Page 51 of Scot of Deception
All the joy that had coursed through Kathleen at Blaine’s confession was now overshadowed by confusion. She turned to look at her father, a frown knitting her brows together.
Mission? What mission?
“As I said,” Blaine responded, “I shouldnae have done it. I wasnae plannin’ on ever touchin’ her but… I lost me self-control.”
“What mission?” Kathleen demanded, ignoring whatever argument was brewing between the two men. “Faither, what dae ye mean?”
“I’ll explain everythin’ tae ye,” said Blaine as he approached Kathleen. If he looked pale before, now he resembled a ghost, as if all the blood had been drained from his face. Concern tinted his tone as he spoke, and though at first he reached for her arm, in the end he let his hand fall by his side again as if he was afraid to touch her. “But I need ye tae remember that all me feelings fer ye, everythin’ I’ve said, it’s all real. I promise ye, Kathleen. I never lied tae ye about any o’ this.”
A knot formed in Kathleen’s throat and she had to swallow around it, her stomach churning at the thought that even if Blaine claimed to not be lying about his feelings, he was indirectly admitting he had lied to her about other things.
What has he done? What has me faither done?
“Blaine here told ye he’s from the Farquharson Clan, did he nae?” her father asked, finally turning to address her. “That he’s a noble attendin’ this weddin’ because nae one else from his clan could make it.”
Kathleen nodded slowly, wondering what that had to do with anything. A cold pit opened up in her stomach and fear crept out of it, sinking its fangs into her.
“Mr. Farquharson here is naethin’ but a hired sword,” her father said, his voice harsh as he glanced at Blaine. Kathleen glanced at him too, and for the first time she saw him avert his gaze in embarrassment, as if his humble origins were far more shameful than his lies. “I hired him tae protect ye because yer cousins told me ye’d try tae leave. I told him tae befriend ye an’ keep ye close, nae tae bed ye!”
Kathleen had never heard her father speak like this before, but the shock of hearing those words from his mouth was nothing compared to the shock of finding out the truth. Shethought back to every interaction she had had with Blaine throughout their travels—the way he found her, the fact that he had suggested they travel together, the fact that he had known where she was going before she even told him.
“But the men… the Campbell men…”
“I sent them too,” her father admitted. “They were our men in disguise. I wanted ye tae see how dangerous it is out there an’ I suppose it worked.”
Kathleen blinked a few times as she tried to process everything she had learned. For a few moments, her mind couldn’t catch up to the truth and she felt numb, all of her emotions subdued by the shock of her father’s confession. But then it was as though a dam opened and it all flooded into her; the pain, the grief, the embarrassment. And most of all, the sense of betrayal, from her father and Blaine.
She had trusted him. She had trusted him with everything and had given him her whole heart, only for him to lie to her again and again.
“Is it true?” Kathleen asked him. She desperately wanted him to deny it, to tell her it was all her father’s lies, but he only nodded, confirming her biggest fears.
How could he have done this tae me? How could he have lied tae me all this time?
Was he even the man Kathleen had loved? Surely, he couldn’t be when everything he had told her about himself was a lie.
Tears stung her eyes as she turned around to leave. She didn’t want to be in her father’s or Blaine’s presence in that moment, not when the wounds were so fresh. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at them without the weight on her chest becoming unbearable.
She didn’t want to yell at them. She didn’t want to cry or do anything that could cause her more hurt. None of it was worth it, and so she simply decided to leave.
But as she reached the door, Kathleen caught movement from the corner of her eye and when she turned around, her father was already halfway to Blaine, his hands balled up into fists. Blaine made no effort to move or defend himself, even as her father reached him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, hauling him close enough to deal a bone-shattering punch to his cheek.
“Nay!” Kathleen shouted as she rushed to them in the hopes that she could put an end to the fight before either of them could get badly injured. Delisted everything, she still cared for them both and seeing her father repeatedly hit Blainewithout showing any mercy only served to sadden and terrify her. “Faither, stop! Stop, ye’re hurtin’ him!”
“Stay back!” Blaine said, the words coming out as a groan. His hand reached out as if he was trying to physically hold her back, but he was doubled over, hunching over himself. “Stay back, Kathleen. I deserve this. I deserve all o’ it.”
“What?” Kathleen demanded, furious both at her father and at Blaine for ever thinking like this. “Ye dinnae deserve this! Nay one does!”
“I dae!” Blaine cried, and it seemed to her that he was using all of his strength to lift his head and look at her. “I dae… Yer faither has every right?—”
No more words made it past his lips after the, as Kathleen’s father dealt another punch to his face, rendering him silent. Kathleen gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth, tears stinging her eyes.
If he kept hitting Blaine like this, he was bound to kill him, but Kathleen didn’t know how to get closer to them when her father was in such a frenzy. He wasn’t listening to her or he simply didn’t care; either way, his knuckles were coated in blood and when she looked at Blaine’s face, she found that it was covered in it, too.
“Stop! Please!” Kathleen shrieked, desperate to talk some reason into her father. Just as she thought all hope was lost, though, footsteps echoed around her as her mother and Laird Stewart rushed into the room, summoned by the sound of her voice.
Without hesitation, Laird Stewart grabbed her father and swiftly pulled him off Blaine. Much to Kathleen’s relief, her father didn’t try to fight the other man; he simply surrendered to the fact that the fight—or rather, the assault—was over, and he took a few steps back, his shoulders drooping as he released a breath.
Kathleen was torn between leaving and staying to tend to Blaine. She looked at him, her mouth hanging open wide in shock as she took in the extent of the damage her father had wrought. Bruises were already blooming around Blaine’s left eye and his temple. His lip was split open, bleeding sluggishly. So were several other cuts on his face, his skin ripped open by her father’s golden rings.
