried a note of frustration. "When was the last time you did something just for fun? Something that didn't involve building your legal empire?"
"Some of us have responsibilities—"
"Oh, don't you dare lecture me about responsibility, Edward Grosvenor. I know exactly who you are." She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice had softened. "I also know you've been miserable lately."
That made me turn. "I beg your pardon?"
"You've been impossible to be around for months. Snapping at Mother, working until all hours, avoiding every social event I invite you to. The only time I've seen you even remotely human was..." She trailed off, a calculating look entering her eyes.
"Was what?"
"Nothing. Just show Lili around London, please? For me?"
I was opening my mouth to refuse again when my phone rang. James's name lit up the screen, and I grabbed it like a lifeline.
"I need to take this."
"Of course you do." Daphne flopped back in her chair with a dramatic sigh. "But we're not done here."
"Atwood," I answered, already dreading whatever social obligation he was about to thrust upon me.
"Edward, my friend. I was sitting at Claridge's being thoroughly charmed by a certain sister of yours, who's somehow convinced me that you're having an emotional crisis that requires my immediate intervention.
" James's laugh carried through the phone.
"Something about American complications and your desperate need for a wingman? "
I could practically hear James's grin through the phone. "What kind of crisis?"
"The kind that involves your sister insisting I convince you to play tour guide to her best friend. Apparently, she's recruited an accomplice."
"Bloody hell."
"Indeed. I should be there in ten. Try not to flee the estate before I arrive."
He hung up, leaving me staring at the phone in disbelief. I turned back to find Daphne watching me with poorly concealed satisfaction. "You called James."
"I merely suggested he might enjoy meeting Lili. I had no idea he'd drive all the way out here." Her expression was the picture of innocence, if innocence typically looked like a cat with feathers in its mouth.
"You orchestrated this entire thing."
"I created an opportunity. There's a difference."
Before I could come up with a solution, voices carried through the open window.
James's distinctive laugh mixed with a female voice—Lili's voice—and the sound hit me like a physical blow.
"They're here," Daphne said unnecessarily, already moving toward the door. "And James works terribly fast, doesn't he?"
I followed her, drawn by morbid curiosity and the inexplicable need to see how Lili was reacting to my best friend's considerable charm.
We stepped onto the terrace to find James in full performance mode, regaling Lili with some elaborate story that involved sweeping gestures and what was undoubtedly complete fiction.
"—and that's how I ended up representing a circus elephant in a custody battle," James concluded, his hazel eyes twinkling with mischief.
Lili's laugh rang out, bright and genuine. "You did not represent an elephant."
"I absolutely did. Ask Edward—he was there."
All eyes turned to me. Lili's smile faltered slightly when our gazes met, her cheeks flushing that telltale pink. James noticed, of course. James noticed everything.
"Actually," I said, recovering my composure, "that particular story involves a property dispute and a very angry neighbor who objected to midnight trumpet practice. No elephants."
"You're no fun," James said, but his attention had shifted between Lili and me with the focused intensity of a predator sensing weakness.
"James, this is Lili," Daphne stepped in smoothly. "Lili, James Atwood. Edward's partner-in-crime at the firm and a notorious storyteller."
"Charmed," James said, extending his hand with a warm smile. "And may I say, I can see why Daphne speaks so highly of you."
"She does?" Lili's eyebrows rose as she shook his hand.
"Actually, she's been talking my ear off about you for weeks. I was beginning to think you were fictional."
I watched Lili's reaction carefully, noting how she glanced between Daphne and me with something that bore a strong resemblance to suspicion.
"You're both being ridiculous," Daphne interjected, but there was something almost frantic in her enthusiasm. "It's just a simple tour of London. Edward shows Lili around, they have a lovely time, everyone's happy."
"Define 'everyone,'" James said with a knowing look.
"Speaking of which," James continued, settling into one of the terrace chairs like he had all the time in the world, "I understand there's been some debate about London tourism. I'm firmly on Team Show-Her-Around, if my vote counts."
"It doesn't," I said flatly.
"Harsh. But consider this—I could always step in," James offered with theatrical generosity. "I happen to know some excellent galleries. Several charming restaurants. A few private clubs that someone new to London might find enlightening."
The thought of James spending an entire day charming Lili made something possessive and ugly rear its head. "That won't be necessary."
"No? Then I suppose you'll handle it yourself. Excellent choice."
Trapped. The bastard had trapped me, and he knew it.
"I..." I looked at Lili, who was watching this entire exchange with growing amusement. "I suppose I could arrange something."
"Wonderful!" Daphne clapped her hands together. "You could show her the Tate Modern, and Borough Market, and—"
"I said I'd arrange something, not plan a bloody grand tour."
"The Tate would be lovely," Lili interjected, her Texas accent softening the words. "I haven't seen much beyond the neighborhood around the studio."
Her studio. Where she filmed shows for a shopping channel my firm was going to destroy. The reminder hit like cold water.
"Of course," I managed. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. Say, ten? And James, you come with us. That’s the only condition."
"…Perfect." Daphne paused and her smile was cautious.
"I am actually —" Before James protested, my phone rang.