Bride for a Night(77)

She studied him. Truly studied him. The fallen-angel beauty of his face. The elegance of his body. The power he carried with such ease. And the confidence of a man who had been adored his entire life.

The sight reminded her of her earlier belief that Harry had lived his entire life in Gabriel’s shadow.

“Harry never joined you?”

Gabriel gave a lift of one shoulder. “He had no interest in the estates, only in the luxury they provided for him.”

“Or perhaps he resented your close relationship with your father,” she cautiously suggested. “It would explain why your mother was so eager to overindulge him.”

He instantly bristled. “My father was not to blame for Harry’s treachery.”

“Of course not,” she soothed. “But Harry’s resentment might have begun at an early age and been encouraged by your remarkable popularity among society.” She smiled wryly. “You do, after all, put most gentlemen in the shade.”

“And so now it is my fault?” he demanded, his expression caught between annoyance and pure male vanity.

“No.” She shook her head. “We all have burdens to bear from our childhood. For some, it makes them stronger, for others…” She clutched the jacket tighter, trying to disguise her horror at the evil that must infect Harry to allow him to betray his own country. Gabriel was suffering enough without her making him feel worse. “They use their past as an excuse to remain weak.”

He gave a restless shrug. “It no longer matters why he has chosen his path.”

“I suppose that is true.” She regarded him with concern. “The question is…”

“What I intend to do with him.”

“Yes.”

The pain returned to his face as he folded her back into his arms, laying his cheek on top of her head.

“I do not know,” he admitted. “There is no good solution.”

Well, that was certainly an understatement.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she laid her head over the steady beat of his heart, wishing she had the words to offer him comfort.

“I am sorry, Gabriel.”

His fingers threaded through her hair in an absent caress. “If he is tried and found guilty, the scandal will not only tarnish the Ashcombe name for generations to come, but it will destroy my mother.”

“Must his guilt be revealed?” she demanded softly.

She felt him shudder, his hands slipping beneath the jacket, seeking the warmth of her skin.

“Even if I could live with the shame of protecting my family at the cost of my country, such things have a way of being exposed,” he said harshly. “Indeed, I am shocked that Harry was capable of keeping his sins hidden for so long. He has never been discreet.”

An icy sense of premonition lodged in the pit of her stomach, although she had no need of foresight to know that having to expose his brother as a traitor would break something vital within Gabriel.

“Then allow fate to take its course,” she coaxed. “You need not be the one responsible to decide which it will be.”

His chest expanded beneath her head as he drew in a deep breath.

“I have always been responsible for my brother.”

She pulled back her head to regard him with a strained smile, not forgetting that she was yet another burden he had been forced to shoulder for his brother.

“Yes, I am well aware of the sacrifices you are willing to make for Harry.”

Braced for his ready agreement, Talia’s heart leaped as his eyes instead darkened to smoke, sending a breathless thrill singing through her.