Page 59 of Love Wasn’t Built in a Day

“Everything,” Gideon repeated, his voice harsh. “What everything?”

Damian took a deep breath. It was for the best. For Gideon’s best, at least.

“Mother lost her mind because our father brought his mistress’s bastard son home for her to raise. He didn’t tell her why they hadn’t gone to town for the season that year, hadn’t told her he’d put it about that she was increasing, so she could pass you off as their son. The conniving devil arranged it all to a nicety, so no one was the wiser. He changed all the staff. Paid off anyone who might talk.”

Gideon’s silence was so absolute Damian could hear it ringing in his ears. Just the tide, he told himself, that rushing noise was just the tide, nothing to get in a lather about.

“So, you see, brother mine, you’re only half mine, on our father’s side. Lord knows who your mother was. I didn’t discover that. But she’s not the one locked in that fancy asylum you’re crippling yourself to pay for. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Gideon let out a harsh breath. He looked like Damian had hit him in the solar plexus.

Damian eyed him warily.

For a moment, Gideon just stared at him, then he scrambled to his feet and ran to the nearest rocks, vomiting up brandy and buns with noisy retching sounds.

“Didn’t I say this would be pretty,” Damian said under his breath.

He gave Gideon a moment to clean himself up before going to him. He was standing by the water’s edge, staring out to sea.

Damian reached out, about to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, and then hesitated, uncertain. He dropped it again. “All right?”

Gideon didn’t answer for a long time, so long that Damian’s heart crashed about erratically behind his ribs, but then Gideon let out an unsteady breath and turned around to meet his eyes. “You’re sure?”

Damian nodded, too anxious to speak. His chest was tight, and he didn’t know if Gideon was glad or furious or what he was. He braced himself, half expecting to get his nose broken.

“Bloody hell,” Gideon said, his voice unsteady. “Bloody hell!” He gazed at Damian as if he was seeing him for the first time, and then, to Damian’s shock, Gideon threw his arms about him, hugging him fiercely. “Bloody hell! Do you know what this means?”

“What?” Damian asked cautiously.

“I’m free! I’m free to live without this… this dark… thing hanging over me like the sword of bloody Damocles.”

He let Damian go and strode away, and then turned back, his expression one of appalled regret. “Damian. Oh, Christ, I—”

Damian held up a hand, shaking his head. His throat was suddenly tight and the last thing he wanted was pity, God dammit.

“Don’t be a fool. You think I wouldn’t be jumping for joy if our positions were reversed. Do you think I wouldn’t toss away the title and what little came with it, just to be free of the fear of what I might become? You’ve been given a gift, Deon. For God’s sake, don’t squander it.” The words were angry, far more than he’d intended them to be. He sucked in a breath, struggling to calm himself.

“Why didn’t you tell me right away?” There was no accusation in the question, only curiosity, but Damian avoided Gideon’s eye.

He shrugged. “Thought I’d let you suffer a bit longer.”

“Don’t lie, Damian.”

Damian returned to the place they’d been sitting and reached for the unopened bottle. Pulling the cork with his teeth, he spat it onto the sand. Suddenly getting drunk seemed to be a marvellous idea.

“Damian. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Damian took a long drink from the bottle, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “Being one of two mad brothers is one thing. Having a mad brother when you’re perfectly sane… I don’t know. I just—”

“You thought I might decide it was easier to accept I was a bastard and leave you to your fate alone?”

Damian shrugged again.

“That’s cold, Damian, even for you,” Gideon remarked calmly. “You must know I’d never do that.”

Damian stared at the bottle before taking another pull. He swallowed, relishing the burn as the fiery liquid scalded its way to his belly and chased away a little of the chill that had settled there. “I wouldn’t blame you,” he said with a short laugh.

Though it took more courage than he could ever have realised, he turned back to face Gideon.