Escorting the Groom (The Escort Collection 4)

I shook my head. "I just feel relieved. I thought things were done with us. I didn't know what was going to happen, and I felt like my insides were being ripped out."

He nodded. "I got pretty drunk last night," he admitted.

"I got totally drunk last night."

"I missed you," he said simply and reached over to squeeze my hand.

"I missed you, too." I paused for a minute, watching the signs for lobster pounds and kayak rentals roll by. "What happened with my sister?"

"You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do. I don't want any secrets between us."

He groaned. "She came to my office in an, er, formfitting dress. She asked me for money. In exchange, she offered to have an affair with me—"

"Argh! She's a word that rhymes with blunt! I'll rip her eyes out!"

"—to which I said a loyal no thank you," Lucas continued. "Then she threatened to blackmail me by telling anyone who would listen that you're an escort. So I agreed to pay her," Lucas explained.

"But didn't you know last night that the trust terms were probably void?"

"Yes."

"So why did you care if she said things about me?"

He squeezed my hand. "Because I vowed to love, honor, and obey you. I didn't think I'd be honoring you too much if I let your trashy sister expose you all over social media. I thought you'd want to keep your past private. As do I—for personal reasons, not monetary ones."

"Thank you." I felt choked up. "How much money did you give her?"

Lucas shrugged. "Not that much."

"Lucas—"

"Five million dollars."

I started to splutter. "Five million!"

"Five million dollars, and I made her sign a contract saying that she'll never come after you again, and that she understands this is all the money she's ever going to get out of me. And I made her sign a confidentiality agreement. I figured it was easier this way. It might even be less expensive, if you take into account the fact that we most likely don't have to buy her Christmas, birthday, and housewarming gifts after what she's pulled."

I leaned my head back against the seat. "That's insane."

"You know me"—he grinned—"always throwing money at my problems."

During the rest of the ride through the rugged, beautiful Maine countryside, Lucas told me about what had happened with the trust and the lunch he'd had with Serena. "I think she still has a thing for Robert," he said.

I agreed. "She definitely still has a thing for Robert. She was all drunk and moony about him at our wedding."

"Good to know." If I ever needed to dangle something over Serena's head, which I probably would, it was good to have something to dangle.

We followed the signs to Seal Harbor and finally pulled into a long private drive. An enormous house became visible, with a wraparound deck on each floor. "Wow," I said. "Just… wow."

Lucas brought me into the house, and I was stunned by the spiral staircase and the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace in the living room. There were Oriental rugs, bookcases teeming with books, and bright, gleaming hardwood floors. "This is amazing."

"Come here." Lucas held out his hand for me and led me onto the back deck. Northeast Harbor spread out below us, dotted with sailboats, yachts, and lobster boats. The mountains of Acadia surrounded the harbor. The view was breathtaking.

"I could get used to this," I said.

Lucas pulled me against him. "I hope so."