“Damian,” Mum said softly. “When you gave your brother your word, I know you never had any idea he’d end up like this. He wasn’t a drinker two years ago. You kept your promise, and he’s had enough isolation. Unfortunately, Dylan hasn’t used the opportunity you’ve given him wisely. He’s avoided and escaped instead of using that quiet time to heal. This latest stunt isn’t a good image for Lancaster International, and no decent woman will ever have you if you don’t stop taking the blame for Dylan’s behavior.”
Great! Here we go again…
I raised a brow. “What makes you think there’s a decent one who would have me now, Mum?”
I probably shouldn’t bait her, but I was desperate for a change of topic. I wasn’t prepared to lay out my plan to fix this current situation. Probably because I didn’t have one…yet.
She grimaced. “I’d really like to see grandchildren before I die, Damian.”
I loved my mother. I really did. But she was tenacious when it came to trying to marry all of us off so she could be surrounded by grandchildren.
Dylan certainly wasn’t about to find himself a wife anytime soon.
And my younger brother, Leo, was rarely in one place long enough to have a good chat with a woman, much less marry one.
So naturally, all of my mother’s matchmaking efforts had been put toward her eldest son.
“Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to get married, Mum,” I warned her.
Yeah, I liked getting laid as much as the next guy, but I kept those relationships uncomplicated by seeing women who liked their freedom as much as I did.
Lately, I hadn’t even had time to pursue something with no strings attached. I’d been too damn busy running Lancaster by myself.
Leo had never been interested in taking over my father’s business interests. When my dad had died, Leo had taken his portion of his inheritance, and was now probably the richest wildlife biologist in the world.
My mother released a long sigh. “I know you’re worried about your brother, Damian. I am, too, but that doesn’t mean you can’t call him out for leaving you to pick up the pieces after every one of these incidents. He’s gone way too far this time. You can’t just write a check to make this particular article and photo disappear. They’re already out there.”
She was right. Dylan had done some idiotic things over the last two years, but this was the first time he’d done something naked, with a damn harem. “I don’t think he cares anymore. I’m not even sure he knows that the press blames me for the things he does. Nor do I think it matters to him if he does know. He runs away to the States every single time something happens.”
My brother had never once asked me how I’d kept his embarrassing conduct from catching up with him. He didn’t have to. Dylan knew me, and he had my word that I wouldn’t let anything touch him.
“Then make him see it, Damian. I know it’s been a tough few years for Dylan, but it’s hurting me to watch you work yourself into the ground running Lancaster International alone. You’re doing your work and his, too. Not to mention the effort you’ve put into making sure that nobody even knows that you have a twin brother unless they knew about him before everything happened.”
I shot my mum a questioning glance. “Have I ever complained?”
She shook her head. “No. You wouldn’t. You never do. But I’m your mother. I can see how this situation is wearing on you. Do you think I haven’t noticed that you aren’t eating well, or that you have headaches that you’ve never had before? How much do you sleep at night?”
“I sleep,” I assured her.
“A few hours, maybe,” she scoffed. “You haven’t looked truly rested and healthy for two years, Damian. You need to confront Dylan, make him understand that you need to move on with your life, even if he doesn’t. You can’t continue to run Lancaster International alone. He needs to come home. Or you’ll have to restructure things and start delegating to make your high-paid executives actually earn their salaries.”
Okay, so maybe I did have a hard time delegating responsibility to anyone who didn’t have Lancaster as a surname. “Are you trying to say I’m something of a control freak, Mum?”
“Really? Something of a control freak, Damian? I swear, you’d rather die than give up some of your responsibilities, and that worries me. I think you’re waiting for Dylan to come back and take back his obligations. In the meantime, the workload is killing you, and God knows how long it will take for Dylan to get his head together.”
I was surprised by my mum’s adamant tone. Over the last two years, she’d been extremely forgiving about Dylan’s behavior, but apparently, her attitude had…changed.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe it was time to stop forgiving Dylan for every stupid thing he did.
I was perfectly fine with her change of heart.
I just hadn’t figured out a way to do that myself without feeling guilty as hell.
Honestly, I understood why Dylan liked to spend so much time in California. The Lancaster family was rarely recognized there. Here in England, the Lancaster name was legendary, and had been for generations, so we avoided any publicity to keep our faces out of the media. In America, we had a lot more freedom because there were far better stories to chase there than the behavior of a couple of British billionaires. Their A-list movie stars gave the American press plenty of scandal to write about.
“He’s still there, Damian.” My mum’s voice was soft and comforting. “Dylan will get through this. He’s stubborn. It’s always taken him a long time to accept something he can’t change.”
I was happy to hear her say that, glad she was still optimistic, because there were moments that I wondered if any of the old Dylan still existed at all. He wasn’t the man I knew, the brother I knew, anymore. “I hope he works everything out.”
Until Dylan got his shit together, I’d keep protecting him because that was just…what I did. Maybe I was only the oldest by a matter of minutes, but I was the eldest, and since my father had died, it had been my job to take care of my family.
Besides, my twin and I had been covering for each other since we were kids, and that instinct had never gone away. At least, for me, it hadn’t.
Mum let out an exasperated breath. “Talk to him when you get to California. If anyone can get through to him, it’s you. You two were always so close. He might open up to you.”
Because I didn’t want to crush her hopes that Dylan would eventually be okay, I simply answered, “You’re probably right, Mum.”
My mother sniffed. “I’m always right. And I know my sons.”
Maybe she knew us too well. Mum was rather scary that way. “I better get moving. I have a flight to catch.”
There was a twinkle in her dark eyes as she asked, “You’re going commercial again?”
Actually, I hadn’t flown commercial for over a year, but Mum liked to give me a hard time about the fact that I occasionally flew Transatlantic Airlines just to see how our company was performing. “How else would I know if we were having issues? Transatlantic is one of our more lucrative companies. I’d like to keep it that way. I’m not exactly going to suffer, Mum. I am booked in business class.”