Page 23 of A Highland Bride Disciplined
Kian drew a slow breath, then looked again at the child in her arms. Elise. She cooed up at Scarlett like she belonged there. Like she knew no other life.
He rubbed the back of his neck then lifted it to the sky. “Hand t’God. I’ve nay idea whose child this is. But it…sheisnae mine. Of that I swear to ye.”
Scarlett only nodded once and rocked Elise gently on her shoulder.
“She was left with nothin’ but that note. A kitchen girl found her and brought her to the healer. Lord above kens how long she was out there before she was found. We’ve hired a wet nurse from the village.”
“Aye,” Kian said blankly. “Of course ye have.”
Scarlett turned her head toward him, her expression hardening. “Ye daenae want her here?”
“I want answers,” he said. “I want to ken who left a child atmedoorstep. I want to ken what they expect of us. Ofme.”
“We have the letter. She needs care. That’s that.”
“That bairn is naeoursto save, Scarlett!”
“She is here already! Sheisours to save. As leaders of this clan.”
Kian shook his head, pacing now. “This isnae a stray hound, woman. It’s achild. A life. And we’ve nay claim to it.”
Scarlett clutched Elise tighter. “Then make one. Make a bloody claim.Actlike the laird of this clan, Kian!”
Kian turned sharply.
She stared him down, baby in arms, like a Highland warrior at a battlefield’s edge.
And for the first time since he’d stepped through the gates that morning, Kian realized something unsettling.
He had gone to Edinburgh to sharpen himself, return stronger and keep her in check. And yet here he was, back under his own roof, already feeling the reins slip from his hands.
Every word this woman said and every flicker of fire in her eyes pried at his grip.
Scarlett’s words echoed louder than the fire crackling in the hearth. Kian stared at her, then at the baby resting against her shoulder like she’d always belonged there, and felt the ground shift beneath him.
He stepped back from the desk, voice cold. “Thisisnae permanent.”
Scarlett arched a brow. “What would ye call it, then?”
“A mistake,” he snapped. “A mess dropped on our doorstep by someone too cowardly to face what they’d done.”
Scarlett’s jaw clenched. “Thatmessis breathin’. And smilin’. And has tiny fingers that grasp me sleeve like I’m her world. I’m able to care for her, and so are ye.”
“I daenae care if she sings the psalms, Scarlett,” Kian growled. “She is nae yers, she is nae mine, and I willnaeraise her as if she were either.”
Scarlett took a steadying breath and then walked toward the door, and opened it. Kian watched as his wife calmly passed Elise gently to Effie, who had been lingering in the corridor, pale and wide-eyed. “Take her back to the nursery. Come back and wait here in the corridor.”
Effie blinked. “Aye, m’lady.” She took the child with surprising care and vanished through the door, closing it softly behind her.
Scarlett turned back to him, eyes blazing.
“Ye think Iwantthis?” she hissed. “Ye think Iaskedto have a babe left for us? I’m nae some empty-headedgirlplaying house. But the moment I saw her,Elise, I kent I couldnae turn her away. And neither can ye. Nay matter what ye say.”
“Ican, and Iwill,” he bit out. “We’ll find who left her, and they’ll take her back.”
“And if they daenae? Cannae?”
“Theywill.I’ll search every village, kick in every door, shake answers out of every lying bastard from here to the border.”
