“How do you like your tea, Mr. Wilder?” A voluptuous redhead, who had introduced herself as Holly Pendragon and married to Dylan, now prompted politely. She held a silver teapot poised over one of the half-dozen china teacups on the silver tray Carys had brought into the room a few minutes ago.
Another woman, slender, with long auburn hair, had entered the room a few seconds later and sat herself down on Grigor’s lap before introducing herself as his wife, Gayle, and also Holly’s sister.
“Lemon rather than milk, thank you.” Maddox sat on one of the leather couches in the sitting room of the castle. He had allowed himself to be persuaded into coming inside only as a way of being with Carys for a little longer.
Only to now be totally aware of the pale faces and blatant stares of the other four men in the room. The two women, not having been involved in the previous conversation, merely seemed puzzled by their husbands and brothers-in-laws’ behavior.
The dark-haired, dark-eyed brother had introduced himself to Maddox as they walked through the stone entrance hall, past the hugest decorated Christmas tree Maddox had ever seen. He was indeed Grigor, the eldest of the Pendragon brothers.
Once they were all comfortable in the sitting room festooned with holly bowers and another, smaller, decorated tree, Grigor had introduced the three brothers now present as Garrett, Dylan, and Bryn. Which meant of the five brothers he had been informed were at home, Nathaniel was the only brother still missing. He was Christmas shopping with his family, according to Carys.
The blond man who had joined them at the front door was Garrett.
Dylan, dark-haired and blue-eyed, had entered the room at the same time as his wife.
Bryn was the dark-haired man with the strange brown—bronze colored?—eyes, who had come down the stairs cuddling the sleeping baby.
Intriguingly, now that Maddox could see all four men up close, he noticed they had totally different-colored eyes. Grigor’s were so dark, they were almost black. Bryn’s were that curious brown-bronze color. Garrett’s eyes shimmered the dark gray of mercury. Dylan’s were a clear sapphire blue.
Maddox couldn’t claim to be an expert on DNA, but he was pretty sure it was impossible for true brothers to have such diversified eye color. They all appeared to be aged in their mid-thirties too, so maybe the Pendragon brothers were all adopted? And yet, despite their different hair coloring and eyes, the brothers all bore a startling facial resemblance to each other. They all had those piercing eyes, high cheekbones, sculpted lips and chiseled jaws. They were also all well over six feet tall, with wide shoulders and a muscular build.
Eerily, Maddox saw a similar facial structure, height, and build every morning when he looked in the mirror to shave.
Which perhaps explained Bryn’s reaction when he first saw him?
But Maddox knew how impossible it was for him to be connected to the Pendragon family.
“Your accent says you’re from the States.” Holly smiled as she handed him his cup of tea. “Did your family originate from England?”
Maddox felt the usual shutter come down when anyone asked for information about his antecedents, or anything else about his past. “Probably,” he bit out.
“Either they did or they didn’t,” Grigor challenged.
Maddox shot the pushy bastard an icy glance. “I originate from England, but I have no idea if my family did too. In any case, as Holly noticed, I’ve lived in the States long enough to have an accent.” He was deliberately vague about when he moved to America, having decided there was absolutely no reason why he needed to tell the Pendragon family anything about himself that he didn’t want to. Which was pretty much everything.
“With your family?” Grigor pressed.
“No,” Maddox drawled.
“We don’t mean to pry, Mr. Wilder,” Gayle began.
“Maddox,” he invited smoothly.
“We pronounce the name Madoc in Wales.” Carys’s eyes widened guiltily as all of the Pendragon family, realizing she hadn’t left the room after delivering the tray of tea-things, now turned as one to look at her. “Well, we do,” she defended.
“Perhaps you should return to the kitchen now, Carys? I’ll ring for you when it’s time to remove the used tea-things,” Holly assured kindly.
Maddox once again felt irritated at the dismissal of the woman who was the only reason he had agreed to enter the castle at all. But he could hardly object when Carys was employed by the Pendragon family. But if he had his way, and he invariably did, that employment wouldn’t exist for much longer.
Mine.
Yes, okay, yes, she’s going to be mine, Maddox acknowledged impatiently. But not before I’ve dealt with the asshole Pendragon brothers.
“What the fuck!” Bryn stood abruptly, the sudden movement disturbing the baby in his arms. It gave a little whimper before once again settling into sleep. “Tell me I wasn’t the only one who felt that?” he demanded of his brothers.
“You weren’t,” Grigor assured grimly. “Nor is it the first time Garrett and I have felt it.”
Maddox eyed them guardedly. Over the years, he had become used to this mainly one-sided dialogue with the voice in his head, but to his knowledge, no one else had ever heard—or felt—it. The way all the Pendragon brothers were now staring at him, with expressions ranging from disbelief to wonder, warned him that was probably no longer the case.
And he had no idea how that was even possible.
He rose abruptly to his feet. “Who the hell are you?”
“I believe that’s the question I asked you earlier,” Grigor reminded.
His irritation grew. “I already told you who I am.”
“Then let’s rephrase the question,” Grigor drawled. “What are you?”
Carys, having taken advantage of the Pendragons’ distraction to remain standing quietly against one of the walls, now listened avidly to the conversation. Maddox Wilder’s arrival, and this conversation, was the most excitement she’d had in the three weeks of working here.
