Page 226 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

The beefy bodyguard easily matched my pace. “I don’t have the cold, Ms DuMont.”

“Good.” I dropped my hand to my side as we drew close to my parked car. “I’ve been wanting to use lurgy for a while now but no one’s been sick. Thanks.”

Callum didn’t react. He was very professional, and boring. “Do you need to pay the Congestion Charge, Ms DuMont?”

I knew I should have gotten the tube into Central London, but I didn’t want to risk the germs. Grumbling under my breath, I was now regretting not registering my car for CC Auto Pay, I could have saved myself £1 today.

“I’ve got until midnight before it goes up.” I drawled and unlocked my car. “Are you following me to my ex-husband’s?”

“Yes, Ms DuMont.”

Giving him a quick wave I got in my vehicle, buckled up, then pulled away from the curb. I was secretly looking forward to spending some time with Natty and Nicki, their youthfulness always brought a smile to my face. Had I ever viewed the world with such unwavering confidence? An hour later, traffic had been murder, I parked up across the street from Matt’s Kensington home.

“Ok,” I looked at my half reflection in the rear view mirror. It was pep talk time. “I’m going in there with a clear frame of mind. I won’tharbour any ill will towards any person who did me wrong,” I spotted a smudge in my eyeliner and quickly dabbed at the corner of my eye to rectify it. “The girls were in a bad position. Loyalty needed to be shown to their uncle, and Hannah, well she’s Matt’s sister so, yeah. Loyalty. I can’t be angry at them-”

The sharp knock on the window broke my ramblings. Callum looked at me askance and I waved him back before grabbing my bag and exiting the car. A quick press of the key fob to lock my ride and I was ready to face them.

“The front door is literally across the street. You don’t have to walk me in, Callum.” I let him know in case he didn’t.

“I’ll be waiting out front until you’re ready to leave, Ms DuMont.” he advised, following my steps as we crossed the quiet road.

He never cracked a smile, never joked, geez. It was nothing more than being stalked by a cloud of professional gloom. He wouldn’t even let me press the doorbell when we stood out front the imposing front door.

“Ms DuMont,” George greeted the moment the door swung open. He took a moment to survey my form then gave me his warmest smile ever. I felt myself smiling back. The old, starchy butler looked exactly the same.

“Come,” George started ushering me in. “Mr Bradley only arrived a short while ago,” He peered at Callum, who was making sure I had entered the house fully, then closed the door on my bodyguard’s face.

“No hug?” I couldn’t allow the opportunity to go to waste. I had missed teasing Matt’s loyal butler. Loyalty. I was focused on loyalty. They couldn’t be blamed for ostracizing me…the mean bastar-

George shook his head at me, but he didn’t complain when I wrapped my arms around his stiff shoulders and squeezed tightly.

“It’s good to see you.” I said with the utmost sincerity.

“Madi, you’re here.” the half screech coming from behind George was warning enough. Natty and Nicki were about to descend.

I stepped away from George, grinning at their double exuberance and preparing myself. They both sported casual t-shirts and jeans, in the not-really-trying-but-still-winning sort of catwalk way I never could manage at their age. My mouth fell open when I saw the change in their appearance.

“Hey,” I managed to get out before they swamped me. George wasunceremoniously pushed aside as we giddily hugged in the foyer. Who could stay mad at these loony sweethearts?

“- can’t believe you’re here,”

“- so sorry,”

“- missed you guys,”

“- you’re having twins!”

“- cut your hair,”

We were a bundle of muffled words and teary hugs. One of them was groping my tummy but it was all okay.

I pulled back a bit and blinked in disbelief. “You cut your hair.”

“I wanted a drastic change,” Natty grinned. “I was scared Dad would go spare-”

“You’ll be 19 this year,” I huffed. “What can he do?”

“I know, right?” she huffed back. The pixie cut suited her immensely. “It was Grumps who lost it. Called me-”

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