Dirty Beautiful Rich Part Five (3 page)

              “You really are a torturer, woman.”

              She gasped with mock shock. “Only because I care.”

              He arched a brow. “To quote the rather cloying proverb, ‘No pain, no gain’?”

              She stood on tiptoe and softly kissed his cheek. “Now, you’re getting it.
”
she whispered.

              He studied her lush body as she walked away, and tried to calm his thoughts.

              Julie wasn’t going to just accede to his wishes. He loved it and it terrified him. But wasn’t that what he had wanted when he met her? To see her in her own power, confident, and able to stand up for herself?

              Well, now, she was also standing up for him. A slow smile curled his lips. It was possibly the most wonderful thing he’d ever known.

Chapter 4

              “Holy crap!
”
Kat exclaimed, gesturing the wild landscape. “You’ve been here all these weeks?! It’s. . . It’s like living in a fantasy.”

              Julie pulled her light raincoat tighter about her frame and laughed. “You say that
now.
A month ago you would have been wondering when you needed to start building the ark.”
            
 
Stella snorted. “Complain. Complain. Complain. Look around!”

              Julie grinned. It was true. She’d taken them on a hike with Margaret and the dogs out toward the coast.

              The salt air was whipping in but the sky was bright blue and the ground was covered in wild flowers and daffodils.

              Margaret and the dogs were ahead. Even now, it was impossible for the older woman to slow down.

              “How old is she?
”
Kat asked.

              “I don’t know and I’m terrified to ask,
”
Julie said.

              “I go to spin class four times a week,
”
Stella said “And that woman would outdo everyone there including my instructor.”

              “Margaret is a force to be reckoned with,
”
Julie said easily. “She’s wonderful.”

              Kat waggled her brows. “She’s terrifying.”

              “Okay. Yes. She’s terrifying too. But once you get to know her, she’s one of the best people you’ll ever meet.”

              Stella gave a knowing smile. “She clearly likes you.”

              “Can you imagine living here if she didn’t?
”
Julie asked.

              Stella shuddered.

              Kat widened her eyes. “Hell. It would be hell.”

              “When I got here, I wondered how she and Alanna managed it.”

              “They like it in a way, don’t they?
”
Stella asked.

              It didn’t surprise Julie that Stella had sensed the strange dynamic. “I think they do. They’re both good at sparring and need a partner. Deep down, I think they’d fight to the blood if the other was in danger.”

              “It’s so weird,
”
Kat replied.

              Julie smiled. Americans largely wouldn’t understand the kind of odd family structure of the Fitzgeralds. But then again, Americans were nomads. They barely stayed in a place for five years let alone nearly a millennia. The Fitzgeralds had held this ground for centuries and a little family tiff wasn’t going to send one of them packing. It was an interesting thing to observe, the way they negotiated each other without abandoning each other too. It didn’t matter how much Alanna and Margaret disliked each other, they’d draw ranks against an outsider who caused the family distress. Julie had no doubts about it.

              Now, to her surprise, she felt largely the same way.

              Stella poked her abruptly in the ribs. “So, you and Damian. Are we supposed to stop hating him and wishing him a cruel, painful death?”

              “You were never supposed to hate him,
”
Julie replied.

              Kat snorted. “Of course we were. It is the duty of the best friends to loathe the badly behaved boyfriend.”

              “He was never my boyfriend.”

              “Okay. Employer. Because that sounds sooooo much better,
”
Stella snarked.

              Julie sighed. “You have a point. But it’s complicated.”

              “Relationships always are but really, are we supposed to just ignore the elephant in the room?
”
Kat demanded with a surprising degree of force.

              “Um… I’d say the Stella called the elephant out last night pretty emphatically,
”
Julie said, swiping her hair back as the salty wind tried to pull it free of her ponytail.

              Stella grinned. “I did, didn’t I?”

              “I don’t think Damian has ever had that happen,
”
Julie said. “In fact, I think he’s having a lot of firsts recently.”

              “Good.
”
Kat bent and picked a daffodil. “It will keep him on his toes.”

              “So?
”
Stella folded her arms over chest.  “Hate or tolerate? Which is it?”

              “Nothing is firm yet.
”
Julie stared out towards the horizon and Atlantic Ocean. “I told him so last night. We’re taking it slow.”

              “Yeah.
”
Kat let out a tragic sigh, “We noticed you came back from the hall and didn’t look kissed.”

              Julie blushed.

              “I bet you wanted to be kissed,
”
Kat teased. “In lots of places.”

              Julie cleared her throat. “Yes. And he was willing to oblige if you must know, but I told him we should wait.”

              “How did that go?
”
Stella asked.

              “I think he was stunned, really.”

              “Gorgeous guy like that who gets all the babes with a nod of his head?
”
Kat laughed. “Of course he was.”

