Chapter 131

“Our options are limited,” Archer concedes, and I wilt a bit, hope deflated.

“So you aren’t going to do anything – again,” I say. I don’t care how close Archer is, how intimidating he is, or how much he’s glaring. “You are letting Neil take the brunt of your father’s ire all on his own.”

“That’s how it’s always been done, Nanny,” Beau chimes in. “Neil prefers us to stay out of it.”

“That’s not going to cut it this time,” I say, stepping around Archer. He doesn’t like that. He snatches my arm. I look up at him. “If you want to help Neil, you have to do something.” Softer, I add, “He could die, Archer…”

“Maybe Father will back down this time,” Steven says from near the wall. He’s stopped bouncing Mia, who seems content simply resting in his arms now.

“You don’t actually think that,” Beau grumbles.

“It could be a first…” Steven says.

“And the chances of that happening?” Beau asks.

Steven looks grim. “Slim.”

“Yeah, thought so,” Beau says.

A silence falls over the room. At least everyone seems to be thinking about it, I reason. That’s better than simply shutting me down flat. And it’s the closest thing I’ve gotten to help since this whole thing started.

“Unless…” Archer says. Everyone, including me, perks and looks at him, waiting. Archer looks behind him to Beau. Their expressions shift slightly, like they are having some kind of secret sibling conversation without having to say anything.

I’m about to ask them to share with the class, when Beau sighs. “Gods, I hope that isn’t the case.”

“What?” I ask.

Archer and I look at each other, but it’s Beau that answers.

“Embedding silver isn’t always used for punishment… It’s traditionally used for torture,” Beau says.

“Yeah. I get that. Your dad is punishing Neil by embedding silver,” I say.

“Torture is used for interrogation,” Beau says. “Or… negotiation.”

“Coercion,” Archer says. “I’ve heard that our father sometimes uses the tactic on his enemies to make them more… complacent.”

“He calls it negotiation,” Beau says, “But yeah. It’s entirely one-sided.”

I shook my head. “I don’t see how this matters.” The silver is in Neil. The silver needs to be out of Neil.

“What we’re saying,” Archer says, “is that this might not be a punishment.”

“Makes sense,” Beau adds. “Father was pissed as hell after that engagement flub. But silver over a slip of the tongue? No. Dear old dad wants something from Neil. Something Neil isn’t so willing to give up.”

“What could that possibly be?” I ask, disbelieving. “Neil does everything he wants. He’s even marrying Angela…” Well, assuming Angela doesn’t use the silver poisoning as an excuse to escape the engagement like she wants. At this rate, who knows?

I’ve lost faith in practically everyone I know over this.

“What more could your father want?” I ask.

“Gods know,” Beau sighs. “Neil’s gone along with our father for so long, I can’t imagine he’d actually stand up to him now, of all times.”

“It could be Mia…” Steven says.

“No,” Archer says. “Neil would have told us about that. We’ve vowed to protect Mia together. It has to be something more personal.”

Suddenly, everyone looks at me.

“What?” I ask. Surely, they aren’t insinuating that I am somehow the reason for all of this. No. Neil made his opinions on any kind of future between he and I abundantly clear, just as Archer did.

With the two brothers, I’ve always been something of a passing whimsy. Neil might be fond of me, but he would never let himself get so attached to me that he would withstand the torture of silver poisoning.

“I haven’t even met your father,” I say. “Don’t look at me.”

Archer hummed, non-committal.

“Well, okay… so, if that’s what’s really going on, then great. Doesn’t this make it easier?” I say. “We just have to convince him to give up whatever it is that he’s holding onto. Then your dad will take out the silver, and everyone gets to keep their fragile pride intact, okay?”

Beau laughs. I glare at him, but it only makes him laugh harder.

“Neil is withstanding torture to protect whatever this thing is, and you expect us to just waltz in and convince him to give it up? Do you know my brother at all?”

Okay, that’s a fair point, I guess. Neil is very stubborn. And protective. If he truly believes he is doing the right thing by taking on this pain, then no one in the universe would be able to convince him otherwise. Not his brothers. And not the Nanny under his employ.

Shit.

“Shouldn’t we try?” I ask. “I’m not ready to give up.”

“Yeah, we can see that,” Beau says, and leans back on the couch. His good humor has vanished. Maybe it wasn’t real to start with. It was probably for show. “I vote we stay out of it. Let Neil keep his secrets. He’s made his choice.”

I curse at Beau in my head. Selfish, cowardly asshole. Though… I suppose I can understand wanting to respect someone’s choice. But if that choice might kill them…? I don’t know.

“Neil always protects us,” Steven says. His voice isn’t as loud as the others, but his conviction seems strong enough. “It might be our turn to protect him… Like Chloe said.”

“So much for brotherly unity,” Beau grumbles, though he truthfully doesn’t seem all that upset about it. In fact, he has a hint of a smile like he’s relieved.

“I’ve researched what silver like that will do to someone like Neil over an alarmingly short period of time,” Steven says. He leaves it at that.

The words hang, dark and ominous. I wonder if he explains more, if it would be even worse than the horrible things I’m imagining. I hate to even think about it.

“Well, I vote we help him,” I say.

Beau rolls his eyes. “Is your last name Hayes?”

“No, but –”

“Nannies don’t get a vote.”

I glare at him. He shrugs.

“Your opinion is noted, I guess. Still doesn’t matter.”

If my opinion doesn’t count, then it falls to Archer to decide. He’s still close to me, still holding my arm in a vice-like grip. I look at where he’s holding onto me. He’s not clutching enough to hurt, but I am aware of his presence. It’s like he doesn’t want me to get away.

I look up at his face to find him staring back at me.

“You are the deciding vote,” I whisper. I’m suddenly nervous. Talking too loudly feels like the worst thing I could do in the moment.

Archer looks at me for a long moment. I hold his gaze, hoping to push my conviction into him through our locked gazes. I have no idea if it works.

After that long moment, he sighs.

“Shit,” Beau says, and stands. Does he already know how Archer’s going to answer?

“The very least we can do is find out for sure what Neil is protecting,” Archer says. “Then we can decide if his sacrifice is worth it, or if we need to intervene.”

Beau snorts. “You already know what it is. We all do.”

“What?” I ask. “What is it?”

Beau shifts a pitying gaze onto me. “Well, almost all of us.”

“Beau, I’m serious.”

Archer releases my arm. He turns on his heel.

“Where are you going?” I call after him.

“I’m going to ask Neil,” Archer says and disappears down the hall.

Beau and I glance at each other, then we both take off after him.