Page 322 of By His Vow

“You’ve got it. Your secret stays with us,” Kian agrees, making Lori roll her eyes before she surges forward and pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” she whispers in my ear. “Chicago isn’t as awesome without you in it.”

“Me too.”

“You’re not staying in England?” she asks hopefully. While we’ve chatted since Kingston gate-crashed my English pity party for one, we haven’t really talked. We’ve both been too busy, and the time difference hasn’t exactly helped.

“Nope. I belong here, for now at least.”

She squeals in excitement before hugging me again.

“As grateful as we are for the welcome home party, is there any chance we can leave the airport anytime soon?” Kingston grumbles.

“Good to see that you’re still a miserable asshole,” Kian teases, slapping his brother on the back as he reaches for the light suitcase Kingston allowed me to pull as if I’m some kind of invalid.

“Pfft, as if that’s ever going to change.”

“I thought you said you loved me?” Kingston balks.

“Oh, Jesus. You’re not going to turn intothatcouple, are you?” Miles asks. “Someone pass me a bucket.”

“Suck it up, man. This is it now. Your sister is mine.”

Miles cringes, his top lip curling in disgust. “Well, at least she isn’t my responsibility. She’s a fucking liability.”

“Love you too, Bro.”

Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he drops a kiss on the top of my head.

“Missed you, little sister,” he confesses quietly. “So, when are you coming back to work?” His voice is a little louder with that question, and Kingston’s hand tightens in mine.

“You mean I still have a job?”

“Well,” he starts as we emerge into the bright afternoon sun.

A black town car awaits with Lewis standing beside the driver’s door waiting for us.

He smiles the moment he sees me, his head nodding in greeting.

“Well, what?” I ask as we come to a stop, allowing Lewis to deal with our luggage.

“Your marketing manager position has been filled.”

My stomach drops, disappointment flooding through my veins.

“W-what?”

“In fact, the whole marketing department has had a massive reshuffle,” Miles confesses.

Ripping my eyes from him, I glare at my husband. He hasn’t said a single word about this.

“What does that mean?” I ask, my heart beginning to race.

“It means that Charles decided to opt for early retirement,” Miles explains, mentioning our CMO.

My hands tremble.

No, surely he isn’t going to?—