Page 388 of The Black Trilogy

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.

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