Page 20 of A Highland Bride Taken
Magnus’s words haunted him still.
He had closed off his heart, seeing what love did to men who had fallen prey to it, and he had had no reason to open it, as his life was filled with turmoil after turmoil. He wasn’t cruel, but what they needed from him was what he didn’t have to offer. He couldn’t even picture what he could do to make his people love and not just fear him.
The lass threatened everything he knew about himself, and he feared he would find weakness still embedded deep within him, even after everything his father had done to rid him of it.
It was weakness that made his father unable to prevent his goddamned grandfather from breaking up their family, and because of that same weakness, his father had been hard on him.
But Campbell was thankful for the experience. It had made him see the man he never wanted to be.
Weakness would not win him wars or protect his clan from raiders. The intruder that had escaped only solidified his resolve. He wanted men to think twice and be ready to taste death before they considered his clan for the taking.
He spotted new correspondence on his desk and sighed, settling into the day’s work. He skimmed through the letters and sorted them into piles. However, when he saw his grandfather’s seal, he froze.
The man had sent more letters in the past couple of weeks than he had ever done in his life—and that was to say he never wrote. There had never been a need to, since Aiden had been his heir.
Campbell recalled the only time he had seen his grandfather—when he had come to take his mother and Aidan to McCormick Castle. There had been only the briefest of glances after which his grandfather had left without so much as a goodbye.
For him to reach out now…
Did he perhaps want to claim the boys as his heirs, now that Aidan was dead?
The thought had Campbell frowning and wondering if perhaps his grandfather had sent the intruder. It wasn’t beyond him to behave in such a despicable manner, but he wouldn’t have wanted to harm the boys when he needed to claim them as his heirs. Perhaps he had written a letter to demand that one of the boys be handed to him.
Darragh Williams, Laird of Clan McCormick, had no sentimental bone in his body and would have no qualms about separating families.
Campbell eyed the seal and reached for the paper knife reluctantly. He read through the letter, his frown deepening as he did so. Then, he opened the drawer where he had shoved his grandfather’s previous letters and threw the recent one in there, grimacing.
Either his grandfather was growing senile, or he desperately needed something because he almost sounded concerned in his letters. Most of the letters stressed the need to find a wife, the most recent being athreatto find Campbell a wife. Which was, by all accounts, confusing.
Why would his grandfather care so deeply about his finding a wife? His marriage would serve no great purpose for the old man, after all.
Campbell couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that there was something afoot he had yet to discover, but he didn’t want to lose sleep over a man who had done nothing for him over the years.
He thought back to Mabel and how she had been with the boys, and decided to proceed as he had planned. She was a most fitting godmother to the twins and perhaps would serve as a good lady in time.
All that remained for it to be a certainty was securing her family’s approval. Not that he needed it. If they refused, he could drive them to Gretna Green and get married there.
Putting aside the rest of the correspondence till later, he headed down to the courtyard to watch the men train.
Magnus spotted him almost immediately and walked around the courtyard, barking orders as he did.
“Come to have yer ass handed to ye, Me Laird?” he teased.
“Ye and I ken whose ass would be handed to whom, Magnus,” Campbell scoffed, eyeing the men.
Pride surged through him as he watched his men. They were soldiers who had gone to war with him and emerged victorious, bearing scars to show that they were willing to die to protect their families and the honor of their clan.
It was a mystery how the intruder had been able to sneak into the castle when he had such a ruthless force to contend with.
“Elspeth willnae forgive ye if ye hurt me,” Magnus retorted.
“She will be glad ye will finally rest.” Campbell smiled. “Did ye find anything?”
He was referring to finding clues about the identity of the assailant, and probably who was behind the entire ordeal.
“Nay,” Magnus answered. “But we arenae giving up.”
“Ye will need to increase the number of men on watch and shorten the switch time between shifts. I dinnae ken how he was able to sneak into the castle undetected, but I dinnae like how he thinks he has made a fool of us.”
