“It seems that he does.”
Julian closed his mouth, reeling with shock. “Holy Mother of God,” he finally breathed. Then, his brow furrowed. “But this birth could not have been recent. How old is the boy?”
“Six years of age.”
Now, Julian’s brow furrowed. “Sixyears of age?” he repeated, aghast. “And Hereford is just telling us now?”
Cole could see his outrage. Truthfully, he’d had plenty of his own until he read de Lohr’s reasons and his wife had helped him to see the logic in it. He held up a calming hand.
“He explained that they have been keeping it secret from everyone,” he said. “They have told everyone that Max is merely an orphaned relative, so no one knows he is Brielle’s son. For Brielle’s sake, they have simply been trying to keep the child’s identity secret but, evidently, the boy looks exactly like Cass. He even has his eyes. He felt that he could no longer, in good conscience, keep the child’s existence from us any longer. He felt it was our right to know. It was time.”
Julian understood, sort of. His initial shock cooled as he thought on the younger brother who had vanished those years ago. Truth be told, that sensitive knight in him hurt very much for his missing brother and always would. It had always been his father and Cole against him and Cassian. They’d always stucktogether. But Cassian’s disappearance right after their father’s death had been an incredible shock that, to this day, still had him feeling it deeply. Any mention of Cassian and Julian could feel his heart begin to pound. The hurt was still fresh.
And now… now, Cassian had evidently left a son behind.
He could hardly believe it.
“So Cass has a son,” he finally muttered, struggling to calm emotions he usually kept quite buried. “Who else knows other than Cori?”
Cole shook his head. “No one,” he said. “But Cori says that we must tell Mother. It is her right to know.”
Julian turned to watch the escort as it faded down the road, thinking of his mother and the pain she had endured to lose both a husband and son in such a short amount of time. The woman was a rock but even rocks could crack and Julian was very protective over her to the point of hovering. Ever since he’d spent his last night with his mother and father, vigilantly standing watch over them, his protective instincts towards his mother were nearly out of control.
“She will want to see the lad,” he said after a moment. “But I do not know if that is such a good idea.”
Cole was watching the escort, too, and in particular, that big carriage that held his mother and sister. “I agree,” he said. “De Lohr says the boy looks just like Cass. I am concerned that it will be too painful for her, but Cori seems to think it will bring her comfort. A young lad in the image of the one she lost.”
Julian looked at him. “Will it be of comfort?” he said. “Because I do not even know how I am going to feel if I see the lad. If he looks just like Cass, how can that not hurt? How can we not look at him and feel our loss to our very bones?”
Cole didn’t have an answer. Like Julian, he wasn’t sure if they could see the child and not feel those blows of grief. But for their mother, it would be worse– she was strong, stronger thanany woman he’d ever known save his own wife, but the loss of her husband and youngest son all in the space of a year had put dents in her proverbial armor. Seeing Cassian’s son might blow the armor off entirely.
Or not.
There was only one way to find out.
“I do not know how we will feel,” he said after a moment. “The only way to know for certain is to see the boy for ourselves. Then we can decide if we should inform Mother.”
“When do you want to do this?” Julian asked.
“As soon as possible. I probably will not be able to sleep until I see him.”
Knowing there was a de Velt son out there had them both thinking the same thing. They were both eager to see the boy and dreading it. But Cole worried about his brother in particular; Julian, who had hardened so terribly since the death of their father, who pretended to be as cold and calculating as Jax de Velt had ever been. Perhaps he was in a sense, but inside that iron exterior beat that same tender heart he’d always had.
Something Julian tried very hard to ignore.
“Come along,” Cole finally said. “Let us join Mother and Addie in town. There’s a stall towards the river that makes the most remarkable fish pies that I have a craving for.”
“I hate fish pies.”
Cole snorted. “I know.”
Julian looked at him, seeing he was being teased. That was the normal dynamic between Cole and Julian, but it had never been malicious. In fact, Julian took comfort in it. He loved his brother a great deal. Putting aside the revelation of his brother’s bastard son for the moment, he spurred his steed after the escort with Cole following close behind.
And he was determined to avoid the fish pies.
CHAPTER TWO
She hated comingto the apothecary stalls.
