Epilogue
“I’m so, so happy,” Mia said to Ian. “But I’d be even happier if you were here with all of us tonight.”
Through their Skype connection on his tablet, Ian could see that Mia was glowing. Everyone was at their parents’ house to celebrate her engagement, but since he hadn’t been able to get from London to Seattle in time for the party, his sister was now sitting in front of their father’s laptop in the den to try to include him in the party.
“I wish I was there, too.” He was still bitter about the meetings he hadn’t been able to shift today without potentially losing millions of his investors’ money. “Next month, when I’m back in Seattle for good, you’ll have to save me a night so I can take you out to celebrate.”
“Me and Ford,” she reminded him in her usual sassy way. Just then, her fiancé moved beside her and slipped his arm around her waist.
Glad she couldn’t see his hands tighten beneath his desk, Ian nodded. “Right. Both of you.” Knowing it would upset his sister if he didn’t try a little harder than that, he nodded at the rock star. “Congratulations, Ford.”
The other man grinned at him, looking ridiculously pleased with the way things had turned out. “Thanks, Ian. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
To drive his point home, Ford kissed his sister in full view of the camera. As if to keep his blood pressure from shooting up too high, Ian’s cousin, Smith, and his fiancée, Valentina—who had walked into Ian’s office right after he and Mia started talking—both chimed in with their own congratulations.
“Wow, you’re having your own Sullivan party in London, aren’t you?” Mia said, grinning at all of them.
“Just for a little while longer, while we wrap up production on our latest film,” Smith said. “Valentina and I will be settling into Seattle soon for the new movie.”
Mia asked Valentina, “Won’t Tatiana be in the area, too?”
Valentina nodded happily. “She just confirmed that she’ll be based in Seattle for a while, starting next month. I’m so glad we’ll be in the same city again.”
“We’re all going to have a lot of fun together,” Mia said, looking specifically at her brother as she added, “won’t we, Ian?”
He could see by her mischievous expression that she hadn’t forgotten his reaction to Tatiana at Marcus and Nicola’s Napa Valley wedding. Fortunately, however, Valentina didn’t seem to have any idea that he’d spent some time with her younger sister...or that there had been bigger sparks between Ian and Tatiana during those fifteen minutes in the vineyards than he’d experienced with any other woman in years.
A few minutes later, after Mia and Ford had signed off to rejoin their party, Ian got up from his leather office chair to pour himself and his guests some stiff drinks. “I’m still trying to get used to the idea of Mia with—” It was still hard to even say the guy’s name without growling it. “—Ford.”
But it wasn’t just the fact that she was marrying a guy with a lifestyle like Ford’s that bothered him. Personal experience had taught Ian how hard it was to keep a marriage together. Still, he forced himself to acknowledge that just because he would never make the mistake of getting married again—or falling in love—that didn’t mean it wasn’t the right path for his sister.
“She obviously knows you’re happy for her,” Valentina said with a gentle smile. “And that some changes take a little time to get used to.”
After handing them each a glass, he took a long drink from his own. “How did you deal with your sisters’ relationships, Smith?”
“Honestly,” his cousin said, “it wasn’t easy. Sophie and Lori both kept things quiet at first, although once Sophie ended up in the hospital and I found out Jake had gotten her pregnant with twins, I pretty much lost it. But then, I saw how she looked at him, and how Lori looked at Grayson, and that changed everything. All I’ve ever wanted is for my sisters to be happy, and when I realized the men they’ve married would give anything and everything to do that, it got a little easier to deal with.”
“I just know I’m going to be a total basket case when my sister falls in love,” Valentina said. “The whole world sees Tatiana as this beautiful, confident movie star, which she is, but I know the real person down deep inside...and how innocent she really is.” Valentina sighed. “All I can hope is that when she does finally fall, it will be for a guy who’s worth it—who realizes just how special she is.”
“Otherwise,” Smith said in an ominous tone, “I’ll have to kill the guy for hurting my new little sister.”
Ian drank the rest of his Scotch in one long gulp.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Tatiana since the wedding. Before both of them moved to Seattle, he was going to have to force himself to forget how badly he’d wanted to touch her.
He’d have to do whatever it took to stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss her.
And, no matter what, he’d have to completely push away this insane urge to make her his.
~ THE END ~