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I wasn’t certain if I liked the fact that she wasn’t impressed or if it annoyed the hell out of me.
I certainly didn’t want her here, but maybe it was easier to just ignore her, for the most part.
Did I really need to let myself get this annoyed with someone that I didn’t even know?
If nothing else, I could use her for information to satisfy my curiosity. “So how did Damian and your friend meet in the first place? I’m going to assume they don’t exactly have mutual friends in the same social circles.”
She turned around and glared at me. “Why? Because your family is so much wealthier and better connected than Nicole?”
Christ!Did the woman have to defend even the smallest perceived slight when it came to Nicole? “She’s American. Damian is British. It just seems highly unlikely that they bumped into each other at some kind of gathering. My twin isn’t exactly a frequent attendee of social events.”
Her fierce expression softened. “Your mother never told you?”
“We didn’t speak often, and no one mentioned Nicole before that gala. Lately, we don’t talk at all,” I said tersely.
For the first time in my life, even my mum was so angry with me that she never called anymore.
“Have you tried to call her?” Kylie asked in a kinder tone.
“No,” I answered stiffly. “She always keeps in touch with me. Obviously, she doesn’t care to chat. I think my entire family is done speaking to me.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, as though she had changed her mind about what she’d meant to tell me. After a moment of hesitation, she explained, “They met while Damian was taking a commercial business flight on Transatlantic Airlines. Nicole was coming back to the States after completely bombing a pitch to Lancaster International. News of the orgy, complete with pictures, broke just before her presentation. Everyone at the meeting was too preoccupied with that scandal to pay much attention to her, and she was upset that she’d failed. Damian sat next to her and talked her off the ledge. Nicole didn’t recognize him and didn’t realize who he was until after the flight was over.”
“He’s still doing that?” I asked, not particularly surprised that Damian was flying commercial on our airline instead of using his private jet. He’d always felt he needed to fly Transatlantic occasionally as a passenger to make sure standards were being met.
She nodded, sat down at a stool near the island, and went on to explain how Damian had sought Nicole out later to apologize. And how he’d subsequently hired her to try to diminish the gossip over the naked orgy pictures that had been taken when I was drugged.
“So the entire relationship was a ruse?” I asked once Kylie had given me all the details. “I’ve seen the pictures online of the two of them at various events in London. Charity events, galas, and other high-exposure affairs that Damian wouldn’t normally attend. They actually looked…happy.”
“Even back then, I don’t think either of them was pretending,” Kylie said in a softer voice. “I think they were already crazy about each other, even though those appearances were planned as a diversion tactic.”
I raked a frustrated hand through my hair. “I still don’t understand why he didn’t just tell her the truth. That he had an identical twin, and none of those actions were his.”
“He’d planned to confess right after your mom’s gala,” she informed me. “Unfortunately, she discovered you in the bedroom with a woman who wasn’t her before he got that chance. In a bed that Damian had used for the beginning of their stay in London, so it wasn’t a stretch for her to assume you were Damian.”
My mind flashed back to that exact moment, and I tried to brush away the horrified, betrayed expression I’d seen on Nicole’s face.
I also remembered what had happened only moments later, when Damian had looked at me with nothing but disgust. That was the second I’d realized that my identical twin despised me for what I’d done and always would.
I’d gone too far, and I’d known it that night.
“I can’t change what happened,” I said tightly.
“Would you have changed it if you could have?” she asked.
“Bloody hell! Of course, I would. Do you really think I wanted to hurt my brother or Nicole?”
“Then maybe you should call all of your family and apologize,” she suggested.
“I think it’s rather late for that,” I replied irritably.
“It’s never too late. They love you, Dylan. They just don’t like your behavior,” she said quietly. “Do you really blame them for that?”
I slammed a hand down on the granite. “No! Do you really think I like the fact that I made my brother choose between Nicole and me? In my opinion, he made the right choice when he decided Nicole was more important than his twin brother.”
“He was angry, and rightfully so,” she said with a sigh. “But that doesn’t mean that he won’t get over it. They were just words, after all. It’s not like you attacked Nicole. You broke her heart, but Damian mended it.”
Easy for her to say. Kylie hadn’t seen the look of contempt and revulsion in Damian’s eyes that night.