              Julie scowled. “Then it’s good for him.”

              “Hey, Julie,
”
Stella finally said. “Look, he’s an ass, but he’s an ass who seems to only have eyes for you. There’s nothing too terrible about him.”

              Julie smiled. “Just man pain.”

              Kat frowned. “What?”

              “It’s what Fion claimed. Damian is suffering from the idiocy that comes from man pain.”

              “Fion,
”
Kat sighed. “So dreamy. Why do you have to go for dark and broody?”

              “I don’t know,
”
Julie said honestly. But she did in a big way. In a way she could never come back from.  Now, she just had to pray that Damian was truly ready to take the leap.

***

              Damian eyed his grandmother as they hiked over the top of a hill, heading for the cliffs that overlooked the Atlantic. It was tempting to go in with hell and fury but that would be pointless. Margaret had suffered enough and he knew for a fact she’d done what she’d done because she’d been at wit’s end.

              Margaret was never cruel. It wasn’t in her nature.

              “What do I now?
”
he asked softly.

              Margaret kept her gaze toward the horizon, clapping occasionally to encourage the dogs. At last she replied, “Do, my boy? You know.”

              He nearly growled. “I’m still me, Margaret.”

              She gave him a withering stare. “
Grandmother,
my boy and don’t you forget it. And of course you’re you. Who else would you be?”

              He fought a smile. Truthfully, he was glad she wished to retain that personal appellation. “Yes, Grandmother.
”

              They walked again in silence, climbing the ladder built over one of the hundreds of stone walls that graced Ireland’s fields.

              Damian drew in a crisp breath and tried again. “How do I deal with this?”

              “Long walks and gin.”

              “That’s how you deal with it. Gin did my father no good.”

              She stopped. “A valid point. But Damian, I can’t tell you what to do. Not in this. Do you love her?”

              Damian wrenched his gaze away from Margaret’s merciless stare. “Yes.”

              “Do you want to let her go?”

              “Don’t be absurd. Of course, not?”

              “Oh, I’m sorry.
”
She snorted.  “When you ran off to Asia, you didn’t want her then?”

              He closed his eyes and grimaced. “I did.”
            
 
“Then what I said isn’t absurd. To have her Damian, you will have to be willing to do anything,
anything
, to keep her. Even if it makes you desperately uncomfortable.”

              “I. . . I don’t know if I can.”

              She shrugged. “Then prepare yourself for her to leave you. It’s that simple. Your father couldn't stand pain or discomfort either. He was so beautiful.
”
Margaret’s face softened and for once her eyes misted. “So confident. He couldn’t bear to have that confidence shaken. So he anesthetized himself to not feel it.”

              Margaret sniffed loudly and she cleared her throat. “You will have to face whatever makes you feel thusly, my boy. It is the only advice I can give you.”

              Damian nodded. “You’re right.”

              She smiled. “Of course I am.”

              He laughed and he wrapped an arm around her surprisingly strong shoulders. He pressed a kiss to her silver hair. “I love you, Grandmother.”

              She shoved at his chest them smoothed her hair. “Here now. Here now. None of that.”
            
 
Damian kept smiling. Margaret was of a lost generation. And he wouldn’t change anything about her. “There’s something I need from you.”
            
 
At that, she arched a silver brow then gently, she reached up patted his cheek. “I thought you might.”

              Then, they said nothing as they walked up the cliff and into slowly setting golden rays of dusk.

***

              Damian realized it would be disgustingly arrogant to feel like Julie’s creator and yet he did feel as if he’d had a hand in unleashing the amazing woman she now was. He could still  remember her in the club in Denver, shrinking, trying not to be noticed.

              Now, she stood tall, shoulders squared, comfortable in her own skin.

              It was stunning.

              Now, she had the strength to tell him to go to hell if he warranted it. That was both thrilling and nerve racking.

              Not many people had ever had the courage to tell him to sod off.  No doubt, Julie would if needed.

              Now, she was drinking a glass of eighty year old port in front of the fire, eyeing him carefully.

              He cleared his throat and leaned back. She’d requested this meeting and he had no idea what she was going to say. It was enough to have his insides churning, a rare thing for him.

              “I would like you to find a grief counselor,
”
she said factually. Then as if she hadn’t just said something almost unsayable to someone of his sort, she took another sip of port and sighed with pleasure. “This is so delicious.”

              If this was an intervention, it didn’t feel like one. Where were the tears? The pleading? The oh so serious face and gentle touching of his shoulder? Nowhere apparently. In fact, Julie looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself tucked up on the brass studded, leather covered sofa.

              “And once I find one, what did you want me to do with them?
”
he asked.

              She took another sip and leaned back. “See them at least once a week, preferably twice, for a year. Without fail. No excuses.”

