Chapter 27
“What business could you possibly have that is so urgent to interrupt my honeymoon period?” Evander snapped.
He strode away from his study. Adrian and Damien followed closely behind.
“Someone is in a foul mood,” Adrian teased.
“Someone is sweat-slicked and in a foul mood,” Damien quipped. “I wonder what we could have possibly interrupted in there?”
“Oh, hell. Damien, you were right. He was naked. Are you hiding your wife in your study? Is that why you would not open the door?”
Evander drew to a stop and turned, glaring at his brother and friend.
“You are my family. But you will watch yourself when you speak of such things,” he warned.
For a moment, a tense silence settled around them, then, to his surprise, Adrian and Damien burst into laughter, startling him.
“Look at him, blushing and getting angry like a schoolboy caught in the act!”
“What has gotten into you two?” he asked. “Since when did you start being such goons? I remember you being far more serious in your youth.”
“The love of a good woman invokes such change,” Adrian replied. “One finds that life can be far more enjoyable when loved properly by the right woman. Do you not agree, Damien?”
“Most certainly,” Damien agreed, shrugging his shoulders. “Look at me. I used to never smile. Yet Caroline has transformed me into a love-struck fool who finds joy in mundane moments.”
“And based on the scent you are wearing, it seems like your new wife has brought you such joy as well,” Adrian teased.
“Enough of that.” Evander swatted Adrian on the back of his head, but he did so with a grin he could not hide.
“All right, all right, we will cease our jesting,” Adrian huffed, rubbing the back of his head.
“We will not stay long, old boy,” Damien added. “We were just passing by and wanted to see how you and your wife were faring. Now that we know that all is well, we will be on our way.”
Though still annoyed by the moment they interrupted, Evander gave them a look of gratitude.
“We are doing very well. And your concern is noted,” he replied earnestly.
“How does your grandmother fare, Damien? I confess I have thought of Patricia often since the wedding. Is she well?”
“Ornery as ever, and in perfect health, as she has apparently been the entire time she had us all convinced otherwise. I visited her a few days ago, and she scolded me for a full hour before feeding me an obscene quantity of cake. I have never seen a woman so thoroughly delighted with herself.”
“And Jeremy?” Evander asked, more carefully. “Have you had any word?”
“He is in Italy, apparently thriving. He did not say much of substance, only that he is happy, and that he trusts we will forgive him for everything that happened.” He shook his head, though there was no real anger in it.
“I confess I do not fully understand what happened between the three of you, but I have decided I do not much care to, so long as he is well and you and Helena are settled. Whatever occurred, it seems to have worked out rather better for everyone than the original arrangement ever would have.”
They chatted casually as they made their way to the foyer.
Damien filled Evander in on Caroline’s condition, and Adrian preached his usual praises about his children.
As they arrived at the door and the butler opened it, though, they all paused as they saw a messenger ready to knock.
A choking grip settled around Evander’s throat as he was handed a familiar-looking missive, and he could not stop the shaking in his hands as he accepted it.
“What is that?” Adrian demanded.
“You there! Stop!” Damien called after the messenger.
It was too late. The young man had already taken off, running quite briskly down the walk and toward the street.
“It is nothing,” Evander forced out, putting the letter behind his back.
“It is not nothing,” Adrian insisted, closing the door with a loud thud. “You look as if you have seen a ghost!”
“I am fine,” Evander bit out, taking a step back from his friends. “You both worry far too much.”
“Show us the letter and prove to us that it is of a boring nature, and we will cease our worrying,” Damien said, stepping to the side as he rose to the balls of his feet and spread his hands.
“Do not—” Evander began to snarl, but then his brother and best friend both struck at the same moment and wrestled him to the ground.
Evander fought, trying to keep his footing, but as he became pinned, Damien snatched the crumpled letter from his hand and tore it open.
“Stop!” Evander roared, pushing his brother off him. He got to his feet with quickness and reached for the letter, but Damien quickly sidestepped him as he kept his widening gaze on the paper.
