“She said she quit.”
“Yes, again, I know,” Callum sighs. “I’m assuming you didn’t fuck it up when she showed up?”
I’m not a moron. I know what I’m doing when it comes to women, unlike him. “I asked her to marry me.”
He nearly chokes. “You what?”
I hear Nicole in the background. “What is he saying?”
Callum moves the receiver and reiterates what I just said.
“You what?” Nicole’s voice is now the one on the line.
“I proposed, do you have a problem with that?” I ask.
Nicole goes quiet for a second and then sighs. “No, it’s sweet and romantic. Good job, Milo.”
“Well, I love her and never wish to be parted again. She left her job, is willing to move to London, and there’s no fucking way she’s living anywhere but in my house.”
Again, there’s silence.
“Nicole, are you there?”
“I’m here,” she sniffs. “Here’s your brother.”
Callum comes back on the line. “Great. You made her cry, now I’m going to have to listen to how you’re the better Huxley again.”
“Was there ever a question about that?” I joke.
“I hope you know,” he starts, “I never wanted you two to be separated. It wasn’t because I don’t care about you or that I was being cruel. It was that there really were no options.”
In a small part of my heart, I know that. But something I loved was being taken from me, without any choice in the matter. To have it be my brother pulling the strings was even worse. Was my anger misplaced? Maybe.
I’ll forgive you . . . depending on the wedding present.”
He laughs. “Your wedding present is that I created another senior level position where Danielle will be your equal at Dovetail.”
“My equal?” I scoff. “I’m the bloody Vice President! There’s no way I’ll be under her again, damn you.”
My bastard brother snickers. “Co-Vice President. Your soon to be wife is the other. Have a great day, Milo.”
Before I can say another word, the arsehole hangs up, leaving me stunned.
Once again, Danielle is going to find a way to make me pay—forever, and that works just fine for me.
Epilogue
Danielle
Three Months Later
“Are you planning to move anything?” my husband asks.
“Not really.”
“So you’re going to sit there on your arse whilst I carry the boxes?”
“Pretty much.” I shrug.
“And here I thought we were equal partners,” Milo laughs as he carries another box in.
Oh, how silly men are. Sure, we’re equal—at times.
I grab my cup of tea and take a sip. I figure I should start getting used to my new homeland. In America, barely anyone drinks tea. It’s all about coffee, but I actually prefer tea, so I’m happy. Plus, the tea here is really fantastic.
“I’m just doing what Nicole said to do.”
He stops and looks at me. “And what was that, my darling?”
I give him a playful smirk. “Supervise.”
We’ve been living in London for a little over a month and finally our household goods shipment from America arrived. My home sold quick, and the kids were about done with school, so we said our goodbyes and headed to our new home of London, England.
I started two weeks ago as Co-Vice President of Dovetail Enterprises. It was a little crazy, but it’s been amazing. Callum wants his family to all hold board seats and now that we’re officially family, it works.
Really, I think he wanted to make Milo miserable. Which is another thing I don’t mind either.
Keeping him a little hostile makes him work harder.
“Could you supervise while holding a box?”
I smirk. “I could, but you didn’t ask nicely.”
“I’ll give you nicely.”
“I sure hope so, husband.”
Milo’s eyes fill with warmth. Each time I say husband or remind him that I’m his wife, his entire face lights up. I love that it makes him so happy. The truth is, I love it just as much.
Milo wasted no time in getting married, he said he wanted to make sure I couldn’t change my mind.
Our wedding was super small, but perfect. We had a week in between the move and needing to be in London, so we hopped on a plane to the islands and were married. The kids, us, Nicole and Callum, that’s it.
Of course, Nicole was supposed to get a video for us, but instead, she went live so everyone else could see. In the end, it was perfect.
“You’re really going to sit there?” he asks with a chuckle.
“You could come over and make me get up.”
“I could, or we can make a wager that you’ll come to me . . .”
Milo and his betting.
“Are you sure you want to bet me, sweetcheeks?” I say with sarcasm. “I mean, the last time we bet . . . you lost.”
Milo puts the box down and heads over to me, his arms cage me in on the couch and he grins.
“I rather think I won.”
“Do you?”
He grins. “Most definitely. Besides, you wouldn’t hold out on your husband, would you?”
I pretend to think about it, and sigh. “It’s such a shame you’re so hot. It’s hard to resist you.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
“Arrogant much?”
His lips move closer. “Just hedging my bets.”
Right before our lips are about to touch, Ava’s voice kills the moment.
“Mom! Can you please tell Parker he doesn’t get to put his crap in my room!”
Milo pulls back.
“Really? You guys are always making out, it’s freaking weird,” she says with her arms crossed.
“Yes, being married and in love is so weird,” I toss back.
She’s been genuinely happy since we decided to move here. Ava loves the arts, and London is a great place for her to study. We’ve already found a ballet school that she loves, and the instructor has trained some of the most renowned dancers.
Ava sits on the couch beside me.
“Aren’t you glad we’re married and now you get to help raise them?” I ask Milo with a brow raised.
He kisses me hard and then pulls back. “I am.”
“Mom!” She covers her eyes.
I grab Milo’s arm as he starts to walk away. “Kiss me again.”
His lips break into a slow, sexy smile. “Happily.”
“Ugh!” She huffs. “I’m going upstairs to torture Parker.”
“Bye!”
Milo laughs and tucks my hair behind my ears. “I’m excited to be their bonus father. I know you worry, and I don’t blame you, but I love them as much as I love you.”
“I got really lucky with you.”
He kisses my forehead. “I’m pretty sure I won the lottery with you, sweetheart.”
I wonder if he understands how much I love him. There’s something very different about my second marriage. I’m older, wiser, more understanding at the amount of work that goes into a relationship. There’s no grandiose ideas on how perfect things will be. I know there will be times I’ll hate him, days where I wonder what the hell I was thinking, and even times we may want to throw in the towel.
On the other hand, there will be days like this. When nothing else matters but getting another kiss from the man I love. When the kids can be stupid or his mother—whom I freaking love—will require our attention, but I’ll see the beauty in our love.
He pulls back and taps my nose. “Enjoy Ava’s attitude.”
Yeah, there’s so much fun for me there.
Ava and Parker each got their own rooms on the third level. Milo and I are on the second level. His house is magnificent, and it’s truly the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen. He bought it when it was run down, and spent God only knows how much money to renovate it.
Their bedrooms were once a guest room and a study. He easily converted it to a bedroom before we moved officially.
“Please stop fighting,” I say to them both.
“Milo said I could have this room and if I needed space for my comics that I could use Ava’s room.”
“No he didn’t!” Ava yells.
“Okay, well, you have your room, Parker. If something doesn’t fit, which makes no sense, then you’ll have to throw it out,” I settle that one and then look at my daughter. “And you can be nice and let him put something in there since you decided you had to have the bigger room.”