Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (32 page)

Dominic
growled and flew at Jake,
landing a hit that
sent Jake back a few feet. “And I’m tired of you talking to me like I wouldn’t have a company without you.”

Rubbing his quickly swelling jaw, Jake
shoved
Dominic back
wards
, topp
l
ing the serving table
beneath his weight.
“You wouldn’t.”

The fists flew faster, leaving no time for words.
It only slowed
only
when both men
’s faces
were
swollen
and
they were holding their sides.

Dominic wiped blood from the corner of his mouth,
and
actually laughed.
“I
had no idea you had it in you.”

Jake bent over, hands on his thighs, his breathing a bit labored from pain. “It felt surprisingly good.”

Mrs. Duhamel made a
tsk
sound with her mouth and said, “Are you boys through, now?”

Dominic looked at the
older woman with a bit
of chagrin.
“You know he had that coming, Marie.”

Marie nodded.
“I know.” To Jake, she said, “You did.”

Jake conceded with one nod. “
So
did
he
.”

Marie smiled.
“No one
is
questioning that, Jake. But
now you
two
need to make up
so our
poor Abby
can
enjoy her engagement party.”

As usual, she was right.

Jake held out a hand.
“Truce?”

Dominic shook it but added, “You’re still marrying Lil.”

Abby stepped forward at that.
“What did you say, Dom?”

Dominic said, “He heard me.”

Abby clarified her question.
“I heard you, too, but why would you say that?”

Dominic returned to his place at the head of the table and said
unhappily,
“Our plan to get the two of them together worked a bit too well.”

Abby looked quickly at the door her sister had departed through and
exclaimed
, “That’s why she’
s so confused this weekend.”

Nicole
added
, “Poor thing.”

Dominic
placed his napkin decisively on his lap as if doing so would bring an end to the conversation.
“Don’t
worry,
Jake is going to rectify the situation.”

Abby
stood behind Dominic’s chair and put a hand on one of his shoulders.
“
Don’t make things worse,
Dom.”

He
scowled up
at her.

She touched his cheek lightly and his expression softened.
She said,
“
You can’t force
Jake
.
No one
wants
to marry
a ma
n who doesn’t want to marry her.
”

Jake
returned to his own place at the table and said,
“I
never said I
didn’t want to marry her
.”

All eyes turned to him.

Jake shrugged.
“Well, I didn’t.”

Stephan’s aunt
,
Elise
,
said, “Isn’t it amazing that men and women get together at all?”

Jake
continued
, “I even asked her to move in with me, but she said no.
Now she won’t even talk to me.
”

Abby said, “I’ll go
find
her.”
She
wagged
a finger at Dominic. “Behave while I’m gone.”

He simply smiled
up
at
her and
she
hesitated.

Stephan’s mother,
Katrine
,
said,
“Go on, Abby. We’ve got this.
” She turned to her sister-in-law. “
Elise, does
n’t
this bring back memories?”

Her hus
b
and,
Victor
,
laughed and asked,
“Were we this bad?”

Elise
threw both hands in the air and
joked, “
Worse
.”

Stephan sighed and
said
, “Makes me almost wish I had a brother.”
When both
Dominic and Jake
aggressively jumped to their feet
, he quickly dissolved the tension by raising his two hands in an amused call for
peace.
“
Almost.”

They sat somewhat reluctantly.

Nicole said, “Zhang left the table, too.
Do you think we upset her?”

Katrine
said
wryly
, “I don’t know what she could have seen that would make a sane person reconsider having dinner with us.”

Nicole smiled
and laid her hand on her fiancé’s.
“At least we know
the wedding
won’t be boring.”

Dominic looked
across the table at
Jake and
asked
, “Best man?”

Jake dabbed a
napkin into his glass of water and pressed it to a cut on his cheek.
“
Absolutely.”

Lil slipped out a side door and onto a balcony that overlooked one of the main gardens.
To her surprise, it was already occupied. “I’m sorry,” she said hastily. “I just couldn’
t stay in there a moment more.”

“Nor could I,” Zhang answered.

Lil moved to leave and Zhang said, “Your sister is a wonderful woman.
I now proudly count her as one of my friends.”

Lil
heard something in the woman’s voice that gave her pause. She
turned and walked back to where Zhang was seated on a bench
. “But you don’t want to be in her bridal party.”

“Precisely.
”
Zhang motioned for Lil to join her. “
Is there a customary way to decline the honor without either side losing face?”

Lil sat on the bench beside her. “If you hear of one, tell me.
I don’t want to be in it either.”

A look of surprise crossed over the woman’s face, just a brief flash before she regained her composure. “
That’s
surprising.”

Lil shook her head sadly. “Not really. If Abby is smart she’ll c
hoose someone better suited.
I’m a walking disaster.”

“That’
s not the way Abby described
you.”

“Really?”
Lil heard the hope in her voice and was somewhat embarrassed by it.

Zhang’s tone
warmed
.
“Abby and I have spoken about you on several occasions. She sa
id
you were
born with your mother’s spirit
–
quite the warrior
soul
.
She admires your strength.
”

“
I didn’
t know there was a thing
about me that
she
approved of,
”
Lil said, surprised and moved by Zhang’s words.

Zhang didn’t let Lil’s side comment slide by without
rebuttal
.
“
Then
you don’t know your sister very well.
She
also
envies your circle of friends. She said
you collect people who would do anything for you.”

“I’ve always been very lucky with that.”

“Friendship is not a result of
luck,
it’s
a testament to our character.
You inspire loyalty in your friends because you’ve earned it.”

“I don’t know how.”

Zh
ang considered her and said, “An eagle
will never swim as well as a dolphi
n.
The
eagle’s
potential will only be realized when it decides to soar instead of dive.”

Lil cocked her head thoughtfully.
“
You think I’m trying to be
Abby
?”

“You tell me.”

Lil thought about how she’d always wished she were more like Abby.
How, even at their parents’ funeral, Abby had seemed able to make better decisions.
She hadn’t cried too long at the caskets,
hadn’t
refused to
meet relatives who had flown in from around the country
and definitely hadn’t
thrown a bowl of candies at someone who had dared to try to console her.

No, right from the start Abby had
been
the
better person.

Or, at
the very
least,
the less controversial one.

Oh, my God, I’ve been trying to be Abby.