“No!” Adrian snarled, stepping between Damien and Evander. “No more secrets, brother.”
Evander stared down Adrian, but he did not budge.
“What does it say, Damien?” Adrian demanded.
Damien’s face was a mask of rage as he lifted his gaze from the letter.
“How long has this been going on, Evander?” he asked warily.
Guilt tunneled through him.
“I do not know what you mean,” he gritted out, feigning ignorance.
“Stop this at once!” Damien shouted, shoving the letter to Adrian so he could read it. “You are not doing this again! You are not shutting us out! Now tell us, how long have you been receiving these threats?”
“God above,” Adrian rasped, reading down the contents of the letter. “Burning ropes? A debt of screams? Vengeance due?”
Evander winced, the words threatening to whirl him back into the place he had long ago escaped.
“I know this is not the first threat you received,” Damien said, taking another step toward him. “You knew precisely what it was the moment it arrived. You tried to hide it from us. So I ask again, one last time, how long have you been receiving these?”
Evander’s defiance withered. Helena’s love had broken him down. Had reminded him of what it felt like to yearn for and enjoy another’s presence. She had pulled him out of the lonely shadows, and he had learned to love living in her light.
“Shortly after I moved back to London,” he confessed.
Adrian’s eyes widened as he looked up from the letter.
“That long? Why did you not tell us?” Adrian asked.
Evander bowed his head as he heard the worry and disappointment in his brother’s voice.
“I did not want to put anyone else in danger. I thought if I discovered the writer on my own—”
“You are not alone anymore!” Adrian snarled, clutching his hands around Evander’s shoulders. “You are our family! We love you, Evander!”
“And I love you!” he snarled back, allowing his beast one last roar before it slipped back into his mental cage. “Such love is why I wanted to keep you from it! You have found happiness in your lives; why would I taint them with such darkness?”
“There will be no happiness if something happens to you again. Have you stopped to think what this would do to us? What it would do to Elara and your mother, not to mention your wife? This ends now,” Damien warned, approaching the Mason brothers.
“Do you understand me? No more keeping things from us. We are going to help you with this, and that is final. We are brothers in bond, even if not in blood, and from now on, you share this burden with us and allow us to help you.”
Evander’s massive shoulders bowed as his throat became choked with emotion.
“I cannot allow either of you to go through what I went through,” he rasped. “You have no idea what it would do to me to have either of you captured in your attempts to help me. You have no idea what these people are capable of.”
“Then we do not get caught,” Adrian retorted, leveling his gaze at him. “And we figure this out. Quickly.”
“I cannot believe you would be so stubborn, Evander. That night you were caught… It all happened just because you kept us in the dark. We were out drinking instead of being there to protect you! You cannot put yourself or us in such a position ever again!” Damien was furious.
Too exhausted from carrying his burden alone, Evander nodded. He reached out and squeezed both of their shoulders.
“All right. I will share everything with you. Just promise me Helena will never find out,” he insisted, sending a pleading glance first to Adrian, then to Damien. “She already worries far too much about me.”
Adrian let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
“I believe it is best that none of our wives find out. They might find a way to lock us up and throw away the keys,” Adrian quipped.
“You are asking the impossible of me, but I agree that I would not want to stress Caroline during her pregnancy. She has been through enough as it is.”
“Just pray that Elara does not find out about this. She would skin us if she knew that we were keeping her in the dark once more,” Adrian said.
“Given that she risked her own life to save you last time, I think her husband would thank us to keep her in the dark about this.”
Evander huffed out a laugh and nodded.
“Come along,” Damien urged, nodding toward the hall that we walked out of only moments ago. “Show us the rest. Maybe with a fresh pair of eyes, we can discover something. Surely, we have given your new wife adequate time to scurry away.”
“Devils, the lot of you,” Evander grumbled, even as his lips drew into a satisfied smirk.
“Maybe,” Adrian agreed. “But we are your devils, brother.”