“Clearly. Did you communicate with him?”
“Other than acknowledging each other, we did not.”
Baron made that tsking sound he’d perfected over the years they’d known each other. “You need to talk to him, Ash.”
“I am aware of this, as that is the reason we are here. But as he was getting married it was not that easy to tell him our father betrayed us.”
“You arrived in time to see your brother married?” Baron smiled. “That is wonderful.”
“I’m not sure why you are smiling. My brother had no wish for me to be there.”
“I don’t believe that. Now, did you meet anyone or did you just walk out after the ceremony? I told you to speak slowly and politely and shake hands, Ash. Surely it is not that hard. You were, after all, raised as a gentleman’s son.”
“Stop nagging, and yes, I met people.”
“I am not nagging, I’m trying to return you to the man you were born to be and into the fold of the family you need.”
“We’ve discussed this,” Ash gritted out. “I am not going to change now, nor do I want to.” The damage was done. He was who he was now, end of story.
“Bollocks.”
“And yet when I tried to send you back to Jamaica, you said no. Do you see the double standards here,” Ash said as they reached the gatehouse.
“That is entirely different.” Baron’s eyes were going everywhere. “I have nothing to go back to. You do.”
“I have nothing either.”
“I don’t agree, but we will discuss it no further now, or you will enter that castle scowling.”
“I always scowl.”
Baron had been part of Lionel Radcliff’s crew. But unlike Ash, he’d been able to come and go when they arrived in a port. They had struck up an unlikely alliance, he and the Jamaican, and from there, friendship. It had been Baron who had kept Ash alive when he was chained to the deck like an animal. They had in fact saved each other.
“Well, attempt to smile now you are about to celebrate your brother’s wedding.”
They arrived in the courtyard where servants were rushing about gathering horses and escorting guests in out of the cold. Huge torches blazed in sconces on the tall stone walls. He could almost feel the history as he looked up the huge castle façade.
“This is amazing,” Baron breathed, looking around him. “Have you been here before?”
“No.”
“I can’t believe you come from this. You, a pirate.”
“I am not a pirate; I am a privateer.”
Baron smiled. They had this particular debate often.
“Welcome.” James walked toward them with a stunning dark-haired woman at his side. She wore a deep emerald green coat, and the skirts of her dress he saw through the opening were the color of rubies. Jewels sparkled at her throat and wrists. To Ash, she had the look of both Somerset and Dorset Sinclair.
“This is my wife, Eden.”
“Duke and Duchess,” Ash whispered to Baron. “Call them ‘your Grace.’”
“Your Grace.” Baron bowed to Eden. “Your Grace,” he then said to James. “I am Baron.”
“Your Grace sounds so stuffy, don’t you think,” the duchess said. “Call me Eden, Baron. Hello, Ash.”
“Duchess.” Ash bowed. There was no disgust on the faces of the duke and duchess as they looked at his friend, and for that alone he would tolerate them. When he rose, the duchess moved close to hug him. His arms hung stiff at his sides, and his body wanted to recoil at the touch, even when a small voice inside him said he craved it.
