Page 56 of His to Keep
Alexander looks away.
“You already did.” Eilidh’s tone is accusing. “So where is she? Why did your new bride not accompany you? Tuscany’s a great place for a honeymoon.”
“She’s back home.” Alexander holds a hand up to forestall Eilidh’s inevitable next question. “That’s all you need to know.”
A sullen glare clouds Eilidh’s pretty features. I decide it’s time for me to jump into the conversation.
“So, what are you going to do about Henry and his lieutenants?”
Alexander smiles grimly. “I’m going to capture, torture, and kill each one of them.”
“Not Tommy McCain,” Eilidh says sharply.
“Why?” Alexander asks.
I want the answer to this question too. I know someone in the Henry household took Eilidh’s virginity. Was it him? Is she trying to protect him? Her response sets my mind at ease.
“Because he’s the one I hate the most. Gio promised me vengeance and I want him to be the one to tear McCain apart.”
There is no way to argue against the vehemence in her voice. If Alexander refuses to give her this, I have no doubt she’ll rain down hell on him.
“Okay,” he concedes. “McCain is yours.”
Eilidh smiles tightly. She gets to her feet. “You two can sort out the details.” As she walks to the door, taking her little orange cat with her, something occurs to her, and she turns around. “One last thing, Sandy. Did you bring them home?”
She’s talking about her family, I realize.
“Joe and Tristan had them interred in the chapel vault.”
“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a headache coming on so I’m going to lie down.”
As she leaves the room, Alexander’s shoulders slump forward as if he can finally relax. I guess that first encounter after all these years was always going to be tense.
“It’ll get better with time,” I assure him.
“I know.” He runs his fingers through his hair, the same light brown shade as Eilidh’s. “She called me Sandy.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I suppose it is, but she never called me that when she was a kid. Why start now?”
I shrug. The inner workings of Eilidh’s mind are still a mystery to me. Perhaps one day I’ll have her all figured out, but I doubt it. To be honest, I prefer it that way.
CHAPTER 19
Eilidh
Pinned to the bed by some unseen force, I can’t move any part of my body. The room around me is white, sterile, like a hospital room. There’s someone in here with me, but I can’t see his face. It’s hidden behind a mask. Terror courses through my veins as he approaches me, taking slow, measured steps. There’s a knife with a serrated edge in his left hand. It’s a vicious weapon, intended to inflict horrific damage.
Maniacal laughter suddenly fills the air as red rivulets of blood run down the walls until the room is drenched with it. Blood drips from the ceiling like torrential rain, to soak my hair. It blinds me as it hits my face, getting in my eyes. The man is beside me now. My heart stops beating. This is it. He raises the knife and then pauses. He starts to take off his mask, wanting me to see the face of the man who’ll end my life. The mask lifts from his face and…
I wake with a start, sitting bolt upright in the bed next to Gio.
“Fuck, Eilidh!” Gio switches on the lamp on the nightstand beside him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I glance over my shoulder at him as he reaches up to rub my back. “It was just a stupid dream. It didn’t mean anything.”
That’s a boldfaced lie. It meant something. The symbolism was obvious, but I don’t want to analyze it. In fact, with the blood thundering through my veins, talking is the last thing I want to do right now. There’s a pent-up energy inside me demanding to be released. I can think of only one way to let out my frustrations.
