Page 20 of Lachlan

Especially now, when Ben was the only one who’d had the opportunity to steal Sister Agnes’s journal from her bedroom in his parents’ house.

“Ben broke into your roombeforeyou came to Scotland?” Lachlan rasped.

She nodded. “We share a house with several other students. And yes, someone broke into my bedroom during a party at the house. But when I looked around, I couldn’t see that anything had been taken. I’ve just realized that was probably because I had Sister Agnes’s journal with me at the library that night. Although the same can’t be said for the other journals in the box in my wardrobe…”

“There was more than one journal?” Hunter prompted.

“A dozen or so.”

Hunter frowned. “Who is Sister Agnes?”

“Damn it, I need to speak to Ben.” Belle rose urgently, instantly swaying on her feet at the suddenness of the movement.

A stark reminder that she hadn’t had any sleep, apart from dozing on and off in the cave during the long night. Nor had sheeaten anything for thirty-six hours before the delicious venison stew just now.

She grasped hold of the back of the chair to steady herself. “I need to talk to Ben,” she repeated.

Lachlan stood too. “You aren’t going anywhere until after you’ve had some sleep. You’ve eaten, and you’re warm, but now you need to rest.”

She blinked at him. “You’re very bossy for someone I just met.”

“My dear Belle, you haven’t even begun to see his bossy side yet— Fine.” Hunter held up his hands in surrender when Lachlan gave a piercing glare. “But the longer you leave it to tell her the truth, the worse it’s going to be for you,” he predicted. “Belle doesn’t strike me as a woman who likes secrets or ulterior motives.”

“I’m not,” she confirmed before looking up at her rescuer and then having to lift her gaze even higher—Lachlan really was extremely tall! “How can you possibly be keeping secrets from me or have ulterior motives for doing so when you didn’t even know me until an hour or so ago?”

“Who is Sister Agnes, and what was in the journal, Belle?”

She looked at Ranulf, the up-to-now mainly silent brother. She wasn’t sure what answer to give him. Any more than she had been when Hunter asked the same question.

Especially after the fanciful thoughts she’d had about the Drake brothers such a short time ago.

She gave a shake of her head, her smile self-derisive. “I would need to tell you the whole story, and if I do that, you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Insane is my middle name, and believe me, I need all the company I can get on the crazy train,” Hunter assured her as he leaned back in his chair.

Belle glanced at each of the brothers in turn.

The stoic Ranulf.

The mischievous Hunter.

Lastly, the intense and overwhelming Lachlan, who couldn’t seem to stop staring at her, and had a glint of possession in those silver eyes.

She bit her top lip when her gaze was caught and held by those icy gray eyes. “First, let me explain that I’m a student of mythology.”

“Unicorns and such?” Hunter drawled.

“And such,” she confirmed, not wanting to mention dragons just yet. “I’m actually studying the classics, both Greek and Roman mythology. With the possible intention of teaching the subject in a university in the future.” She sighed. “A couple of months ago, I bought a set of journals at a house auction. They claimed to have been written by a nun in the twelfth century. I’m only telling you what happened,” she insisted when Hunter snorted and Lachlan’s jaw visibly tightened.

“The majority of the population couldn’t read or write in the twelfth century,” Hunter told her dryly.

“This nun, Sister Agnes, was taught to do so at the convent where she lived.” Now that Belle had started to reveal the explanation, she didn’t seem able to stop.

Possibly because before now, there hadn’t been anyone she was close enough to that she could tell of her amazing find.

She wasn’t close to the Drake brothers either, she reminded herself.

Possibly not, but Lachlan had saved her life, and she was so upset about the missing journal she had to tell someone why she suspected Ben of having stolen it.

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