Page 15 of Sins of a Scot
Daire clearly did not find this amusing. “I’ve told ye already how I feel,” he growled. “I despise having tae sneak around behind Madigan’s back. But ye have me wrong, Owen. If I didnae care what happened tae ye, I’d hardly be helping ye, would I? These are nae a few thugs from the tavern we’re talking about. These are serious men.”
“Dae ye think I dinnae ken that?” Owen huffed, falling back into his chair.
The flickering flames of the fire drew his eye, and gazing into it, he let the dancing slivers transfix him. For the most part, he stayed out of trouble. In fact, the most trouble he had ever gotten himself into was making sure one lass he had been with did not meet another he had wooed.
But this situation had been different. He had only been trying to help the lass. Catherine had looked frail, ill, and half starved. God only knows what they were going to do with her, though he had a good idea. It had made him feel sick to his stomach, which was the very reason he had made such a drastic decision. It’s not every day a man purchases a lass, only to let her go free.
Of course, he had not simply abandoned her. Instead, he had taken her miles from the men, booked a room at a tavern, bought her clothes that actually covered her body, throwing away the rags she had been dressed in, and made sure she had eaten a decent meal every day for four days. He had also found the village healer, who had dressed the wounds on her frail body.
The healer, a kind old woman, had then taken Catherine under her care until she was fit to go and find the family she had been stolen from several years before. It was only a few weeks later that Owen had discovered he was a wanted man.
He had made a promise that he could not keep, and now, he was paying for it. It had been the spur of the moment thing. The truth was that, at the time, he had had no idea how dangerous those men were. He had only discovered that after the fact, which was the very reason he was doing his utmost to garner the money owed.
“What I suppose I’m trying tae say, Owen, is that we already have one mess tae deal with. Ye’ve only thrown fuel on the fire bringing that lass here. If yer faither discovers there’s a prisoner being held under the foundations o’ this castle, he’ll want tae ken why. Then he’ll want tae question her. She only needs taemention the fact that she saw ye fighting, and our deceit is blown wide open. Then, how am I supposed tae face yer faither?”
Daire had a point. Maybe he had acted too hastily. It was a rare thing for a woman to get one up on him. She had tricked him, and he had fallen for it. Maybe, with his ego bruised for being such a fool, his pride had gotten the better of him.
Well, that wouldnae be a first.
The lass had tried to steal from him, but he could have just let her go. Then again, it wasn’t the theft that was irking him as much as what she had done to Daire. He returned to the idea that this lass had powers. Before Eden had walked into the Sinclair family, he had lived many years of his life having no idea that there were people out there with such powers. But Eden’s arrival had opened his eyes in a big way, for he had discovered there were many with such gifts.
It was that notion that complicated things and made him curious. If Iseabail did have powers, and he could not yet say whether that were true or not, then her wanting his necklace meant something more. Eden had given it to him to protect him from those very powers being used on him. So, had Iseabail wanted to relieve him of the necklace so she could use her powers on him, or was it something else?
Once more, he had too many questions with far too few answers.
He was about to relay his musings to Daire, when the study door opened and both men jumped.
“My, my, ye’re both very nervous,” Lilidh declared, beaming from Owen to Daire, and back again. “Anyone would think ye were up tae something.”
While she might be teasing them, Owen felt the guilt well up in him, and hardly able to look her in the eye, he grinned back and quickly turned away.
“Och, Owen,” she giggled, seeing his obvious avoidance. “What have ye got yersel’ caught up in now? Have yer broken another lass’s heart? Is that why yer face is bruised?”
Lilidh Sinclair was his father’s sister, and thus Owen’s aunt, though she was closer to Owen’s age than his father’s. The fact was, his father and his mother had conceived Owen when they were only adolescents themselves, and Madigan was only sixteen years older than his son.
The small age gap had been the reason Owen and his father were so very close. In fact, there were times they acted more like brothers than father and son. That being said, Madigan had always been far more serious than Owen, and while, over the last year or so, Owen had understood the need for him to change his ways, he still was a fun-loving character who liked to push the boundaries.
Lilidh, like his father, was a very perceptive person, and to stop her from pushing any further, he had to do something to change the subject.
“Och, look, Daire. The love o’ yer life is here.”
Daire glared over at Owen, and then pretended not to care. “Ye’re r talking nonsense, Owen. Anything tae get the heat o’ yersel’, isnae that right?”
While he was trying to keep a jovial tone in his voice, Daire was clearly angry, and for good reason. It was obvious to everyone and their mother that Daire was in love with Lilidh. He had been for a long time, and yet, he had never done anything about it. Owen had asked him why many times, but Daire had been adamant that he drop the subject before he found himself with a thick lip.
Owen, of course, had not been able to help himself, and on several occasions, had had to duck from a flying fist coming from Daire’s direction. This time, however, he had done it only to save his own skin.
“I agree with Daire, Owen. I think ye’re just trying tae change the subject,” Lilidh said, seemingly unfazed by Owen’s comment. “So, tell me? Where did ye get those bruises from?”
“All right. All right,” Owen threw his hands up in surrender. “It appears I made a grave mistake and chose the wrong lass,” he said, pinning the best smile he could muster onto his face.
“Dinnae tell me. She was married.”
“Indeed, she was,” Owen lied. “And guess what?” he gestured to his face.
“Her husband found ye,” Lilidh deduced, sighing while shaking her head.
“Right again.”
