Page 21 of Sweet Wicked Vows

“Oh, and she also said to tell you that if you need anything, she is only a phone call away.”

Tears welled in my eyes.

I was going to miss Poppy. She was the closest thing both Flynn and I had to an actual mother. Dad hired her and brought her to our home during our first years of junior school. After having a lackluster relationship with our own mother, we were wary of a new woman in the house.

Poppy showed us what a mother should truly be like. She fitted perfectly into our lives like the missing piece of our family puzzle.

“You want me to stay with you tonight?” Flynn asked. “We can order some pizza and watch those horrible rom-com movies that you secretly love.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Those types of movies are the literal worst.”

And I loved them so damn much.

“Whatever you say. It must have been my imagination when I saw you curled up and crying to yourself after watching ‘The Notebook’for the seventeenth time.”

I shook my head. “You’re sorely mistaken. You need to go and get your eyes tested.”

Flynn rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Do you want me to stay or not?”

I wanted nothing more than to go back home with him. Back where I was meant to be. Dad needed me. He needed someone reliable at his side, but going back would mean telling him thetruth.

The only thing that brought me some ease was the fact I had hired a new team of carers to be at Dad’s beckoning call.

“No, it’s okay. I’m going to spend the rest of the night unpacking my stuff and sorting out a few of the rooms.” I placed the kitchen items away. “You need to be there for Dad. With me being gone, it’s going to fall on you to help look after him.”

“Fine,” he relented. “But phone me if you need anything, or ring Saunders. He will come straight over and drive you back home in a heartbeat, no matter the time.”

“Go home, Flynn,” I said, walking him back out into the hallway. “Like I said, I’m going to be fine one night alone. Jaxon will be home tomorrow afternoon.”

“It’s not your night alone I’m worried about.”

Me too.

He opened the front door. “Wait, what do you want me to do about Bell?”

“Do you mind keeping her a couple more nights? Just until I get everything here sorted.”

Flynn exhaled. “Fine, but you owe me. I swear that creature can see into my soul, and she doesnotlike what she sees.”

Once my brother left, I busied myself carrying all my boxes into the master bedroom. The room was decorated clearly with my taste in mind. Dark greens and gold, exactly like my bedroom back home. There was a door that took me into the walk-in wardrobe, and it further led to a jaw-dropping ensuite.

In the center of the ensuite was a standalone marble tub. I had to stop myself from abandoning unpacking and drawing myself a steaming hot bubble bath.

I mentally added bath-bombs onto my shopping list.

Back in the bedroom, I set to work getting the bed ready.

In less than twelve hours, Jaxon was going to be here. We’d be living together as husband and wife for one long year. I hopedthat he didn’t expect us to be sharing a room. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was sleeping in the same bed as him.

I pulled on the last pillowcase and laid down on the bed.

The coming year was going to be difficult enough without having to navigate a some-what relationship with Jaxon. He wasn’t the worst of choices. Handsome, intelligent, understood the world we lived in, and wasn’t threatened by a woman in business.

An arranged marriage between us made sense. There was no doubt that when the news broke, everyone would agree with the pairing.

Dade Diamondsalways played second fiddle to Dad. In a year, the Dades would be boosted right to the top, and all it took was Jaxon begrudgingly marrying his competitors’ daughter.

I guess we both had a price to pay for success.