father!’ Xander snapped angrily. ‘I don’t want—I never want to be him.’
‘You aren’t in the least like him,’ Darius cut in harshly. ‘And you never could be.’
‘But—’
‘You are nothing like him, Xander,’ Darius insisted firmly. ‘If you lost control then you had a damned good reason for doing so, I’m sure,’ he added grimly.
Xander gave a shake of his head. ‘There’s no excuse for the way I behaved.’
‘There is!’ Darius’s hands were once again clenched at his sides. ‘There must be,’ he insisted firmly.
Xander’s expression softened. ‘I want to believe that, but...’
‘But nothing,’ his twin dismissed bleakly. ‘Xander, we both suffered at his hands, you physically, and me— Do you have any idea of the guilt I’ve carried around all these years?’
Xander visibly swallowed. ‘Guilt?’
‘Yes, damn it, because I was the one he didn’t hit!’ Darius moved restlessly away from the bed, his face as pale as his twin’s. ‘So many times I tried to draw his attention away from you, but it never worked.’ He drew in a ragged breath. ‘And all these years I’ve wondered if I could have done something differently. If I had maybe just...’
‘It wasn’t your fault, Darius,’ Xander reassured him gruffly.
‘It always felt as if it was!’ He breathed heavily. ‘That last time he hit you—I just wanted it to stop, Xander. For him to stop!’
‘I know, Darius.’ His twin spoke softly. ‘Mother and I have always known, but been too afraid to ask, to confirm, our suspicions. I’ve dealt with it by ignoring it, and Mother has dealt with it by a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has resulted in the two of you barely speaking to each other unless it’s absolutely necessary.’
‘Dealt with what?’ Darius looked baffled.
Andy had been feeling decidedly uncomfortable these past few minutes, knowing she was intruding on a very private conversation between the two brothers, and that she was learning much more about the Sterne twins than Darius would thank her for when he was feeling less emotional. ‘I think I should go now and leave the two of you to talk,’ she put in softly.
The brothers both turned to look at her blankly, confirming they had both forgotten she was there.
‘When, or if, you have the time, could I ask that you call me to let me know how Xander is?’ she now asked Darius gently before turning to smile at Xander. ‘And you just concentrate on getting better, hmm?’ she encouraged huskily. ‘Your brother loves you very much.’
Xander’s smile was bleak. ‘I know.’
‘I’ll walk you out, Miranda,’ Darius stated evenly.
‘There’s no need, really.’
‘There’s every need,’ he insisted firmly. ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes,’ he assured Xander before following Andy from the room. ‘I’m sorry you had to hear any of that,’ he said gruffly once they were outside in the hospital corridor.
Andy wasn’t. The conversation between the two brothers had been very revealing. And it confirmed, she believed, that the way Darius distanced himself from others, and his difficult relationship with his mother, all stemmed from a childhood spent with what now sounded like an abusive father, and a mother who preferred not to talk about it after the death of her husband.
She placed her hand on Darius’s arm. ‘You and Xander need to talk.’
‘It seems that we do.’ He nodded grimly. ‘I— Thank you for driving me here today, Miranda. I appreciate it more than I can tell you. I’ll talk to you again when I’ve sorted this mess out.’
‘Don’t worry about me, Darius,’ Andy hastened to reassure him, not wanting him to feel as if he had to contact her, be with her, again. ‘Just concentrate on sorting out your relationship with Xander and your mother.’
He grimaced. ‘It sounds pretty messed up, hmm?’
‘It sounds...complicated. But if anyone can resolve it, you can,’ she added reassuringly.
‘I admire your confidence in my abilities—’ he smiled bleakly ‘—but it sounds as if I should have done that years ago.’
Andy squeezed his arm. ‘Then you’ll do it now.’
Darius looked down at her. ‘You really believe that, don’t you?’
She smiled. ‘You’re Darius Sterne. Of course I believe it.’
He took both of her hands in his much larger ones. ‘And you’re Miranda Jacobs. And you should dance again.’
‘What?’ Andy gave him a frowning glance.
‘You should dance at my mother’s gala, Miranda,’ he told her gruffly.
She swallowed. ‘I don’t think...’ She gave a slightly dazed shake of her head. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Good.’ He gave her hands a squeeze before releasing them and stepping back. ‘I’ll call you later,’ he promised.
* * *
‘Mother, I wanted to talk to you about— Miranda?’
Andy had given a start at the unexpected sound of Darius’s voice, her hands starting to shake and causing the fine china teacup to rattle in its saucer, as she turned to look at him across Catherine Latimer’s elegantly decorated blue and cream drawing room.
It had been five days since Sunday night when Darius had called her and reassured her that the doctors had said that Xander would eventually make a full recovery.
Since then there had been only silence between them.
And it wasn’t too difficult to guess why.
Andy had known at the time that Darius wouldn’t thank her for overhearing that conversation between himself and Xander.
Although she doubted that was the only reason for Darius’s silence.
The two of them had made love last Sunday, and the fact that Darius hadn’t contacted her since seemed to indicate he now regretted it. As Andy had suspected he might. He might have desired her, wanted to make love to her, but she really wasn’t his type.
Looking at Darius now, dressed in one of those exquisite business suits he habitually wore, made it hard for Andy to believe he was the same man who had made love to her the previous weekend.
Difficult, but not impossible, as the heated awareness now suffusing Andy’s body testified!
Caught up now, as she was, in the direct glow of his eyes, Andy couldn’t have answered his question at that moment if her life had depended upon it.
Darius
