Page 97 of Highlander Lord Of Vengeance

“What we both saw… that Ryland loved Esme. You could see it in his eyes when he looked at her. But then you knew he loved her before you wed her. It was the reason you wed her, so he couldn’t have her. Sometimes I think I see that look, Ryland’s look, in your eyes, sir, when you glance at her.”

“You are fool, Brack.”

“You have called me worse, my lord, but I am loyal to Clan Glencairn and always will be.”

“That is good to know, Brack,” Torrance said, needing the conversation to end before Ryland could be unmasked. “Now where is Patrick. I wish to speak with him.”

“He is probably sleeping, recovering. The healer looks after him. You might want to wait until morning to speak with him. You should get some rest before daybreak. I will send men out then to look for the mercenaries and see if they can be found and we can learn who hired them.”

“You should rest as well, Brack. You know how much I count on you.”

“Not as much since your return, my lord,” Brack said, his eyes intent on Torrance.

Torrance stood abruptly, forcing Brack to his feet. “That is about to change very soon.”

He walked out of the meeting hall without another word and went straight to his cottage, slipping in quietly so as not to wake Esme if she slept, and she was sleeping. He shed his garments and climbed beneath the blankets to wrap himself around her and she cuddled against him, though she didn’t wake.

The conversation with Brack drifted back to him and worried him. He got the distinct sense that Brack knew he was Ryland. What that meant, he didn’t know, but he was likely to find out soon.

CHAPTER 27

Esme welcomed her husband’s intimate touches the next morning that swept her away in a whirlwind of passion. It allowed her to forget the problems they faced, the secrets yet to be discovered, and the fear of what might happen to Ryland when it was discovered he was not Torrance.

Ryland lay beside Esme in the afterglow of their lovemaking, his hand locked around hers. He warned himself that now was not the time to ask her, but the thought had tormented him so badly last night that he had difficulty falling asleep. This might not be the time, but he had to know.

“I shouldn’t ask this now when we have just shared such pleasure. It is probably selfish of me, but I cannot hold my tongue.” He turned on his side, facing her. “How often did Torrance raise his hand to you?”

Esme turned on her side, moving closer to him, his arm going around her. “A few times.”

His gut twisted as he asked, “Did he hit you after any of my visits?”

She narrowed her brow in thought. “Come to think of it, he did.”

“How many visits of mine did you suffer that?”

Another moment of thought and her brow rose in surprise. “All of them.”

Ryland brushed his lips over hers. “I am so sorry you suffered because I could not hide my love for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Brack told me that he and Torrance knew Ryland loved you, that it was obvious when I looked at you. That Torrance got great satisfaction out of knowing that he had gotten you as his wife knowing I wanted you. He made you suffer because of my love for you, and I never knew, or I would have done something about it, gone to war with him if necessary. Like you praying for Torrance to die, I went to war intending to kill him, stop his evil madness… and free you.”

“I never knew. Torrance never said anything.”

“He wouldn’t have. It was enough that he knew. Besides, he wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of knowing that another man favored you.”

“You’re right about that. He told me often enough that I was lucky he wed me, that my father begged him to wed me since no one else wanted me.”

He brushed his lips across hers again. “I wanted you more than anything in the world from the first moment I laid eyes on you, Esme. You haunted my thoughts and dreams since that day and when I returned to Clan Glencairn as Torrance, I was overjoyed to see you but heartbroken that I had to treat you as badly as Torrance did.”

“But it’s different now that I know who you are but more so that I know how much you love me.” Her brow wrinkled. “Why did Brack tell you that?”

“He’s suspicious of me. He questioned how I have changed since my return home and that if he didn’t know any better, he would think Ryland not Torrance returned. He told me that I look at you the way Ryland once did.”

Esme couldn’t hide her worry. “What are we to do? If Brack suspects you killed Torrance to take his place, he may want revenge.”

“We do nothing, at least not yet. We find out what we can so I can present the truth to the clan, whatever that might be, and decisions can be made.”

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