Unless there was another way. Unless Bryce truly did know something that could help them bring MacInnes down. And unless he, Evan, was able to take that step towards trusting his eldest brother.
It felt like a gulf too vast to cross. And yet... he would take that leap. For her.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “With God as my witness,” he murmured. “If there’s a way for us to be together, I swear I’ll find it.”
She smiled, fierce and bright. “That’s all I’m asking.”
He stepped back and retrieved his knife from the leaves, sheathing it. “Are they far?”
“On the ridge behind us.”
He nodded once, then moved to retrieve his horse from the thicket. The beast snorted softly as he was led out, whickering to Ruby’s mount.
The wind felt sharper, the air colder, as they rode back. Or was that just his own trepidation talking?
Ahead, silhouetted against the pale sky, two mounted figures waited. Niall. Bryce.
Evan’s jaw tightened. He felt that old storm rising in him again, the one he had spent years trying to bury beneath indifference and swagger. Anger, sharp and familiar. Betrayal, sour as old wine. But beneath both, deeper and more dangerous, lay hurt. It throbbed inside him like an open wound left to fester, sore and aching.
Bryce sat tall in the saddle, watching him and Ruby approach. The years had not softened him. If anything, they had hardened him. His expression was cold, and his eyes held the same penetrating assessment they always had. Aye, there were a few more lines around his eyes and perhaps the faintest hint of gray at his temple, but his eldest brother was still an imposing figure who wore his power and wealth like armor.
The Earl of Newborough. Evan wondered if Bryce ever remembered being simply his brother.
As they closed the final stretch, Bryce’s gaze locked onto his and all of a sudden Evan felt like he was seventeen again, standing in the great hall with mud on his boots and fury in his chest as the lawmakers announced Bryce’s intention to contest their father’s will and take everything for himself.
And yet, to his surprise, that wasn’t theonlymemory that surfaced.
He remembered Bryce lifting him onto a pony when he was barely tall enough to reach the stirrups, Bryce stepping between him and their father’s temper, absorbing the brunt of it with silent defiance. He remembered laughter. Stolen apples. Rope swings. River-swimming and mock sword-fights in the barn.
When had it fractured? When had Bryce stopped being his brother and become only the earl?
He and Ruby drew up before his brothers, the horses stamping softly. For a long moment, no one spoke. Niall shifted slightly, clearly aware of the tension stretching thin as wire.
Evan broke the silence first. “Bryce.” His voice was neutral. Flat.
Bryce inclined his head. “Evan.”
“Why are ye here? What do ye want?”
Bryce’s eyes flicked once to the open landscape around them. “We shouldnae talk here. If MacInnes has men searching, we canna assume privacy.”
Evan’s mouth twitched faintly. “Paranoid as ever, eh?”
Bryce did not rise to Evan’s quip. “The summer lodge isnae far,” he said. “We can talk more freely there.”
Evan hesitated only a fraction before nodding. They turned their mounts and rode off in silence. Ruby stuck close to him and he could feel the questions building on her lips, but she stayed silent. Evan kept his eyes fixed on Bryce’s back, his jaw clenched and his muscles tense.
It didn’t take long to reach the summer lodge. As the dilapidated building emerged from the trees, he felt his throat constrict. The last time he had stood here, he had been newly returned, returned to lands that no longer felt like his. The lodge symbolized everything fractured in their family. It was a relic of better days when Evan’s world had still been intact. The irony of Bryce bringing them here wasn’t lost on him. Did his eldestbrother even realize the significance of this place? Or was it just a convenient meeting place?
He dismounted and then helped Ruby down. As her feet touched the ground, she caught hold of his arms to steady herself and then looked up at him with an encouraging smile.
I’m right here, that smile said.I’m right with you.
God, how did he deserve a woman like her?
He squeezed her arm then turned and followed his brothers into the building. Inside, it smelled of dust and damp. Light filtered through cracked shutters. Bryce stepped toward the center of the room. Niall remained near the door.
Evan walked inside warily, gaze flicking between his two brothers, unable to dislodge the old feelings of distrust. How many other meetings had they had like this? Back when Ronan and Rian had also been present? Meetings that had ended in shouting matches or a brawl.
