Page 77 of The Haunted Duke

Adrian’s eyes widened as he looked up from the letter.

“That long? Why did you not tell us?” Adrian asked.

Evander bowed his head as he heard the worry and disappointment in his brother’s voice.

“I did not want to put anyone else in danger. I thought if I discovered the writer on my own—”

“You are not alone anymore!” Adrian snarled, clutching his hands around Evander’s shoulders. “You are our family! We love you, Evander!”

“And I love you!” he snarled back, allowing his beast one last roar before it slipped back into his mental cage. “Such love is why I wanted to keep you from it! You have found happiness in your lives; why would I taint them with such darkness?”

“There will be no happiness if something happens to you again. Have you stopped to think what this would do to us? What it would do to Elara and your mother, not to mention your wife? This ends now,” Damien warned, approaching the Mason brothers. “Do you understand me? No more keeping things from us. We are going to help you with this, and that is final. We are brothers in bond, even if not in blood, and from now on, you share this burden with us and allow us to help you.”

Evander’s massive shoulders bowed as his throat became choked with emotion.

“I cannot allow either of you to go through what I went through,” he rasped. “You have no idea what it would do to me to have either of you captured in your attempts to help me. You have no idea what these people are capable of.”

“Then we do not get caught,” Adrian retorted, leveling his gaze at him. “And we figure this out. Quickly.”

“I cannot believe you would be so stubborn, Evander. That night you were caught… It all happened just because you kept us in the dark. We were out drinking instead of being there to protect you! You cannot put yourself or us in such a position ever again!” Damien was furious.

Too exhausted from carrying his burden alone, Evander nodded. He reached out and squeezed both of their shoulders.

“All right. I will share everything with you. Just promise me Helena will never find out,” he insisted, sending a pleading glance first to Adrian, then to Damien. “She already worries far too much about me.”

Adrian let out a dry, humorless chuckle.

“I believe it is best that none of our wives find out. They might find a way to lock us up and throw away the keys,” Adrian quipped.

“You are asking the impossible of me, but I agree that I would not want to stress Caroline during her pregnancy. She has been through enough as it is.”

“Just pray that Elara does not find out about this. She would skin us if she knew that we were keeping her in the dark once more,” Adrian said.

“Given that she risked her own life to save you last time, I think her husband would thank us to keep her in the dark about this.”

Evander huffed out a laugh and nodded.

“Come along,” Damien urged, nodding toward the hall that we walked out of only moments ago. “Show us the rest. Maybe with a fresh pair of eyes, we can discover something. Surely, we have given your new wife adequate time to scurry away.”

“Devils, the lot of you,” Evander grumbled, even as his lips drew into a satisfied smirk.

“Maybe,” Adrian agreed. “But we are your devils, brother.”

Chapter 28

“Darling, I do apologize for missing dinner,” Evander said the moment he entered their quarters.

Helena, looking beautiful in her white nightgown, offered him a silent, wan smile as she sat at her vanity.

His brow furrowed slightly as he observed her drooping shoulders, the way her hands remained clenched at her knees, and the way her long, golden, tumbling hair served as a curtain over the left side of her face.

“I did not want to leave you alone, but my conversation with Adrian and Damien ran longer than predicted, but it was a discussion most needed,” he went on.

“That is fine,” she offered softly, still not looking up at him. “I had a pleasant time with Nora.”

Evander grimaced at her meek tone.

“We… I have a trip to take with Adrian and Damien,” he pushed on, wanting to get the news out of the way. “It should not take long, but there is…” he searched for the proper word. He was not ready to tell her about the threatening letters, but he did not just want to vanish and leave her to worry either.