“I asked you,” Jasper returned.
“And I don’t owe you an explanation.” Gavin’s fists were still clenched. “You’ve been keeping me a prisoner in this miserable hell for weeks, and all this time, you’ve known who I am but kept it a secret from me. Why?”
Jasper shrugged. “Why not?”
His taunting reply propelled Gavin forward.
The two men collided, fists flying, as Caro clung to a barking Barnaby and watched the mayhem unfolding. “Gavin, Jasper, please stop this!” she cried out, terrified that they would injure each other.
That Jasper would land a blow that would send Gavin spiraling back into the abyss, where he had no memories and no name. Or that Gavin’s prizefighting instincts would have him thrashing Jasper. But neither of them listened to her entreaties. They fought on, landing blows, grunting, as their punches escalated into a war.
The commotion brought some of the guards racing down the hall, and it required the efforts of Randall, Hugh, and Bennet to force the two men apart. Her brothers Rafe and Hart appeared as well, aiding in holding Jasper back. Caro sobbed into Barnaby’s fur at the sight before her—bloodied, bruised faces, so much anger.
Her fault, all of it.
“Take him to The Devil’s Spawn,” Jasper spat around a mouthful of blood. “I want him gone.”
“That makes two of us,” Gavin sneered.
The glance he cast in Caro’s direction—at long last—was venomous. He said nothing to her, simply curled his lip, and turned his back on her.
What had she done?
Chapter 11
Caro hovered at the threshold of her chamber—the room Gavin had spent the last few weeks inhabiting. Everything was as he had left it, but the room was empty and lifeless and still. On the floor, there were some broken bits of crockery she did not have the heart to sweep up. In all, it was a perfect reflection of what she felt within.
He was gone.
He had left without saying goodbye. Without giving her the opportunity to explain her part in the deception. Not that she was certain an explanation would change his mind. Quite likely, the betrayal she had committed was unforgivable.
She had known better, of course. But she had been torn between her brother and a man who had initially been a stranger to her. A man who had become so much more over the course of the time she had perpetuated the secret. Each day that had passed had brought her closer to the certain knowledge that she must reveal everything to him.
And she had meant to. She had promised herself last night that she was going to tell him everything this morning, regardless of her promise to Jasper.
But he had risen with memories returning to him, and she had been hopeful and terrified all at once. Hopeful that he would no longer suffer the pain of a mind free of memories and of not knowing who he was. Terrified that when he discovered her complicity in keeping his identity from him, he would never want to speak to her again.
She had not been wrong in that fear.
“What are you doing, sister?” asked a familiar voice.
Not the one she wanted to hear.
She turned to find Jasper approaching her, disappointment etched in his expression and tone. The blood on his face had been wiped clean, but his right eye was bruised and swelling. She winced as she took in the evidence of that morning’s terrible debacle.
“You are wanting to speak with me, I suppose,” she returned, her stomach twisting again at the thought.
“You owe me an explanation, and I owe you one as well,” he said cryptically. “Come and take some wine with me, and we’ll patter.”
“I don’t want to speak now,” she said, feeling mulish. “Can it not wait?”
“No.” Jasper was somber. “It can’t. Wine and patter or I lock you in this room until you squeak.”
Ah, he wanted her confession. She had known he would, after she had revealed Gavin had been in her room this morning and he had seen the evidence of their night of passion on her throat. Sad evidence. All she had left of Gavin, it would seem, and not nearly enough. She may have deceived him these last few weeks, but doing so had been against her will. She had never lied about her love for him.
“Wine and patter it is,” she conceded sadly, hating herself for what she had done. Hating herself for losing Gavin.
“Good choice.” Jasper offered her his arm like a fancy cove, the effect somewhat comical with his swollen eye.
