He exhaled slowly. He’d need to talk about his past, share something with them. Only then would they leave him alone.
“When I left, it was because I needed to. There had been no other option.”
“Why did you need to?”
“I’m not telling you that, Leo.”
“You haven’t been home since you travelled the world with Uncle Bram?” Alex asked.
Mungo shook his head.
“Is your mother still alive? Your parents? Your brother?” Bram demanded. “I’ve asked these questions before, but you fob me off.”
“My mother and brother are alive,” Mungo conceded. “I write to my mother every month. That’s how Fenella knew where to find me. I’ve always told her where I am.”
“So your niece is gone now?”
Bram’s voice was calm as always, but Mungo saw the hurt that he’d caused him still lingered.
“Bram—”
“Are you ashamed of us?” his friend demanded, cutting him off. “Is that why you didn’t bring her here? I can come up with no other reason, seeing as for many years, we have shared every aspect of our lives with you.”
He sighed, long and heavy again and then ran a hand through his hair. “I was wrong,” he said simply. “I’m sorry. I am not one to share confidences, as you know.”
“But I am your oldest friend, and we are your family,” Bram said, waving toward his nephews.
“It’s only that we want you to be happy,” Leo said gently. “We’re your family, like Uncle Bram said, and you’re one of us. But knowing you have blood relations out there... it saddens me that you haven’t seen them or gone back to your home.”
“Maybe it’s time to find a way to reconnect with them. Unless they were truly hideous to you. That would be unforgivable,” Alex added.
“Because we know what it’s like to be adrift,” Leo said. “We know how it hurts to be alone. But we had Uncle Bram and Aunt Ivy—and you. You stepped in when we needed someone. We’ll always be here for you, Mungo, but you should try to reconnect if you can.”
The brothers then left the room, the door clicking softly shut behind them, leaving Mungo alone with Bram. A thick silence settled in the room.
“I’ve hurt you,” Mungo said. “That was never my intention.”
“I know it was not deliberate,” Bram replied evenly. “I know you. You don’t like to open up and share what’s inside. But the fact that you did not bring Fenella here hurts because she is of your blood, and therefore important to you and us.”
Mungo swallowed to ease the sudden dryness in his throat.
“But,” Bram continued, “you’re my brother in every way that matters. I love you. So I forgive you. Just don’t do something like this again.”
“I will promise you that, but it’s not my way to speak of personal things.” Mungo did not return the declaration of love out loud, but his friend knew what lay in his heart.
Bram smiled faintly. “Well, perhaps it is time to change your ways, or no woman will have you.”
“I’ve no need for a woman.”
Bram raised a brow again.
“For marriage, if that’s your meaning.” Mungo refused to acknowledge the heat climbing up his neck.
“I think you’re wrong, but time will tell which of us is right. You are a man of means, after all, so if you wish to set up your own household, you could.”
“I don’t,” Mungo muttered.
They’d given him money from the Pavlov fortune. Bram had simply put it into the bank and attached his name to it so the deal was done before he could stop it. It would sit there unless he wanted to do something with it.
