Read Online It's Always Been You by Victoria Dahl - Free Book Online Page A

sense.”
    “No,” Aidan said. “No, it doesn’t. And she’s not Katie Tremont anymore. She’s Mrs. Kate Hamilton.”
    “Oh. Yes. Of course.”
    Of course . As if any of it made any sense. “I must ask you to keep this in your confidence. Her family has no idea she’s returned to England.”
    “Aidan . . .” Edward’s voice had gone ragged at the edges, as if his throat was too tight. “If it weren’t you telling me this, I wouldn’t believe a word. Why has she not told her family?”
    Aidan shrugged. “Her father died last year.” He felt no emotion as he spoke the words. He’d hated the man for a long time, but now he didn’t even feel triumphant.
    “Yes, but her mother! And her brother is the earl now.”
    “I have no idea why, Edward. She asked me not to resurrect her, and I agreed.”
    “Jesus Christ,” Edward breathed. “Katie Tremont. Will you . . . ? What will you . . . ?”
    “She’s married. Her husband is still in India, but she’s married.”
    “I see.”
    But of course, Edward could not see any more than Aidan could see. It was a ridiculous farce. Or a tragedy. A poorly written play, whichever it was.
    Edward retrieved his fallen glass and took Aidan’s as well. He refilled them both before collapsing back into his chair. “Thank you for telling me.”
    “I had to tell someone. And you . . .” He tipped back the whisky and swallowed it all in two long gulps. His throat burned, but so did his eyes. “I wanted to tell you.”
    “I’m glad.”
    Aidan cleared his throat, dislodging any trace of emotion that might linger there. “Are my old trunks still in the attic?”
    “I believe so.”
    “Good. I need to go through them.” He pushed up from the chair, aware that his brain wobbled a bit with the movement.
    “You’re retrieving something for Katie?”
    “I am.”
    “Aidan.”
    Aidan set the glass down carefully on the table, not happy with the warning in his brother’s voice. “Yes?”
    “She’s married. You said so yourself.”
    “And?”
    Edward set his own glass down hard. “Only you would treat that so casually.”
    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    “You know damn well what it means. But Katie Tremont is not just some jaded, bored wife. She is the woman you used to love. And she’s the woman who never once contacted you in the past decade.”
    “I’m well aware of that. You needn’t fear for my heart, brother. It’s no longer tender. I’ve spent years banging it against other women’s backs, as you kindly point out.”
    “Aidan—” Edward started, but Aidan shook his head.
    “It is only the truth.” He was out the door and headed for the stairway before his brother could stop him.
    He cursed as he bounded up the stairs, briefly sorry he’d said one word about Katie. He wasn’t stupid. He knew they were both changed. But that was why he wasn’t afraid. She was married. There was no chance at a tender, innocent reunion. There was no chance he’d tumble into love again and beg her to marry him. She was someone’s wife. And if she was an unhappy wife, well what woman wasn’t? He had some experience in unhappy wives, after all.
    After Katie’s supposed death, the women of the ton had taken an uncomfortably avid interest in his return to the social scene, and that was before he’d even made his fortune. Young women, especially, suddenly began treating him like a rare treasure that had been plunked down in their midst. He’d finally solved the mystery of his appeal weeks later when one of his lovers had made a confession—all her friends were half in love with him, taken with a rumor that he was grieving the death of a secret lover. That was why they wanted him: because he’d lost Katie.
    He’d been coldly furious at the time, sick that Katie’s death had become titillation for the ton, and yet he hadn’t stopped. He’d used the bodies of those women to forget for a few moments, and so he’d used her death as well. As that