Chapter 1 #2
“Are you sure you—”
Damien’s words stopped abruptly as Evander shot him a warning look. His friend huffed out a breath, as if he knew Evander was trying to hide something, but obliged.
“As you know, Jeremy has a penchant for parties, but he often gets out of control when left alone,” Damien went on as he and Adrian settled back into their chairs.
“He will need help to organize the wedding party, but unfortunately, his wedding is taking place at a very precarious time. You see, Caroline’s pregnancy is not going as smoothly as her first one.
I worry about her and prefer not to be away from her side for too long.
The physician said that she would be better in a few weeks. ”
Sensing where this was going, Evander asked, “And why can Adrian not assist with this?”
Adrian’s lips lifted up into a sheepish half-smile.
“I am afraid my little girl has her papa wrapped around her tiny, adorable finger,” he replied. “She cannot be away from me for more than a couple of hours before she starts crying incessantly. Bridget is busy with Samuel, and Elara and Constantine have their hands full with their children.”
“Why can you not all act like proper aristocrats and hire nannies?” Evander asked dryly, earning him an equally dry laugh from both men.
“We have several, but is it a crime that we love our children?” Adrian said with a shrug.
“Well, have Jeremy move the wedding date then,” Evander insisted, the edge in his tone growing sharper.
“He cannot,” Damien answered, giving Evander an imploring look.
“The entire reason he is doing this is that our grandmother’s health is failing fast, and her last wish is to see him married.
She cannot even leave her country estate anymore, which is why they are holding the wedding there rather than in London.
It is going to be a big, old-fashioned country affair.
A week-long house party. The whole ceremonial thing.
Jeremy, Miss Robinson, and her family are all already there. ”
Feeling a sudden, intense migraine coming on, Evander rubbed his temples.
“What exactly are you asking me to do?” he gritted out.
“I do not trust that Jeremy is capable of handling this all on his own. I need you to go there and help him. Jeremy has always looked up to you and considered you an older brother. He would be absolutely elated if you assisted him,” Damien answered.
“Absolutely not!” Evander slammed his uninjured palm on the table. “Do I look like I would be good at organizing wedding parties?”
“I do not believe there is anything you cannot do if you put your mind to it. Please, Evander. We are family now.”
It was as if a brick had settled into his gut, the weight of it dragging him down into a fresh sort of hell he never knew would be possible.
“Damien…” Evander pleaded. Then stopped. What else could he say? Please do not make me watch the love of my life, the love I was never bold enough to tell anyone about, get married to another man? No, he could not say that.
“It would only be for a week or so,” Damien went on hesitantly. “We will all be there to join you for the actual wedding festivities soon enough.”
Evander bit the inside of his cheek, gnashing his teeth until the taste of copper filled his mouth.
Jeremy was a friend, and while he was prone to wild behavior and parties, he was also a good man. He would be able to see the type of woman Helena was and honor her for it. He hoped.
“Very well, then. But if you do not arrive after a week, I will leave,” he grumbled, then slid his tongue over the fresh wound in his cheek, using the taste of copper to distract him from his emotional pain. “When do I need to leave?”
Damien and Adrian both looked relieved and quickly filled him in on the details.
When they were done, they stayed for a few more moments, graciously changing the subject and letting him in on the recent success of one of their shared investments.
Once they took their leave, Evander stayed rooted to his chair for a long moment, staring off intensely into space as he struggled with the idea of what he was about to do.
It was only when the sun had sunk over the line of trees, and the darkening sky shifted to shades of gray and purple, that he finally got up and went inside.
In his quarters, he went to his wardrobe and began pulling out the wooden boxes of his old belongings, searching through them all until he finally came upon what he was looking for.
With his heart wailing its silent pain, Evander brought the small jewelry box engraved with Helena’s name to his bed.
For a moment, he simply held the box, gazing at it as the ghosts of his past feelings surfaced, whispering tales of fleeting hope and love.
Then he opened it and looked down at the emerald-and-diamond necklace.
Its jewel-sized stones sat in a half-circle, intertwined and connected by delicate strands of pure silver.
He had spent ages trying to decide between silver and gold.
Gold reminded him of Helena’s hair, which had always captured the sunlight at garden parties.
Yet gold hinted at a more pompous personality, and Helena was anything but pompous.
So he had settled on silver, even if the gold would have looked better on her, because like silver, she was understated yet full of class and generosity.
She remained cool when others grew too hot.
She was… everything. Everything but his.
Evander slowly closed the engraved jewelry box, then traced the grooves of the elegant script of her name with his fingertips.
No, she would never belong to him. Even if she were not marrying Jeremy.
The man Evander used to be, the man who had written those letters and tapped into a part of himself he had never shared with anyone, that man was gone now.
In his place stood a scarred beast who had removed his own heart to survive the torture.
It was good that Helena was marrying someone else. Someone safer. He just wished he did not have to watch it happen.