Page 9 of Dark Side of the Laird
Logan was silent for a moment as he observed Isabella, but when he did finally speak, his voice was low and chilling. “Dinna play coy, Lady Isabella. I know why ye’re here. Ye will not leave these walls unless it is to return to your people.”
Sharp pain stung from my palms as my nails dug in. I wanted him to say,when, notunless. Wanted to grab his arm, shake him and hiss my need, but I didn’t. I stood still as a statue, hoping and praying that all of this was a bad dream and I’d wake up cozy in Logan’s arms.
Lady Isabella glared at Logan, all coyness gone, replaced by the she-devil who’d confronted me the week prior, threatening to have me whipped if I touched him. Warning that she’d have me branded a whore in front of the whole clan. I didn’t doubt that she might try. I had no power in this place, except what power Logan gave me. I’d made friends, but in the end, I was the outsider. More so than Lady Isabella, for she was actually Scottish. Kin and country meant everything to the people here. A wanderer from the new world could never be embraced as much as a fellow countryman or woman.
Isabella was a noble-born lady. Her uncle a powerful man, and she had the ear of the king. I was quickly learning that being Logan’s lover left me only close to the bottom of the barrel with no hopes of having any sort of power to climb out. Knowledge that left me cold, fingers numb.
The woman straightened her back, not to be cowed by Logan, though if she knew him well, she would have simply nodded and walked away. Anyone daring to challenge the master of Gealach would have hell to pay.
She licked her lips, a move meant to entice, and I couldn’t have been more happy with Logan’s lack of reaction. I flicked my gaze to the hand on her hip, watched as her nails dug a little harder into her gown. She, too, was trying to hide her anger.
With a toss of her head, she spoke dismissively, the hint of caution not at all concealed. “The king wishes me to remain, my laird. I but obey the edicts of my sovereign. ’Twould be dangerous, deadly, to go against King James.”
Dear Lord, the vixen was insinuating that Logan was treasonous. Even I picked up on that. A serious accusation. One that could end up with him getting executed. A chill rushed over my skin. A dark sense of foreboding. This was not good.
Logan shifted away from me, stepping forward so that he was nearly nose to nose with Isabella. She was tall, taller than me, and her eyes were at his chin-level. She tilted her head back to look up at him, a flash—less than a second—of fear in her eyes.
“Dinna threaten me, Lady Isabella. Dinna dare.” He spoke through his teeth, a guttural sound that had goosebumps rising on my arms. Murderous.
Isabella took a step back and Logan stepped around her heading toward the stairs. But he stopped halfway, perhaps realizing he’d left me alone with the lioness who looked ready to rip me to shreds. I could take her. I’d learned a lot in these past months. The insecure woman I’d been before was long gone. If Isabella wanted a fight, I’d plenty of pent up anger to unleash on her.
“Emma, Cook has requested your presence.”
Isabella lifted her chin, giving me a look that made me want to slap her. If the bitch made it through the week without me backhanding her, we’d both be lucky.
I nodded toward Logan, expecting him to walk with me down the stairs, but he remained rooted in place. When I stared at him expectantly, he dismissed me with a nod of his head toward the stairs.
I couldn’t deny the twist in my gut, the feeling of loss, jealousy, anger, all of them jumbling up inside me. He was going to stay behind withher, and send me to the kitchens. Lady Isabella wouldn’t be caught dead in the kitchens.
I whirled toward the stairs, unable to watch as Isabella sidled up to Logan. I knew he wouldn’t give in, that he wasn’t going to agree. I blew out a breath as I took the stairs as quickly as I could. At least, I thought I knew he wouldn’t.
He swore he’d go to the king again, that he’d never marry Isabella. But… The king was the king and his word law.
At that moment, I wished we’d been in present day instead of the sixteenth century. In modern times, it wouldn’t have mattered. He could have ridden off into the sunset with me. And in modern times his king wouldn’t have asked for him to marry the enemy. His castle wouldn’t be attacked nearly daily either by those who wished to discover the secrets of Gealach or take down the Guardian of Scotland.
Didn’t his position warrant a say in his future? Despite the fact that he was the secret brother of the king, as the Guardian, he should be able to choose his wife, or at least implore the king to choose another.
Marrying Isabella would be takingkeep your enemies closeto the extreme.
So deep in thought, I didn’t see Ewan and ran smack into him at the bottom of the stairs, my nose jabbing into the pin that held his plaid in place. He steadied me, hands gripping my upper arms.
With a raised brow, he said, “Everything all right?”
Logan’s second-in-command was a handsome devil. Intuitive, and had given me his shoulder to lean on a few times since I’d been there. He resembled the brother I’d lost in a plane accident a decade before, in such an uncanny way, it gave me chills every time I looked at him.
“Not really,” I confessed.
“What is it?” He held up his finger, pretending to be deep in thought. “Wait, let me guess. Is it a person?”
I nodded, trying to hide my smile.
Ewan pursed his lips. “A woman?”
I rolled my eyes and nodded again.
“Does her name begin with an I?”
I smacked his arm and let out a little laugh. “You know exactly who it is, Ewan. Don’t play games with me.”
