Page 30 of Craved By a Highland Beast

Bywe, Bonnie had the distinct and unpleasant suspicion that Evan meant her and her alone. She could already imagine his voice as he would try to convince her, claiming that since she hadalready done it once, she could very easily do it again and not get caught.

Before she could protest any further, Evan grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, much to Bonnie’s irritation. Once they were a few steps down the corridor, she yanked her hand away from his grip and Evan let her go without protest, though she didn’t miss the way he rolled his eyes at her.

He was an infuriating man. Even when Bonnie was close to changing his mind about him, he did something to prove that her initial assessment of him had, in fact, been correct. Evan MacGregor was a brute and he would never change.

When they reached their chambers, Evan and Alaric both entered Evan’s, leaving the door open for Bonnie to join them. She had no desire to spend another minute in Evan’s presence, though, and even Alaric had begun to irritate her with his attitude, as he let Evan do as he wished with her, never once standing up for Bonnie.

But why would he? He’s Evan’s brother.

Bonnie would do the same for Cathleen, had they been in their shoes. In fact, she had done much worse for her, going along with a scheme that could have hurt several innocent people had she and Cathleen not changed their minds in the end.

Once she was inside her room, she pushed the door shut with a slam, making sure Evan and Alaric would hear it and know justhow upset she was. Whether they would care or not, though, was an entirely different matter.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Determined to stop himself from thinking about Bonnie during each and every one of his waking moments, Evan threw all his efforts into the plan, he and Alaric working tirelessly to gather as much information as they could. After Bonnie refused to join them in his chambers, he and Alaric, spent the rest of the night going over the letters again and again, desperately trying to find any evidence that would be incriminating enough, but with no success.

Evan had proposed the possibility of ciphers being used. Alaric took it a step further and proposed those letters were only meant to be a distraction, something to confuse those who would intercept them and reveal their identities to Ruthven and Balliol. Both of them labored over the papers, trying to find some meaning, only to fall asleep over them near dawn, too exhausted to continue.

When Evan opened his eyes, his cheek was pressed against the table, drool collecting in the corner of his mouth. He sat upquickly in his chair, one of the letters sticking to his skin before he ripped it roughly off his face.

The sound startled Alaric awake, who also shot up straight, eyes wide as he scanned the room around him. He only relaxed when he saw there was no immediate threat, and then he turned his gaze to the pile of letters on the table, looking at them forlornly.

“Did we manage tae find out anythin’?” he asked Evan as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I dinnae even remember.”

“Nay,” Evan said with a groan. “We cannae prove much other than the fact that there is correspondence between them, but that doesnae damn him. We need more information if we wish tae destroy Ruthven.”

Alaric cursed under his breath, letting his head fall back against the chair. Outside, the sun was high up in the sky, the light relentless as it poured through the window. Evan didn’t know how long they had slept, but it was certainly not long enough, even if it seemed to be later in the day. In fact, it had been several days since he had last had a good night’s sleep, and he didn’t know how much longer he could take this before he stopped functioning.

“We need somethin’ . . . somethin’ more,” Evan said, racking his brain to try and find another way to gather information. “We cannae bribe the guards, we have limited access tae Ruthven . . .”

“The maids?” Alaric asked, suddenly alert as he leaned forward in his seat. “Bonnie said they look intae the laird’s things, didnae she? So maybe they’ll have somethin’ tae tell us.”

“Why would they tell us?” Evan asked. “I suppose we could offer them some gold, but enough fer them tae risk their lives?”

Alaric pinned Evan with a mischievous look, cocking one eyebrow and smirking at him suggestively. At first, Evan didn’t know what it was he was trying to imply, but then it struck him and he shook his head, unwilling to even consider it.

“Nay,” he said. “Nay, I’d much rather find a different way.”

“Why?” Alaric asked. “All ye have tae dae is charm them. Yer good at it.”

“Why dinnae ye dae it instead?” Evan asked. “Why must it always be me?”

“Because they’re nae as afraid o’ ye as they are o’ me,” Alaric pointed out and Evan had to admit that he had a point. There were always women, though, who enjoyed Alaric’s rugged and frankly dangerous look a lot more. He even often had more success with them—not so much because of his looks, but rather because Evan was not well-versed in the art of meaningless conversation.

Evan could do it, of course, if he wanted to. He could sweet-talk the maids and make them spill some of their secrets, but themere thought brought forth a pounding headache. He preferred a more direct approach, something simple and honest, like taking an important man hostage and getting the truth out of him. Flirting with the maids, though perhaps a necessary evil, was not high on his list of preferred methods.

“Find one o’ the young uns,” Alaric said. “One who is impressionable. It willnae take long.”

“Or she’ll suspect me an’ she will tell Ruthven,” Evan pointed out.

“Ye can make sure she willnae suspect.”

Evan tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair, watching Alaric through narrowed eyes. He knew his brother would not budge no matter what he said, but even if it wasn’t something Evan wanted to do, he figured there was more to gain than to lose if he tried.

He would be discreet about it. He would make sure the woman wouldn’t suspect him.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh, finally relenting. “Fine, but if it doesnae work, we’ll dae it the way I want.”

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