Page 48 of The Veiled Wish of a Highland Bride

“Get yer hand off her!”

He doubted that anyone had heard him.

As though Mia had drawn courage from him, she turned to Dallas and spat hard in his face. “Ye will burn in hell, ye howling bampot!”

Dallas immediately went from digging his nails into Mia's shoulder to yanking her by her hair, pulling her to the very center of the circle his men had formed around the fire.

“That's still a long time coming. Ye may as well burn now and perhaps ye'll meet me there later.” His grin was evil as he taunted her by pulling her closer to the fire. Mia fought frantically, pulling away from him and hitting him with her hands, but he was stronger than she must have expected.

The other men had stopped their chatter, directing their attention instead to the blonde-haired beauty that stood in their midst, some with expressions of surprise, others with lust. Archibald was furious; the beating of his heart silencing all rational thought.

Mia looked incredibly small beside Dallas.

Archie had never felt fear or rage like the one he was feeling now. Now that Mia was positioned directly by the fire, Dallas looked at her more intently, scanning every corner of her body.

“She is bonnie, aye?” he said to his men, his previous smirk now converted to a salacious grin. “Well, she is a bit too wee for my tastes, but she’ll do.”

The men cackled.

He let go of her hair and pulled her to himself, his arms around her waist as he scanned her face. “Such bonnie lips. Such bonnie wee breasts.”

Archibald groaned, yanking his hands tighter against the ropes that prevented him from tearing his brother to pieces. Mia's teeth were clenched in rage, like a dog cornered by its predator.

She spat into his face again and snarled. “Get yer hands off me, ye piece of dung!”

All she got in response was an even heartier chuckle as Dallas wiped the spit off his face. “Ye are feisty, just how I like me lasses.” He turned to his men. “It looks like we are all going to be merry tonight, aye? The feast came right to us. Thank ye for that, brother!”

If only Archie could get his hands on the man that so casually trampled on the honor of the woman he loved.

As though Dallas had heard his thoughts, he tossed Mia to one of his men.

“Oh, brother. Dear, dear brother… Ye are so sad, falling in love yet again. I can see it in yer eyes, aye. But it's perfect for me, ye ken. I will just take her like I took the previous one, and I’ll make her mine while ye watch.” He pointed at Mia, who struggled against the man who had grabbed her. “I have been without a lass for too long now.”

Archibald could not take it anymore. He was enraged. What was it about him that always seemed to put this woman in danger? He felt a stab of guilt as he watched her be manhandled by his brother. If he hadn't come into her life, she would not have had to go through all of this. She wouldn't have gotten even more hurt and battered by Bram. And she definitely would not be here, being objectified by his brother’s men, who ogled her like she was fresh meat they could not wait to devour.

“Ach! Ye ken what? Maybe, just maybe, I am tired of having yer sloppy seconds. It has always been like that, has it nae, brother?” The way he said the last word was filled with so much contempt that Archie felt his toes curl. “Even when we were just wee bairns, I could only take what ye already had. Father rarely ever gave me anything of my own.”

Archibald thought for a minute that he saw a flash of something other than hatred and contempt in Dallas' eyes—sadness.

“I hated him, ye ken. Father. I hated himsomuch. I waited patiently for the day he would die so that I could live off of what he left behind, but alas he left me nothing. Nae even a single horse. All of it was meant for his firstborn son.” He laughed sadistically. “And what did ye do? Ye threw me out the first chance ye got.”

He walked closer to Archibald, taking his jaw in his hands and squeezing it menacingly.

“I am so glad I, at least, inherited Father's good looks so I could easily woo yer lass and take her as mine. Pity she died while giving birth to my bairn. But the truth is I dinnae have the necessary resources I need to take care of a bairn, at least nae until I get rid of ye and make Ledoch Castle mine.”

Archibald struggled even harder against the bindings. He wanted to speak, to scream, to lunge at Dallas and kill him right on that spot, but there was nothing he could do. He could see the horror on Mia's face at what Dallas had just said. The woman before Mia had died for nothing.

No. She’d died for this bastard who cared nothing for her.

Archibald had had to expel Dallas from the castle. He hadn’t had much of a choice. His brother squandered everything that was given to him, and he always came back asking for more. He was like a leech that Archie could not get off his skin, and then one day he did something unforgivable.

He would not let Dallas kill another woman he loved.

Archie never knew the full story of how Dallas had made his lover fall in love with him. He had always thought it had probably involved some sort of threat, but from what he had just said, shedidlove him.

Archie almost choked on his own spit at that.

Dallas kept speaking. “Aye, I dinnae want yer leftovers. I think I would rather get rid of her right in front of yer eyes and then slit yer throat too. And then all of the clan and Ledoch Castle will finally be mine!”

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