He immediately left the family grounds, heading instead for the gently rolling hillside, a greater challenge for any rider. He hadn’t been able to visit before because Jacyn’s riding skills just weren’t up to it yet.
Almost an hour into his ride, he heard the sound of horse’s hooves approaching. He cursed under his breath. He wanted to be alone, dammit.
“Frère.”William’s horse, a sleek, powerful black stallion, drew up alongside his. The horses knew each other well, and fell into step with one another. They rode in silence for a while, until Liam spoke. “You disappeared last night.” There was the mildest note of censure there, regarding the manner in which he and Jacyn had left. “Maman was a little surprised.”
Alex had the grace to admit when he was wrong. “I apologize. Something of,” he coughed, “considerable importance came up.”
“I trust that everything has been handled?” It had been handled all night, he grinned internally.
“You can say that.”
Liam shrugged it off.“C’est rien.When a woman looks the way your fiancée looked last night, it’s natural for a man to be protective.” The other, unspoken reason for Alex to be wary of Liam hung heavy in the air. Liam went on. “Maman looked wonderful, did she not?”
“Almost as if she’s not sick at all,” Alex said dryly.
Liam glanced at him. “You can’t blame a mother for using whatever leverage she could to bring her son home. She’s been lonely ever since Papa died—”
Alex snorted. “You still call him that!”
“What do you call him?”
He thought about it a minute. “Nothing. I don’t call him anything. He wasn’t a good man. He was cruel, manipulative—”
They kept riding, but had slowed their horses to a stroll.
“He was our father,” Liam insisted.
“He was a man who played with his sons as if they were chess pieces. Who actively encouraged us to compete, to fight for his approval.” Alex could feel the old hurts rising inside him. He missed his big brother—the man who had been his friend and hero. “All I can say to you is, don’t let that hurt go down to the next generation. Don’t let Willa have to suffer—”
Liam pulled his horse up so sharply that Alex, who had gone on ahead, had to turn around and come back to him. Liam’s face was like stone.“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”
“It can’t be helped. I’m planning to divorce Sofia.”
He stared at his brother in disbelief, anger heating the blood in his veins. “You’re divorcing her? You’re destroying your family?”
“My family was already—”
“After everything that you did? You want to just divorce her? Haven’t you wrecked enough lives.”
William’s eyes were remorseful, if only for the chance to state his case. “You don’t under—”
“You are fucking monster! Was it worth it? Was everything you’ve done worth it?”
William flinched, visibly struggling to maintain his composure. Finally, he said, with sadness and certainty, “Everything that has happened has resulted in the creation of the beautiful human being that is Willa. So yes, I believe it was worth it.”
Hurt, confused, and enraged, Alex couldn’t find a word to say. Instead, he hissed a quick command to Brute, and the horse turned away. With a single tap of his heels against the horse’s flanks, they were off on a hard, furious ride back home.
It was funny; in the midst of his turmoil, the first person he wanted to see was Jacyn. But her suite was empty, and the housekeepers were already cleaning it. So he headed to his mother’s quarters, where he found Madeline, as she usually was, out on the balcony with a book. He pressed a kiss against each cheek and sat next to her. Immediately, he became infused with her calming energy.
But she could see that something was wrong. She placed her thin hand upon his. “Alex?” her eyes were full of questions.
He shook his head. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Your brother was looking for you. He guessed that you were out in the hills.”
He was incredulous. “He came looking for me? I assumed our meeting was accidental.”
She shook her head. Her hair had been brushed out of the elegant twist she’d worn last night, and fell loosely to her shoulders. “No. He seemed to have something he wanted to talk to you about.” She paused as if considering whether to go on. “You understand, in spite of everything that has gone on between you, you are his brother. His best friend. He wanted your counsel.”