If you say so? Now just what did that mean? And how to answer the question about how they’d met? Chloe opened her mouth and shut it again. Surely not, I snooped through his penthouse and he tied me to his bed. And then I started turning into a person I hardly recognize anymore. “That’s a long story,” she said warily.

“Those are the best kind—I can’t wait to hear it! I have a few of my own.” Gwen looped her arm through Chloe’s and steered her toward the staircase. “Farley,” she called over her shoulder to the white-haired butler, “would you have tea and coffee sent up to the solar? And some snacks. I’m starving.”

“Right away, milady.” With a doting look at Gwen, the butler rushed off.

“Why don’t we get to know each other while they catch up?” Gwen asked, turning back to Chloe. “They’ve not seen each other in quite some time.”

Chloe glanced again at Dageus. He and Drustan were still standing in the middle of the great hall, talking intently. Just then, as if he felt her gaze on him, Dageus looked at her, tensed, and started to walk toward her.

Surprised by his concern for her at what was clearly a difficult moment for him, Chloe shook her head, assuring him wordlessly that she was fine.

After a moment’s hesitation, he turned back to Drustan.

Chloe smiled at Gwen. “I’d like that.”

Chapter 13

13

When the lasses hastened off to the solar, Drustan and Dageus adjourned to the privacy of the library. A spacious, masculine room with cherry bookcases recessed into paneled walls, comfortable chairs and ottomans, a dusky-rose marble fireplace and tall, bay windows, the library was Drustan’s retreat, much as the glass-faced solar that overlooked the gardens was Gwen’s.

Drustan couldn’t take his eyes off his twin brother. He’d nigh given up hope that Dageus would come home. He’d been dreading what he might have to do if his brother didn’t. But he was here now, and the tight fist that had been clutched around his heart since the day he’d read and, in a fit of fury, burned the letter their da had left him, finally, blessedly, eased a bit.

Dageus tossed himself into a chair near the fireplace, stretched out his legs, and propped his feet on a stool. “What think you of the castle, Drustan? It appears to have withstood the centuries well.”