of us spoke about that incident afterward, but it had been very difficult for him to endure, and he was forever changed by it. Yet another loved one I’d failed to protect.
“Then why doesn’t Mother know of your travels? Or even where you live?” Lucian asked.
“Lena is on my short list of those with the potential to abuse him,” I said.
Lucian made a dismissive gesture and said to you, “That’s simply not true, Vincent. Don’t listen to him.” He then turned to me and said in an offhand way, “I gather you’re just as protective of him in this life as you were in his last.”
A deep, long-buried dread rose up inside of me. It was inevitable, wasn’t it, that the truth should come out in the worst way possible? I’d always found an excuse to delay. Because I was a coward. I deserved this confrontation, but you did not.
“What does he mean?” you asked me with a furrowed brow.
Lucian’s attention sharpened like a swordsman who’d spotted his opponent’s weakness. His gleeful energy radiated outward in pulsating waves.
“You haven’t told him,” Lucian murmured, glancing over at me as though this was a delicious secret and not a trauma.
“I haven’t,” I admitted, my gaze still upon you. Damn Lucian for exposing me like this. Damn me for allowing this secret to fester.
“Tell me what?” you asked with a wobble in your voice.
I expected Lucian to regale my deceit in detail using the colorful language of a man who slings words as weapons, but Lucian only sat back in the cramped booth and contemplated the situation. He was masterful in politics and business because he analyzed every angle. A true gamesman with little empathy for the actual players, he’d be excellent in a war room.
But now, Lucian hesitated. To reveal my deception would cleave us. Perhaps he would gain you as an ally, but it would be at the expense of the bond between you and me. He clearly wanted the three of us united.
“Vincent, I didn’t orchestrate this meeting to dredge up the past but to focus on the future. Our future.” Lucian said it with a zealous fervor I recognized all too well, a side effect of buying into one of Lena’s schemes.
Clever. You were so very clever. You laid out your hand demurely and Lucian, interpreting this as a gesture of goodwill, took it in his. His eyes were already fixed on yours. Just as I had, he made the mistake of underestimating you.
“Vincent,” I implored.
“Not now, Henri.” The sharpness of your tone said you would not be deterred. “My dear brother,” you cooed like a dove. “I’m so very happy you came to meet me tonight.”
“Me too. I’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time.”
“I have so many things I want to ask you. About our family. About our past. Questions only you can answer.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said dreamily. “Anything at all.”
You smiled sweetly, but it was an act. Underneath your innocent veneer was a stalking tiger. I felt it in your energy, the low, throbbing tension you were trying to mask.
“Tell me about my past life,” you said. “Did you know me?”
“Not very well, but you were quite enchanting. Andronicus was certainly smitten.”
He’d relapsed into my birth name, which meant the truth was imminent.
“How did we meet?” you asked as memories rose from their graves like ghosts, pulling at me with their grabby hands to draw me under.
“I watched you perform. You were dressed all in gold. Your skin, your hair, your crown… all golden. It was truly a decadent display.”
“A performance,” you mused, eyes narrowing. “Tell me, Lucian, what name did Andronicus call me?”
“Vincent—”
You silenced me with a hiss and bared your teeth, just like your cat when I tried to take away the carcass of one of her kills. “You had your chance, Henri. I’m talking to Lucian now. And I want you to be absolutely silent.” The last word you rasped with so much vehemence I broke out in a rash of goosebumps. You’d never in your life taken that tone with me.
“Lucian, tell me my name,” you demanded.
“Orlando.” Lucian said like an automaton.
“Orlando,” you said, the last piece sliding into place. The way your eyes lit up sent a shiver down my spine. “And Andronicus loved him?” you asked.
Tears sprouted in my eyes. I couldn’t help it. In hiding the truth from you, I’d had to bear this burden alone.