“Don’t protect me, Ash.”
“It’s your wedding, brother. You need to go inside and celebrate it. We will talk tomorrow about what I came to tell you.”
“Very well, but I want to ask one question.”
“Go ahead.” Ash braced himself.
“Did you leave me in that warehouse all those years ago because he gave you no choice? Radcliff, I mean?”
“Yes.”
Gus exhaled slowly, and the tension in his shoulders eased. “Inside I knew that, but I wanted to hear it from you. Will you come with me now, Ash? There is much left unsaid between us, but I would have you with me today.”
He looked at the face before him. Gus had grown up in so many ways, Ash realized, and hated that he’d missed those years. “I will.” He owed him that much.
“And we will talk.”
“Very well.”
“I will have your word you will not leave here until we have talked. You will not leave without telling me.”
Their gazes locked. So familiar with each other, and yet now strangers.
“You’ll take my word?”
“I will.” Gus nodded.
“Then I give it.”
Gus then did something Ash had believed himself unworthy of: his younger brother stepped closer and hugged him hard. Shock held him still, and then his arms wrapped around him. Ash held on. He had no right to this, but he’d take it all the same. The only person he’d ever loved.
“I don’t want to let you go,” Gus whispered. “Even with so much uncertainty between us, seeing you again has filled the small empty place I had left inside me. I know there is much I don’t understand, but it feels right to have you here with me.”
Christ, it was the same for him.
Gus gripped his shoulders.
“I’m pleased for you, Gus. That you have found Somer and a family.”
The smile was wide and filled all the corners of his brother’s face. “These families are special, Ash. You will like them.”
“I will not be here long.”
“Very well. Come. I have no wish to think of the past or be angry today. I have a wife I love, and my brother is here. That is cause for celebration. It’s also freezing out here.”
Ash was humbled. He’d thought Gus would of course see him, but not accept him. For now, today, that was enough. Tomorrow he would leave here and begin to track the man who had changed the course he’d set for his life forever.
He walked at his brother’s side into the great hall. Around them were relics of the past battles fought and ancestors who’d lived inside these walls. They reached a huge room and entered. The ceilings were high, furniture old and elegant. Two huge fireplaces roared, and people warmed themselves before them. Others sat at tables.
“I can wait somewhere,” Ash said.
“You will sit and celebrate, brother,” Gus said, urging him toward a table.
“Sit.” Baron was there, and his hand reached for Ash’s shoulder and urged him down. “I like these people.”
“You’ve just met them.” His eyes found Dorset Sinclair. She’d saved him and wanted no one to know that. Their eyes caught and held then she looked away.
“I am Warwick Sinclair, brother to the bride and several others dotted about the room.”
