His brother’s reaction just reinforced what he knew. There was no place for Ash in his life, no love or commitment. It was better if he just left.
He returned through the opening and walked down the first row, touching leaves and fruit as he walked, the pungent scent filling the air. He went back into the courtyard feeling empty inside.
“Where the bloody hell are you going!”
The words had him turning to find his brother stalking toward him. From the corner of his eye, he saw James and Rory standing there, watching, ready in case Gus needed them.
“I’m leaving,” Ash said, keeping his voice low and even.
“Just like that. You tell me what I have wanted to know for years and then leave?”
“There is nothing for me here.”
“I am here!” Gus thundered. “Your brother.”
“I am not fit to be part of this.” Ash looked at the castle. “I am not the man I was.”
“Why?” Gus asked him, the anger gone.
“Because the life I have lived made me a savage!”
“I don’t believe the man I knew is that.”
“I am that and more. I have killed to survive,” Ash growled. The tight hold he had on his emotions was slipping. “He turned me into an animal.”
“You can change.”
Ash fought back the surge of heat those words gave him. The surge of hope. There was no hope.
“I have hunted Radcliff for years. I escaped, healed, and then worked like a dog to make money, and all the time I had two things in my head. You, and him.”
“We will find him together,” Gus vowed.
“No. This is not your fight. Radcliff has believed me dead for years, but coming here, it’s clear that someone saw me and told him, which is why he attempted to kill me in London. He had one of his crew shoot me; I recognized him.”
“We can protect you, Ash.”
“No, this is my battle. One of us will die, and then it will be over. It is inevitable.”
He walked away from his blood then. Away from hope and light. His life was darkness and could be nothing more than that.
CHAPTERELEVEN
His chest hurt, and his muscles were clenched so tight Ash found it hard to breathe. He should not have come here. He’d been a fool to believe he could see his brother again and feel nothing.
He needed to find Baron and leave.
Ignoring his cousins, he made for the castle as Cambridge Sinclair came through the doors.
“Have you seen Baron?”
Cam frowned. “I believe he just left the castle with the children.”
“Pardon?”
“Baron has gone with the others and all the children and their nannies down to the beach. They are to have a picnic.”
“I wish to leave.” He said the words through his teeth.