              Damian narrowed his eyes. He’d never liked ultimatums, even if they were for his own good.  “And should I catch the plague? Should I then not have a day off?
”

              “No,
”
she quipped. “We’ll buy some surgical masks.”

              He gaped. He wasn’t sure what he had expected from her, but this wasn’t it and certainly not in such a factual manner.

              “Look,
”
she said finally. “When my parents died I was wreck. I didn’t see a counselor after my dad died and gained fifty pounds. With my mom, I did things differently. I used the Hospice grief network and it helped a lot. I didn’t exactly become svelte, but nor did I gain a toddler’s worth of body mass. You didn’t do anything except shove all that pain down. Worse, you were hiding a good deal too which just expounded the whole thing.”

              He stared at her. “You want me to tell a stranger. . . About. . . About. . .”

              “Your father’s suicide?
”
she said bluntly. “Yes. And about you covering it up.”

              “You know. It’s not a secret. I can talk to you.”

              “I’m not a counselor. I can’t really help you recover. I can hold your hand,
”
she drew in a breath, “And love you, Damian, because I do. I love you. I love you so much that I am not going to lie to you or pretend. You need help. Otherwise, I think one day you’ll be in serious trouble.”

              “Well, bloody hell,
”
he sighed, dismayed by the soft yet firm power of her words.

              No one, not in his entire life except for perhaps Margaret had ever looked him in the eyes and told him so lovingly yet powerfully what he needed to do.

              It was in his nature to tell her no, that he was capable of handling his pain. After all, he’d handled himself for quite some time. . . He wiped a hand over his face. He was a fucking liar. He’d only managed to get through life. He’d kept everyone and everything out. So, no. . .He couldn’t keep managing on his own. Julie was right. If he didn’t do as she said, he’d be in trouble.

              “That’s your condition?
”
he said softly.

              “Condition?
”
she echoed.

              “For marrying me?
”
he asked.

              Her mouth dropped open. “What?”

              He frowned. “Isn’t that why we’re here. To discuss our reunion?”

              “Yes, Damian,
”
she whispered
,
“but I didn’t know that was what you wanted.”

              “You thought I just wanted to be your. . . god, the silly term, boyfriend?”
            
 
She nodded.

              “Well I don’t. When I know what I want, I take it. Or in this case, ask and negotiate for it.”

              Her eyes brightened with tears. “I—I—”

              “You’re making me most uncertain of my usually inestimable self.”

              She blinked rapidly then scrunched her nose. “Well, you haven’t exactly asked me.”
            
 
“How remiss.”

              “I think so yes.”

              Damian hadn’t quite allowed himself to dwell on this moment when he’d gone to Margaret yesterday and asked for the family ring. It had been too possible that Julie might tell him to go to hell,

              Still, he’d wanted this. He’d wanted it more than he’d wanted anything in his life. So, he quietly got down on one knee and pulled out the small box, it’s hinge slightly worn from over a century of opening and closing. He drew in a slow breath then met her astonished gaze.

              “Julie Doyle, will you be my wife and Countess of Clare?”

              For a long moment she said nothing and then a laugh burst from her lips. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

              He grinned. “Thank you for the firm acceptance.”
            
 
But then her smile dimmed a little.

              “That look doesn’t bode well.”

              She took a step forward and knelt before him. “I’ll marry you the day after you complete the year of therapy.”

              He sighed. “I had a terrible feeling you’d say something like that. Don’t you want to see the ring?”

              “That won’t convince me to change my mind.”

              “It’s a very nice ring.”

              Julie rolled her eyes. “You are incorrigible.”
            
 
“It’s why you love me.”
            
 
“I love you for so many reasons, but I love you enough to not let you distract us from the course with a beautiful diamond.”

              “It isn’t a diamond,
”
he said factually, knowing she was correct, but loving teasing her all the same.

              “It’s not?”

              He shook his head and extended the box. “Open it. It’s yours after all.”

              She hesitated then took the dark blue leather box painted with gold filigree. She stared at it in her hands then slowly undid the clasp.

              A gasp slipped past her lips as she opened the box.

              “You like it?
”
he asked carefully.

              She blinked rapidly. “Damian, that is a very silly question.”
            
 
“Is it?”

              “It is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

              He gazed at her, amazed that she was saying yes and not just to a billionaire lord, but to
him
. “Well, it’s for the most beautiful woman tha
t I’ve
ever seen.”

              A tear splashed onto her cheek.

              “You should try it on,
”
he said. “Though it might need to be resized. It’s been in the family for six generations.”

              She swallowed them took the gold and emerald ring out of it resting place and slipped it on her finger.

              To his amazement it seemed to fit perfectly. “Meant to be,
”
he said gently.

              She lifted her gaze and smiled. “Meant to be,
”
she agreed.

              And that’s how they were. Just like the ring and Julie.

              Despite anything and everything that might challenge them, they were meant to be.