'Yes,' Harrison agreed. 'So you've told me. It didn't take me long to figure out you all banded together to form your own family, but I couldn't accept the fact that you'd gotten to Montana Territory all by yourselves. I had no reason to trust any of you, just as you had no reason to trust me. All of us had our reasons. I made several mistakes along the way. Two surprised the hell out of me.'
'What were your mistakes?' Douglas asked. 'One, I procrastinated. I could have found out what I needed to know much sooner, but I held back. I didn't take advantage of opportunities, and that, you see, isn't at all like me. I've never been one to put off anything…'
'You haven't been here all that long. It's only been six or seven weeks,' Cole reminded him.
'It seems much longer to me. I didn't realize I was dragging my feet until recently. I grew up pretty much on my own, and I've never really known what a real family was like. Each of you would give your life to keep the others safe. Such love and loyalty were foreign concepts to me. I loved my father and I was loyal to him and to my government. My loyalty extended to Elliott too. There's a bond between us because of what we've both been through, but it isn't at all the same.'
'The same as what?' Cole asked, trying to understand.
'The bond between brothers and sisters,' Harrison explained. 'You constantly amazed me. You insult each other. You're loud and forceful. You argue all the time, push and shove each other, and, honest to God, how I envied you. All of these years I pictured Lady Victoria as a victim. God was certainly watching out for her though. He gave her the four of you.'
Harrison paused to draw a breath. 'Cole, every time you shoved me the way I'd watched you shove Travis and Douglas, and every time you threatened me or laughed at me, I felt like I was part of your family.'
The brothers were moved by Harrison 's honesty. Cole understood what Harrison was saying far better than the others, however. He still remembered the loneliness and desolation he'd experienced before Adam had taken him under his wing.
'What was your other big mistake?' Adam asked. 'You said you'd made several along the way, but two really took you by surprise.'
Harrison nodded. He remembered what he'd said. 'I fell in love with your sister.'
Cole shook his head. 'She's going to hate you because you deceived her.'
'For a little while, I imagine she will,' Harrison agreed. 'It won't matter though. I want all of you to understand my intentions here and now. I will have her.'
The force in his words got their full attention. No one knew what to make of his vehement statement.
'What exactly do you mean?' Cole asked.
'I'm a man of honor,' Harrison began. 'At least I like to believe I am.'
'And?' Cole persisted.
'I'm telling you my intent.'
'But what exactly are you telling us?' Travis asked.
'I've protected your sister and pretty much left her alone. I'm going to continue to protect her, but from this moment on, I assure you I have no intention of leaving her alone. I've told myself all the reasons why I don't deserve her, and none of them matter any longer. I'll never have enough money. Travis, one day I think you'll understand that truth as well. Elliott would marry her to someone far more worthy by society's standards, but not by mine. No one will ever love her the way I do. She will belong to me.'
Cole's mouth dropped open. He'd never heard Harrison sound so passionate. Douglas was just as thunderstruck. 'Are you saying you're going to seduce our sister?'
'Yes.'
'You can't be serious…' Travis began.
'I meant every word I just said. She's going to belong to me. Forever. She'll carry my name and bear my children.'
Travis shook his head. 'I can't believe you've got the guts to tell us what you're planning to do.'
'Do you really think we'll let you try to touch her?' Cole asked.
Harrison lost his patience. 'Try? I don't ever try anything. I do exactly what I say I'm going to do.'
Douglas smiled. 'Don't you think Mary Rose ought to have a say about her seduction? We all know you wouldn't force her.'
'No, I wouldn't ever force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. She loves me, but she hasn't figured it all out just yet. She will though. She's a very intelligent woman. She'll give me permission before I bed her, and bed her I will.'
'So you say,' Cole snapped. 'Adam, what do you think about this?'
'She does love him,' Adam replied. ' Harrison 's right about that.'
' Harrison, you haven't already…' Travis was going to ask if he'd already seduced Mary Rose and then stopped himself. The look Harrison gave him made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.
Cole laughed. 'Hell, Travis, he wouldn't be in such a foul mood if he'd bedded her.'
'You're talking about our sister, I'll have you remember,' Travis muttered.
'What about Lord Elliott?' Adam asked. 'You said he'd marry her to someone more willing. Does that mean you're planning to tell him you found his daughter or are you going to let it rest?'
'I'm going to tell him, of course,' Harrison answered. 'He has a right to know, Adam. His agony will finally be over. The man has suffered long enough.'
No one said a word for a long minute. The brothers were all thinking about Mary Rose's father and trying to imagine what it must have been like for him to lose his daughter.
Adam finally broke the silence. 'Yes, he has suffered long enough. I wouldn't have stopped looking for my daughter. I'm certain I would have been as obsessed with finding her as Elliott was. Dear God, the agony he and his wife endured. It makes my heart ache to think about it. His misery became our blessing,' he added with a nod. 'I wonder if he'll understand.'
'I'll make him understand,' Harrison assured the brother. 'He won't blame you or send anyone after you. Mary Rose has a family back in England. There are aunts and uncles and cousins too numerous to count. Your sister has a title and wealth. Elliott won't come here to see her. He won't have to. She'll go to him.'
'How can you be so certain?' Douglas asked. 'You said a few minutes ago that you wouldn't tell her. Have you changed your mind?'
'No, I haven't changed my mind.'
'Well then?' Cole asked.
'I won't tell her. You will.'
No one said a word for a long while. Harrison thought the brothers were busy wrestling with their consciences.
They would eventually do the right thing. He had lived with them long enough to know without a doubt that they would be honorable.
Adam made the decision for the others. 'Yes, we'll tell her.'
'She won't want to leave,' Cole argued.
'It doesn't have to be forever,' Adam countered. 'She does have an obligation, however.'
'She won't see it that way,' Travis said.
'You know your sister as well as I do. Do you really believe she'll let Elliott suffer any longer?'
'Damn it, she doesn't even know him,' Douglas said.
'She'll have to go and meet him. She'll want to put his mind at ease. With gentle prodding, Mary Rose will do the right thing. She'll want to procrastinate perhaps, but we won't let her. You know I'm right, Douglas. I don't like this any better than you do.'
Harrison was sympathetic. 'You have no one to blame but yourselves,' he said. 'You raised her to be noble.'
'When are you leaving?' Douglas asked.
'Soon,' Harrison answered. 'I've stayed too long as it is,' he added. 'Elliott is depending on me to take over the negotiations for a merger he put together.'
'The sooner you leave the better as far as I'm concerned,' Travis said. 'You didn't have to tell us about Elliott, you know. He's an old man, isn't he? And he'd already given up. Why did you have to take over his hunt?'
