Page 31 of The Winter Laird

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Will he come for you?”

She rolled her eyes. “No.”

He glanced at her curiously. “You say that with such certainty, I’m led to believe the match is not a love match. It must be arranged, then?”

“No, it’s a love match.” She almost choked on the words. “He asked me, and I said yes. But he won’t come for me. He doesn’t know where I am. I don’t know why I’m explaining this to you; it doesn’t really matter anyway.”

He frowned. “Is he a laird?”

“No. He’s in trade.”

Nioclas scoffed. “Trade! You, the daughter of a powerful Irish clan, agreed to marry atradesman? ’Tis laughable. You’re worth more than that.”

She bristled. “Apparently so.Youbought me.”

He immediately sobered. “Aye, I did. Will he wait for you, if he receives word that you are to return in three months?”

“Are you offering to send word?” she asked cautiously.

“Nay, and you know why. I simply wonder if he would wait that long for you.” Nioclas paused. “Three months is not long, to be sure, but some men have different priorities in a marriage. Often, time is important.”

Brianagh shrugged. “I would like to believe he’ll wait for me.”But I wonder if he would.

Her unspoken thought hung in the air between them.

“Your parents—”

“Who haven’t known me since the moment I was born—”

“—assured me you were unattached—”

“—and had no idea what my life was like before I wassoldto the highest bidder—”

“—and I married you to avoid war, not bring it to my doorstep—”

“Well, maybe you should’ve asked Reilly, seeing as he was with me from the minute my mother gave me up!” Brianagh snapped.

“O’Malley? You were betrothed to O’Malley?”

“No! I was betrothed to Matthew de Burgh!”

“AFrenchman?” Nioclas exclaimed in disgust. “And probably a distant relation to the Burkes—an entire side of the clan left Ireland years ago to get away from my sire’s rule. I had heard tell they changed their name. Cowards.”

“Oh, now you want to insult an entire family based on the fact they changed their names?”

“Are you always this argumentative?” Nioclas countered angrily.

“Absolutely not. I’m usually quite agreeable!” she shouted. With effort, she lowered her voice. “Well, again, Matthew doesn’t know where I am. So I’m fairly certain he won’t come banging on your gates in the middle of the night.”

“Are you so desperate to get back to him that you’d give up your honor?” Nioclas spat. “Surely, if he thinks you’re ruined, he’ll want no more of you.”

“That’s not how he thinks,” she replied hotly. “He won’t care about that.”

“The man won’tcareif his love marries another?” Nioclas raised an arrogant brow. “If the lass I loved married another, I would ride to the ends of the world to find her. Then I would slay the fool who thought to steal her from me.” He lowered his voice. “And I wouldn’t wait to do either.”

“We have different visions of love,” Bri said, her voice unsure.

His eyes, full of questions, locked on hers for a long moment. “I don’t think we do, lass.”

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