“I’m sure you are aware you bear some…resemblance in your height and build to the four of us?” Grigor rasped.
Maddox Wilder raised one dark brow. “Are you saying you asked me these intrusive questions because you think one of our ancestors might have been related?”
“Your likeness to our brother Gideon would seem to say it’s more than a possibility.” Dylan spoke softly, staring at Maddox as intently as his brothers did.
Their visitor shrugged. “I thought all human beings were connected if we took our DNA back far enough,” he dismissed.
“Would you be willing to allow me to take some of your blood so that I can do tests to compare our—”
“No,” Maddox refused before Dylan could finish the request.
“Why not?” he persisted.
“Because a past connection, possibly centuries old, would not be relevant to the here and now,” Maddox Wilder stated. “I have no family. I have never had any family.”
“We all had a mother,” Grigor taunted.
Maddox’s gaze turned icy. “Obviously. But I never knew mine. Or who fathered me,” he dismissed in a hard voice.
Carys could hear the underlying warning in his tone for the Pendragon brothers not to attempt to delve any deeper into those two challenging statements.
Carys had been born at home and lived all her life in the same village, surrounded by numerous relatives, and known by everyone as the daughter of Angharad and Dafydd Evans. She couldn’t begin to imagine being so utterly without family or roots.
“You were brought up in the childcare system?” Grigor probed.
“Considering we’ve just met, I don’t believe how or where I was brought up, or who my parents or ancestors were, to be any of your fucking business,” Maddox bit out icily, not having resumed his seat. “Any more than I have any interest in knowing anything about any of you or your relatives,” he added cuttingly.
Carys’s heart ached for how this man had obviously been alone most, if not all, of his life.
The Pendragon family was the complete opposite. Unusually, the eight brothers, their wives, and families, all still resided in the castle. For a brief time, Nathaniel and Chloe had lived in a house built for them on the other side of the mountain, but they had moved back into the castle less than six months later, before Chloe gave birth to their daughter, Amelia.
The family all lived here together. They ate together too, the couples taking it in turns to prepare the evening meal.
Carys had two older brothers, and they all fought about everything, from who used the bathroom first in the morning to who did the dishes in the evening.
Not the Pendragons. Even their children played together in the same nursery, usually watched over by one or two of their mothers.
This living arrangement made the Pendragon family very close-knit. It was an emotional and physical closeness Maddox Wilder had obviously never experienced.
Grigor shrugged. “I asked with the intention of complimenting you on the success you’ve made of your life, if that was the case.”
“Can I take it that you’re finished with the interrogation now?” Maddox’s top lip curled back, his eyes narrowed in challenge. “I should be going. I’m sure the engineer must have arrived by now and hopefully fixed the helo.”
Carys felt a sinking feeling in her chest at the thought of never seeing Maddox Wilder again. It was the weirdest sensation, as if a vital part of her would leave when he did.
“Would you care to walk out with me?”
Carys blinked when she realized Maddox was not only talking to her but was now standing in front of her. “Um.” She shot the Pendragon family a guilty look because, despite being dismissed, twice, she was still standing here blatantly listening to their conversation.
Her mother would not be pleased with her if any of the family complained about Carys’s behavior to her.
Except, as temporary housekeeper here, it was Carys’s job to escort guests to the front door. “Of course,” she answered Maddox brightly, avoiding the gazes of all the Pendragon family as she preceded him out of the room. No doubt one of them would speak to her later, if they thought it necessary, regarding her forwardness with their guest. For the moment, she didn’t care and was just enjoying being with this dark and brooding man.
She was halfway across the stone entrance hall when she realized Maddox was no longer following her. She turned back to see he had come to a halt in front of the battered suits of armor and chain mail hanging on the wall.
She walked back to join him. “I believe they belonged to some of the Pendragon ancestors,” she explained.
Maddox stared at the chain mail and battered plates of metal roughly shaped to men the same height and build as the Pendragon brothers.
He was unable to look away as a mist-shrouded image swirled and began to form inside his head. It was of ten tall and powerful men, clothed in this same chain mail and hewn metal plates, their expressions triumphant as they held bloodied swords aloft. “There are no swords,” he murmured softly.
“We’ve locked them out of harm’s way now there are children in the house.”
Maddox turned to look up enquiringly at a black-haired woman with vivid blue eyes as she looked down from the gallery above them.
She smiled. “I hope I didn’t startle you. I’m Tegan, Bryn’s wife,” she introduced warmly.
“Maddox Wilder,” he supplied.
“Very nice to meet you.” She glanced at the armor on the wall. “We thought it prudent to lock the swords away now that some of the children are mobile.”
Maddox nodded. “Very sensible.”
“We thought so,” she agreed. “If you’ll excuse me? I’ve just returned from a walk to the post office, and I’m wet and cold and very much in need of a warming shower.”
“Is it still snowing?” he enquired politely.
“A little, but not too heavily, if you’re walking back to the village.”
“I am, yes.” He smiled. “Nice to have met you too.” It seemed only the female members of the Pendragon family had manners.
Maddox took a light grasp of Carys’s arm, and the two of them continued to walk together toward the front door.
Thankfully, that image of battle-worn warriors wielding aloft bloodied swords was no longer swirling inside Maddox’s head.