Page 146 of The Seven Rings
“Does your in-house DJ still favor rock?”
“They do.”
Deuce moved the next piece.
His hand still on the knight. The flames in the hearth froze in place. The music stopped.
And Collin turned toward Sonya, smiled.
“Trey looks so like him, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“We sat here like this countless times over the years, Deuce and I. No one ever had a better friend than I in Deuce Doyle. Thick and thin, he was there for me, always. You understand that bond.”
“Yes. You…”
“Look like your father. I wish I’d known him better.”
“Better?”
“We met, in a way. Through the mirror. As a child I thought of him as my imaginary friend. And later, a kind of dream. When I learned,from Deuce, he was real, that I had a brother, my twin, a mother who’d loved and wanted me, it was too late.”
It no longer struck Sonya as odd she’d have a conversation with someone who’d died before she’d known he’d existed.
And there were things she wanted to say.
“I’m sorry. I think—I really believe—you’d have been there for each other, too. So I’m sorry for both of you.”
“So am I. It’s something that can’t be changed. This night, with Deuce, was just before I met Johanna. I’d known love. It sits across from me here, but I’d never known what it was to love a woman with every fiber, every thought, every breath, and to be loved by her.”
“She was beautiful. I don’t just mean physically. The way Corrine talks about her, I know she was beautiful.”
“Oh, she was. My life changed with that love, and changed again when I lost her.”
She heard the wistfulness in his words, and still with it, the grief for what might have been.
“Deuce, Corrine, Ace, Paula, then Trey, Anna, Owen. They were here for me, always. Others, too, but those formed the core, the heart of my family.”
“They’re still here for you.”
“That’s true, isn’t it?” His face softened with a smile. “In so many ways, I lived a fortunate life. You’re my brother’s daughter. I want to tell you, I didn’t know the full extent of the danger here. Dobbs never troubled me, or not enough to worry me. If I’d known…”
He trailed off, shook his head. “I’m not sure what I’d have done. I couldn’t share this with my brother. The manor, the business, all I inherited should have been half his.”
“He had a good life in Boston, a fortunate life. He loved, and was loved.”
“Yes, and that dulls the sting. I wanted you to have all of this. I needed you to, and felt absolutely certain, blood kin or not, you were the right choice. Know that I was proud of you, from a distance.”
She started to take a step forward, but felt, strongly, she couldn’t. Shouldn’t.
“Why from a distance?”
“You had that good life. Weighed with grief, for my Johanna, for the brother taken from me, for all of it, I felt inadequate, intrusive, and cowardly.” He looked toward the fire a moment, then back at her. “A mistake I hope you’ll forgive.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I’m grateful, beyond words grateful. I love the manor, and did from the minute I saw it. I love knowing I have more family, and the history of that family. You gave me an incredible gift.”
“And a burden with it.”
