Madd
SIX
Evander arrived, and I stiffened. I wanted nothing to do with him but could hardly toss him out of the room. It was his house and I was his father’s prisoner, which made me his captive by default.
He must have sensed my mood because he spoke more formally than he had on previous days, asking if I’d like a walk in the garden.
I gave a one-word answer because both me and my wolf needed to be out of this stifling room.
Not that it was too hot, but the atmosphere was suffocating.
I was trapped in every way possible, even by my beast.
What nonsense are you talking about? he asked.
You’re basing your feelings on instinct, whereas my heart and head are leading me.
Pfft.
Evander had apparently been part of his father's plan from the beginning, and I wasn't giving him the satisfaction of seeing how badly I needed out of the room. The forced casualness between us had curdled since the meeting, and he kept his arms crossed in front of him.
Two guards walked us down an unfamiliar staircase and through a heavy door, and the sky opened above me. I closed my eyes, and using all my senses, I allowed the wind to tickle my face while the distinctive smell of wet grass washed over me.
I inhaled, and for a moment, I was just Madd Durand, the person Flint trusted to work undercover. I had a large extended family whom I loved. I wasn’t the guy who’d been given an ultimatum, making me feel as though I’d been whisked back in time to when matches were made to build alliances.
But a pretty garden didn’t change the forty-eight-hour deadline that was hanging over my head or having a fated mate that I loathed on sight but to whom my wolf was already devoted.
My beast pressed against my skin wanting to run, not to get away from the dragons but to experience the world that wasn’t four walls and a bed.
Not yet. Keep it together.
He wanted to find the other brother, but as that wasn’t happening, he settled for soil, grass, and wet flagstones.
The garden was large, bordered on three sides by high walls and on the fourth by the house. There were old trees along the edges, and the space was dotted with flower beds. A gravel path wound between them, and a stone bench sat under the biggest tree.
I strode toward the bench, not caring if Evander was near me. I couldn’t get out of this space, and the walls were too high for my wolf to leap over. But Evander would be aware of that.
Before yesterday, I would have asked about the garden's history in an attempt to build a rapport with the patriarch’s son. But there was no need to extract information from him now because I had my answer as to why I was here.
It didn’t take a genius to know I was pissed at the older twin and what his father had proposed. But from the corner of my eye, I could see him glancing at me. He’d open his mouth to speak and close it again.
Good, I hoped he was uneasy and perhaps consumed by more than a little guilt.
I dropped onto the stone bench which was cold and damp, but I didn’t care. Evander looked around the garden. His back was to me when he said, “I understand if you're angry.”
I didn’t acknowledge him with a nod because he didn’t deserve that courtesy.
“The arrangement wasn't my idea.”
He seemed to think that made everything okay, and I couldn’t hold back.
“But you went along with it. You brought food and gave me a better room. You were auditioning, and I was the only one who didn't know it was a casting call.”
He flinched. “I thought if you got to know me first, it might be okay.”
“Your father had me dragged out of a bar at gunpoint. There's no version of this that doesn't feel forced.”
“Think of what we can achieve together.”
I made a face. Was he talking business or personal? I looked at him properly for the first time since the meeting with his father. He had the decency to hold my gaze.
“What if I want to choose my own destiny, live close to my extended family, and work for the family business? What if I want nothing to do with your dragon flight, no matter how much money or fame I might earn?”
“Not everyone can choose their fate.”
That was certainly true.
“I didn't fake any of it. The conversations were real. What I thought of you was real.”
A warning bell rang in my head. Was he suggesting I was his fated mate? Nothing I said could make the situation worse, except if I refused to mate him. That’d tip things over the edge.
“And the mating? Was that real too or were you just following orders?”
He didn't answer immediately but nibbled his bottom lip.
“I agreed to meet you,” he said finally. “To see if there was something there. That's not the same as following orders.”
He looked away. I didn't have the energy to make this easier for him. Screw him. I was tired and scared, and the man I was apparently destined for was his brother, not him. But the universe really wanted to fuck with me, because there was nothing endearing about Evander or his bad-tempered brother.
I put my face in my hands, trying to wish myself back home where Ranger was cracking jokes and Flint was telling him to grow up.
My wolf ignored whatever might be going on with Evander. It’s not him, he repeated. But he froze, and my muscles tightened. His nose found something that wasn't rain, grass, or Evander's scent. Something more intense was coming from the direction of the house.
My fingers closed around the edge of the bench as the garden door opened and the other twin walked out carrying a folder. His attention was on the papers in his hand. He hadn't expected anyone to be out here because he broke his stride when he looked up and found us.
No, it wasn’t us that got his attention, but me.
He recovered fast and straightened, reminding me of his posture when we’d met in his father’s study. His gaze slid by, but I felt the whiplash as it passed to his brother.
“I need your signature on the Newton accounts.”
His voice reminded me of his father’s because it lacked emotion, and I had to give him points for tamping down his feelings.
“Now?” Evander asked.
“Father wants them filed today.”
Evander sighed and held out his hand. His twin crossed the garden toward us and my wolf counted every step, begging him to brush against me.
Evander took the folder, and his brother took a position against the wall.
He didn't look at me but studied the trees before looking at the sky and then back to the gravel path.
And while I told myself to look away, not to take any notice of his hands pressed behind him or how his chest heaved with each breath, I couldn’t stop staring at him.
My wolf was pushing at my insides so hard I grimaced.
Evander flipped through the pages in the folder. His hands flicking at the papers had me wanting to leap up and tear them out. He was doing a stupid mundane activity while I was faced with a terrible choice.
“Conrad, the second page is missing the addendum.”
Conrad. Oh my gods, I had a name.
I'd been thinking of him as the twin, the copy, and the brother, because finding out his name gave him a stamp of approval. Made him real, warm, inviting, and flesh and blood. I could pretend he wasn’t my mate if he was just there in the background as Evander’s brother and the patriarch's son.
Conrad. There was no softness to those syllables, unlike Evander.
He was looking at the folder over Evander's shoulder now, pointing at something, and he was close enough that his scent swept over me. My wolf was clamoring for me to make a move, urging me to claim the younger dragon shifter.
“It's on the third page.” Conrad tapped a page. “Bottom section.”
“Ah.” Evander signed and handed the folder back.
Their fingers didn't touch during the exchange. The distance between them even in a simple handoff was obvious. These two shared a face and DNA but little else.
Conrad turned to leave and our eyes met. His nostrils flared, and he gripped the folder as though it were a lifeline. His eyes darkened and held my gaze. My beast pushed forward so anyone looking at me would have seen him in my eyes.
Conrad looked away first and strode toward the house. His posture was so brittle I imagined it would crack if he bumped into something.
“Sorry about that.” Evander sat beside me.
Why would he apologize for my mate interrupting us? I stared at the door where I’d last seen Conrad. My resistance to the man wavered. No, that was my wolf trying to convince me I had to mate the man.
Evander was talking about the garden, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about how his brother’s gaze had kindled a fire in my belly.
But I had less than forty-eight hours and a choice to make.