My hand balled into a fist and . . . I couldn’t do it.
What the hell was I going to say to her, anyway?Here, take these flowers. By the way, sorry I’m responsible for your fiancé’s death. How about you marry me instead?
Could you imagine? Maybe I should come back tomorrow, once I’d had more time to prepare.
I turned to leave; Broderick blocked my exit.Before I could tell him to get out of the way, the bastard leaned forward and rapped on the door.
The door flew open, and Roisin’s mother appeared with a demure smile. “Prince Caiman. What a pleasant surprise.” Her gaze dropped to the pathetic heap of flowers strangled in my fist, and a ghost of a smile crossed her lips.
“Is your . . . ah . . . daughter here?” I managed through my tight throat. “I would like to speak with her.”
“She is. Come in.” She stepped aside, opening the door wider. “I’ll get Roisin now.” Her skirts swirled as she turned for the adjoining bedchambers. My heart beat wildly in my chest.
“I’m not going out there,” Roisin hissed a moment later, “and you cannot make me.”
“He is to be your husband. You need to speak with him.”
“I’d rather die than marry that evil wretch.”
“Keep your voice down. Do you want him to hear you?”
“As if I care. You know what? I’ve changed my mind. Iwillspeak to him, so I can tell him to his face that he is a—”
A door slammed. Lady Seren came out, her smile tight and shoulders rigid. “I’m afraid my daughter is feeling unwell at the moment. It has been a trying week for us all. Perhaps you could call back later when she is feeling better?”
What other choice did I have? “You might tell her that I . . . ah . . . I hope she feels better soon. Good day, Lady Seren.”My shoulders fell as I started for the exit. Time to deal with the rest of the disaster that had become my life. Lord Devon wanted to meet to discuss news from the Black City and—
“Prince Caiman?”
I stilled halfway to the door. Before I could turn, Roisin’s mother wrapped me in a vanilla-scented embrace. When was the last time someone had hugged me?
My mother. She’d hugged me that fateful morning. Told me she loved me.
When I’d returned to her chambers for lunch, I’d found her on the floor.
My throat closed as the tears came. No matter how many times I swallowed, the pain refused to ease.
When Lady Seren drew away, she offered a sad smile. “It is sometimes difficult to bring ourselves from our own grief to acknowledge someone else’s. My daughter may have lost her betrothed, but you lost your brother. And for that, I am so dreadfully sorry.”
Alrec was no more my brother than Broderick. Still, I accepted the gesture with a nod and continued into the hall.
All of this was such a bloomin’ mess. A disaster.Dammit.
I launched the forgotten flowers against the wall.I’d never wanted any of this. My gaze snagged on Roisin’s door. That wasn’t entirely true, was it? I may have wanted her, but not by default or at Alrec’s expense. I’d wanted her to choose me.
Broderick began collecting the flowers, making me feel like a bold child. “I’ll take care of it,” I told him, dropping to my knees to help pick them up. There was no sense in the staff having to come by and do it either. I made the mess and was perfectly capable of cleaning up after myself.
He handed me the broken stems with a stern frown. The same one my father used to wear when I’d throw a fit over Alrec beating me at one thing or another. A game. A race. A fight.
“Sometimes my temper gets the better of me,” I confessed.
Broderick’s eyebrows arched. “Is that so? Because I have never seen a man with more restraint.”
“How can you say that when you know the truth?” That I’d baited Alrec. Taunted him into doing something so foolish.
“I can say itbecauseI know the truth.”
He was wrong. A better man would’ve held his tongue until we’d both calmed down and spoken rationally. A better man would’ve done anything to stop his brother from charging off to his own death.