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her father very much, even if he can’t be with her anymore, and you are still his brother.”
    Everyone among the staff gasped as the soup was taken away. Liam understood the breach of behavior — his father’s servants never heard anyone put him in his place. It wasn’t a feeling he wanted to get used to.
    Instead of replying with some biting remark, he sat back and said nothing. It was something else he wasn’t used to. He’d never felt a need to censor himself. So why in the hell was he doing it now?
    After several moments of uncomfortable silence, Frederick finally began speaking softly with Whitney, and her delicate laughter drifted across the table and straight through Liam’s veins. It was maddening. And so, when she turned to him and spoke again, he wasn’t as kind as he could have been — to be honest, he wasn’t kind at all.
    “Your home is truly beautiful,” Whitney said.
    Liam looked at her with surprise. Why was she speaking to him when he’d made it so obvious that it was the last thing he wanted? Was she just trying to bait him? Break the tension? What was the deal with her?
    “It’s just an old, cold, drafty house,” Liam told her without even breaking a smile. Still, he had to admire her for not giving up.
    “Why don’t you tell the children some stories about when their father was young?” she said, challenge in her eyes.
    Liam wanted to tell her to mind her own freaking business, except he never used the word freaking . He wished he could rise from the table and walk away. He wanted to do anything other than talk about the brother he’d lost too soon. But Ally spoke next.
    “Did you play with my daddy, like I play with Brayden?” the little girl asked.
    And Liam found himself answering. “Yes, we played sometimes when we were very young,” he said.
    “What kind of games?” Ally pushed.
    “We did fencing, basketball, and baseball sometimes, though that wasn’t my favorite.” He hoped this would be enough to appease her.
    “Did you play board games?”
    “Board games?” he questioned.
    “You know, like Candy Land?”
    “No, I never played Candy Land,” he replied, almost with a sneer. Again he had to wonder what in the world was wrong with him. To try to feel better about himself he said a little more. “We did, however often play Scrabble, which I was excellent at, and chess, which your father always seemed to win.”
    And just like that, the child was beaming at him — hell, her eyes, the same color of blue as his brother’s, were shining with joy. And then the strangest thing of all happened. Liam found himself wanting to keep that light in the child’s eyes.
    “I don’t like Scrabble. Aunt Whitney likes to play, but she always gets the big words.”
    This statement made his father chuckle, and then Liam looked up and his eyes meshed with Whitney’s, which was a huge mistake. For just a moment he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Thank goodness his father broke the tension.
    “I do hope the food suits you,” Frederick broke in.
    His father seemed far more relaxed than he’d ever seen him before. The man Liam had known for having a back of steel wanted to do anything and everything to please these strangers. Strangers with no sense of style or class.
    “It’s wonderful, but I hope you didn’t go to any extra trouble for us,” Whitney told Frederick as she reached out a hand and patted his.
    “I am just so pleased to have you all here,” Frederick said, gripping her fingers for a short moment. Then, when they all went back to eating, the man looked at each of the people at the table individually. “Please feel free to ask me any questions you want.”
    “Why didn’t you want to know us before now?” Brayden said instantly.
    Liam had to wonder how long the boy had been holding that in.
    “Your father and I had a falling out — a disagreement. I’m not happy to say that I was very angry for a long time.”
    Frederick lowered his eyes and didn’t see his