“Whatever price there is to pay I will be the one to pay it, not Luz Alana.” Even as he said it, the bile rose in his throat. Not for whatever retribution Apollo would exact but because he knew it was already too late. Luz Alana had asked so little of him. Trusted him while he continued to keep this from her.
She would not forgive him, and he had earned her scorn.
“You can tell her.” Apollo was smiling widely, but his eyes were very serious. “If I had known this was what was troubling you, I’d have understood. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did tell you!” Evan protested, ready to throttle his brother.
“No, you sent me a note telling me that you wanted to change our plan. Did it ever occur to you that if you’d told me how you felt about her and what your true concern was, instead of trying to send me decrees by telegram, I would’ve been more amenable?”
Evan was almost grateful for this because at least it gave him an excuse to purge some of this frustration on someone who could take it.
“Oh, yes. I was supposed to infer that from one of the many times you threatened me with my imminent demise if I crossed you.”
Apollo was completely unnerved by Evan’s outburst.
“I thought by now you knew we are on the same side. I could not accept what you offered.” The earnestness in his brother’s voice significantly mollified Evan’s irritation. Then he opened his mouth again and ruined it. “But if you had told me you’d gone and fallen in love with the woman—”
“Apollo, I am very close to knocking your teeth out,” Evan warned, to which the bastard responded by bellowing with laughter.
“Did no one warn you?” Apollo laughed again. “Caribbean women will turn your life upside down in mere hours, brother. Once you’ve been bitten, there is no cure.”
Evan scarcely understood what was happening to him from one minute to the other.
“If you trust her, then tell her. If my plan is thwarted for any reason, it won’t be Miss Heith-Benzan—”
Evan glared.
“Pardon me,” Apollo said, with feigned remorse. “It won’t beLady Darnickwho I will unleash my wrath on.”
Evan did not feel any relief at the allowance. Telling Luz Alana would prepare her for what was to come but destroy any chance there was of keeping her. He’d always thought that the most wretched moments of his life were already behind him.
That’s why he’d thrown himself into Apollo’s scheme without a second’s hesitation, but the thought of Luz Alana’s disdain, of seeing disappointment in her eyes, that felt like a death. He remembered the sadness in her voice when she’d told him about her father keeping his plans for the distillery from her until it was too late. He couldn’t do it to her. He’d rather have her hate him for telling her the truth than for playing her for the fool.
He would not be another man in her life who dismissed her, who kept her on the outside.
“You’re really tortured about this.” Apollo’s words dragged him from his thoughts.
“Apollo...” The menace in his tone only made his brother’s eyes light up with interest. With their size and tempers, they’d probably end up destroying the room if they got into a brawl, but Evan almost wished Apollo would push him. “And I’ve not fallen for her. I don’t like to lie, that is all.”
“You’ve had no problem lying since I met you. Don’t pretend with me. I’ve had that fever and scarcely survived the very perilous process of it breaking. Whether you are willing to face it yet or not, that heiress owns you, brother. It would do you good to accept that fact and begin behaving accordingly. Then you’ll be able to enjoy the inoculation period.”
“She’s not a disease,” Evan growled.
“I wouldn’t saydisease...Lifelong affliction without any possible cure?Definitely. That is why I do not spar with charming women. Too dangerous.”
Evan looked at his brother through narrowed eyes, equally irritated and relieved to be able to speak to someone about the depths of emotional turmoil Luz Alana had plunged him into. “One day a woman is going to blow your life to smithereens, and I will be there to laugh in your face.”
Apollo’s countenance transformed then into an expression Evan had not seen before—yearning, hope?
“That will never happen, but I look forward to witnessing your further descent in the hands of the Dominican firebrand you married.”
They’d come together to bring down their father, but in Apollo, Evan had found more than an ally: he’d found a friend. The man was true to his word and a formidable coconspirator. From their first meeting, instead of resentment and loathing, Apollo had given him the benefit of the doubt. He’d been open about his intentions and never placed their father’s wrongdoings at his feet. He’d left Evan to prove himself and his integrity.
Apollo was relentless and meticulous in everything he did, but more importantly he was fair and fiercely loyal. Evan respected him for that, and he’d begun to care for this brother who he’d never known yet in fundamental ways seemed like a kindred spirit. So different than Iain, who had never been able to stand up to their father, and whose vices and weaknesses had eventually put him in an early grave.
Evan had always blamed his father for Iain’s death. For encouraging his firstborn’s proclivities for drinking and gambling. But now he considered the way that Iain had turned a blind eye to their father interring their mother in an asylum. The times he’d thrown up his hands when Beatrice and Adalyn had needed help. Evan could not help but wonder what it would’ve been like to have Apollo at his side fighting those battles.
“She will never forgive me,” Evan admitted, relieved to say it out loud.
