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CHAPTER 31
Dylan
“I’ll admit, it was definitely an interesting evening,” Damian commented as we hung out in the living room of his home. “I’m not sure whose idea it was to do an escape room, but it was entertaining. I never even knew it existed.”
Since none of us were pub crawlers, Leo and I had decided to take Damian out to his favorite Italian restaurant, followed by an escape room experience that was run at an old tube station that had been abandoned.
“We made it out with plenty of time to spare,” Leo pointed out. “Not too hard when you put three Lancaster brains on one mystery.”
The three of us had needed to work as a team to follow the clues and solve the mystery to escape.
It had been extremely diverting, and doing it together had been the whole point of the entertainment.
“It was a great evening,” Damian said. “Best stag party ever. I wonder how Nicole’s hen day went. The ladies should be getting home shortly. She said she wouldn’t be too late; then again, she and Macy did leave pretty early.”
I knew exactly what they were doing, but I wasn’t about to share. Macy and Kylie had worked hard to keep Nicole’s day a secret, so Damian could find out all about it when Nicole told him about it.
“Only about thirty-six more hours, and you’ll be a married man, Damian,” Leo commented. “How are you holding up?”
“Honestly?” he asked without expecting an answer. “I’ll be damn happy when she’s finally my wife. Not that we need that piece of paper for the two of us to be committed, but it will be nice to make it official. I’m looking forward to the honeymoon, too. Nicole hasn’t had a chance to do much traveling, so she’s really excited.”
“You’re not nervous?” Leo questioned.
He shook his head. “Not at all. No second thoughts. There is no other woman for me.”
Christ! I knew what that certainty felt like, and someday, when Leo finally fell hard for someone, he’d understand it, too.
I could tell that Damian was starting to get impatient, and since Nicole had nothing planned for tomorrow except any last-minute issues that came up, I was pretty sure my twin would be happy to tie the knot tomorrow if he could.
However, I doubted that idea was going to fly with Nicole or my mother.
In America, there probably would have been a rehearsal dinner taking place tomorrow, but Nicole had decided to skip that since it wasn’t normally done here and had opted for the casual family dinner at Hollingsworth House the night before.
As expected, the wedding was a mix of traditions, but Leo and I had already been informed that the wedding party was standing, and that Nicole would be the last one down the aisle instead of the first.
Since Kylie had made it through the gala just fine, I had no doubt she’d feel completely comfortable at the wedding reception, too.
To be honest, she’d surprised me just a little at the gala. If she’d been nervous, it hadn’t shown. She’d been able to converse with anyone who came her direction, and with so much charm and warmth that she’d never once needed to talk about the weather.
Maybe I’d forgotten about the fact that she was in public relations and that she did a lot of talking for a living.
She might have been apprehensive about saying the wrong thing underneath, but on the surface, she’d managed to charm every person who had crossed her path.
And yes, I’d been there to watch every single person who approached her—if I wasn’t right beside her—because I’d circulated in that crowd most of my life, so I knew every single man present that might lay a hand on her.
“So, when is Kylie due back in the United States?” Leo asked.
Damian lifted a brow but stayed silent.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I told Leo. “If I have my way, she’ll be here for a while. We agreed not to talk about it until the wedding was over, but I know what I want. I’ve known for a while now. I’m just not sure how she’ll feel about it.”
“What do you want?” Leo questioned.
“I want her in my life for the rest of my life,” I confessed.
“I could tell that you’d fallen for her,” Leo informed me. “You have the same crazy look in your eyes when you look at her that Damian does when he looks at Nicole. But are you really ready to make that commitment, Dylan? You’ve been through a lot.”
“I doubt very much if I’d be doing as well as I am right now if it wasn’t for her,” I shared. “I’d already started treatment when she walked through the door of that Beverly Hills home, and I was determined to get my head straight. But it’s like Kylie grabbed me and yanked me out of that black hole way faster than I would have found my way out on my own. At first, she was incredibly diverting. Then, she was supportive. After that, she was a companion who listened. Finally, she was the woman I couldn’t live without. There was never a moment when I wasn’t physically attracted to her, but it was always a lot more than that.”
