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“I can tell you right now if you answer one question.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Will your parents be living with us?”
Victor cracked a smile. “My father’s going to be carried out of Wilson Manor—his words. So yes, if we live there, we’ll have roommates.”
“No, you’ll have roommates,” I replied, “on your side of the manor.”
“They’re looking forward to being one big happy family. Grandkids running around. Vacations in St. Croix. Filling the main dining table with loads of people. Despite how everything’s gone down, they’re excited about the wedding.”
I dropped my head on the couch. His arm brushed my temple, but I didn’t move.
Neither did he.
“Can I ask you something that might piss you off?”
He copied me, resting his head against the cushion. We were so close we shared the same breath.
“It’s the first time you’ve asked for permission. I’m curious enough to say yes.”
“Why did your parents kick Adonis out of the family?”
His grin dimmed.
“Would it have been so bad if Adonis didn’t marry Catalina? Would it be so bad if you married someone else? If family is what your folks want so desperately, why are they treating the one they got the way they do?”
Sighing, he turned away—looking up at the ceiling. “I know all this is hard to understand,” he began. “I won’t pretend I understand either, or that I even want to defend it. He’s my brother. Their son. Nothing else should’ve mattered.”
“But,” I gently pressed.
“But...” A faraway look glazed his eyes. “There’s been a rivalry between the Wilsons and the Burkhardts going back to the founding of Regalia.”
I didn’t mention that I knew this, or what his ancestor had done to innocent people just to get his hands on some money.
“It’s like an obsession. A sickness, my grandfather called it. Infecting each generation with a need to one-up each other. If a Burkhardt acquires a town, a Wilson has to acquire a city. If a Wilson makes it onto The New York Times Best Seller list, a Burkhardt has to win a Pulitzer. It’s gone on and on until Adonis and Catalina.”
I frowned. “Catalina?”
“Don’t get me wrong. Adonis truly loved her. Their engagement wasn’t arranged or strategic. They did it all the old-fashioned way. Met in college. Started dating. Moved in together. Planned a future,” he said. “Then, things got complicated and they split.”
“I know about the diagnosis,” I admitted. “It’s more than complicated. It’s a tragedy the decision he had to make.”
Victor gaped at me. “He told you about that?”
“He didn’t mean to. He was drunk.”
“Drunk? My brother doesn’t get drunk.”
Clearly, Victor had yet to give Adonis a chance to explain the story behind our kiss. Did that mean they were fighting? I hoped not. The last thing I wanted was to get between brothers as close as they were.
I gave him a sad smile. “I think he does when the woman he loves dumps him because he made a difficult choice.”
“Yeah,” Victor said, blowing out a breath. “Fair enough. I’d swallow a keg whole if it was me. So if you know, then I can tell you the whole story. Even though it’s not why they got together, my parents supported the marriage because the Wilsons have never been real competition in the markets that the Burkhardts dominate, but Catalina’s family is.
“Her father, Mungo Dobson, completed a huge merger a few years ago that’s brought nearly as many private hospitals and clinics under his company umbrella as the Burkhardts have. If Adonis married her and brought them under Wilson Industries, we’d not only outstrip the Burkhardts, but we’d lead the country in private healthcare.
“I don’t have to tell you that my parents supported the match like they arranged it themselves. I’m pretty sure Catalina is the only person on the planet who never received a compliment from my mother, then realized it was actually an insult after she walked away.”
“I know what that’s like,” I muttered. “Are you telling me that’s the real reason they cut Adonis off? It wasn’t about grandchildren or carrying on the Wilson name? It’s all about besting the Burkhardts?”
He stroked my cheek, startling me into shooting up. “You don’t have to say it. It’s all over your face. What a stupid, shallow reason to abandon your son.”
“Of course it’s a stupid, shallow reason. Especially since Adonis was never interested in all that nonsense. He fell in love with someone and wanted to spend the rest of his life with them. And because his parents forced their own expectations on their relationship, he lost them on the same day he lost her. That’s awful!”
Inexplicably, he smiled. “No wonder Adonis spilled all this to you. You look ready to pull your cape on and take on all of Regalia to make this right for him. Anyone else around here would’ve sided with my parents.”
