Drat.
When she didn’t rise from the desk, Alistair raised a brow slowly, and it was her turn to sigh and slump. “I am…not certain it is working.”
“Nae word?” Although it was difficult to hear, as his whisper rasped past his ruined throat, Alistair’s voice still held a trace of the Scottish burr their father had spoken with.
“No word,” she admitted, dropping her gaze to her hands. “I…I am afraid he does notwantto return.” Her eyes flicked to her brother’s. “Tous.”
Because while Hiro might be the most important person in her world, he was her brother’s best friend. And she knew it was eating Alistair up that Hiro hadn’t visited.
And, although it had been an awkward conversation, now he at least knew why.
Her brother studied her thoughtfully, all irritation about her interruption seemingly gone. Finally, he reached for one of the ubiquitous pads of paper he kept around, for when he had a lot to say, and began to scribble.
When he placed it in front of her, his callused fingers holding it open to the correct message, Amanda leaned forward to read it.
You are worried he doesn’t love you? But he DOES. He’s spent the last three years following you like a love-sick pup.
Amanda shook her head. “He’s followed me because you pay him to do it. He said you just gave him a raise.”
Her brother’s expression froze in surprise, then he shook his head and wrote, his penmanship sloppy with haste:
I gave him a gift. I know he keeps you happy, I know you’re happy. I know he keeps you safe. We have enough money, why not give it to you two to live the way you want?
Her eyes had widened as she’d read—upside down—what he was writing, and now she sat back, her breath whooshing out of her. “A gift?” she whispered.
Alistair was scowling again when he glanced up and nodded sharply. “Aye,” he rasped as his pencil jabbed at the part about having enough money. “For both.”
Then, holding her gaze, he wrote in heavy letters, not even glancing at the paper:
Hiro is my friend.
And he loved him. Alistairwashurt by Hiro’s desertion, because he missed his friend, and wanted him to be happy.
Amanda’s breath had caught in her throat at the realization, and now she slowly pushed herself upright, eyes wide. Alistair had been the one to help her think up all these ridiculous gifts she’d been sending to York, and since he was paying for them, couldn’t it be said the three chickens and seven swans and all the rest—those were gifts from AmandaandAlistair?
Trying to woo back a man who was important to both of them.
If he takes much longer, I might recruit nine of my colleagues and show up on his doorstep and start jumping around.
Ten lords a-leaping. Amanda felt her lips curl into a smile, knowing her brother would do no such thing. For one thing, he only had a half dozen friends, and it was impossible to imagineDemon or Kip jumping around, their kilts flapping in the winter breeze.
Thorne might do it, though.
But it was just an example of how much Hiro meant to Alistair. Time for Amanda to bare her soul.
“I love him,” she whispered. “I want a future with him.”
Her brother studied her for a long moment, then nodded, once.
“Good.”
Good.
NotYou are a sister of a duke, and he is an immigrant’s son.NotYou are worth so much more. Not evenThe two of you would not find a place to belong.
Just…Good.
Her brother, a man of few words, had given his blessing.
