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“Then two years later you returned for additional medical training,” Logan said, prompting him to continue.
Now that it was out in the open, Braden was going to be honest with his brothers, no matter how rotten and humiliating it felt to admit what he’d done.
“That was the excuse. I did take up studies at the university, but why I really went back was to see Annalise.” He steeled himself to say the words. “I began an affair with her. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway.”
He glanced first at Kade, whose gaze was nothing but sympathetic, then at Logan. His older brother was regarding him with an expression that could best be described as wry.
“Of course you did,” said Logan. “I expect by then you were madly in love with the lass.”
“That didn’t make it right,” Braden insisted. “I knew that Kendricks do not get involved with married women. We never take advantage of women, period. That actuallyispart of the code.”
“But did you take advantage of her?” Kade asked.
Braden cut him a frown. “Of course I did. She was in a terrible situation, and I should never have been intimate with her.”
Logan absently tapped his finger on the edge of his glass. “Hmm. I’m curious as to who made the first move.”
“Why does that matter?”
“I’ll wager it was Annalise,” Kade said. “Even on that first visit it was obvious to me that she liked you very much.”
“That hardly grants me absolution.”
Logan made an impatient sound. “Annalise was a grown woman and, from the sounds of it, was capable of making her own decisions. Yes, an affair was a mistake, but stop pretending that she wasn’t able to decide for herself what she wanted. No matter what happened subsequently, don’t take that away from her.”
Braden opened his mouth to protest but then shut it. He’d never looked at the situation in quite that light.
“She loved you, Braden,” Kade said, “and she needed someone to love her in return—someone good and kind. That was you.”
Theyhadloved each other, and they’d tumbled into a brief, mad affair that had burned as torrid and bright as a bonfire on Midwinter’s Eve. But like that fire, the affair had burned them up, leaving in its wake a legacy of sorrow, bitterness, and shame.
“And my love got her killed,” he said.
There was a short, fraught silence while Braden stared down at his clenched hands, waiting for his brothers to react.
“Look at me, lad,” Logan finally said.
When Braden glanced up to meet his brother’s gaze, he saw only understanding mingled with affection.
“Kade and I love you, as does the entire family,” said Logan. “We know what a good, good man you are. Nothing you say is going to change our feelings for you.”
“Aye, that,” Kade added in a gruff voice. “So stop being an idiot and tell us what happened. Let us help you.”
Braden managed a smile. “Sorry.”
He took a moment to put on the emotional armor that protected him from the horrific memories of those last few days.
“I begged Annalise to come with me to Scotland. I told her that she could probably get an annulment under the Scottish marriage laws. But if not, we—our family—could protect her. We would keep her safe. I would keep her safe, even if it meant giving up my career and place in society. I know that would have been difficult for all of you—”
Logan interrupted. “As if any of us would have cared about difficulties.”
Of course they wouldn’t have cared. They were loyal to the bone, his brothers. Somehow, in the sorrow and rage of that dreadful time, Braden had forgotten that.
“At first, Annalise refused,” he said. “She worried that she’d never see her family again. But more than anything, she was terrified that Ritter would kill her if he found out. But I was afraid he was going to kill her unless she left him.”
“What about Countess Geisler?” Kade asked.
“She’d managed to put a degree of fear into Ritter, so he’d backed off. But then the countess suffered a stroke and was unable to protect Annalise. The abuse got worse after that.”
