Page 69 of A Sinful Night with a Scot
With Elsie close by his side, Keane entered the gates. He eyed the laird who stood waiting beside his horse and the several men who had accompanied him. Not fazed by the man’s scowling look, Keane returned a glowering gaze of his own.
Laird Roland Munro was nearing middle age, and yet, he looked as healthy as a horse. Like his daughter, his hair was black as a raven, sitting a little above his broad shoulders. His strong arms were crossed over his puffed-out chest, only exaggerating his evident frustration and annoyance.
But Keane would not hurry for the man. Once he and Elsie pulled their horses to a stop, he jumped from his beast, and took his time to walk over to Elsie’s horse. Taking his wife by the waist, he gently lifted her down to stand beside him. Gazing down at her, he smiled.
“I am right here beside ye,” he whispered, before lowering his lips to hers and giving her a tender kiss.
The embrace was partly to fortify her before she was forced to face her father. But it also served another purpose. He wanted Laird Munro to understand a very important fact. Elsie was now his. No matter his reasons for being there, the laird would be leaving this castle with the same amount of people he had arrived with.
They approached the older man, hand in hand. Keane noted the laird’s change in expression, for no longer did he look angry. With his mouth gaping open, he now looked appalled.
“God’s teeth, Elspeth. Look at the state o’ ye,” her father barked, gesturing to her disheveled attire. Keane felt Elsie flinch beside him. “Have ye forgotten already, that ye are a lady?”
Before Elsie had a chance to even open her mouth in reply, Keane swiftly stepped in.
“She may well be yer daughter, me laird. But she is now me wife,” Keane spat, his anger rising by the laird’s unnecessary humiliation in front of everyone present. “Ye will thus refrain from speaking tae her in such a manner. Ye are a guest in me home, and ye will act accordingly.”
Duly reprimanded, Laird Munro looked a little taken aback at Keane’s words. It was clear he was also annoyed at the way Keane had spoken to him, and yet, he did not retaliate, though his face did redden with anger.
Gesturing toward the castle, Keane continued, “Shall we? I am certain ye and yer men have travelled far and are in need o’ some refreshments.”
Munro nodded curtly, waiting for Keane to lead the way.
Keane then turned to one of his men. “Be certain tae mak’ sure these men are taken care o’.”
“Aye, me laird,” he replied.
Only after that did Keane turn toward the castle. With Elsie’s hand still firmly held in his, he led Laird Munro inside. Reaching the drawing room, he opened the door and gestured for the older man to enter. Once inside, however, he was once more surprised at the man’s audacity.
“And now, I will speak tae me daughter alone,” Munro said gruffly.
Elsie squeezed Keane’s hand tightly.
Dinnae leave me alone with him. Please dinnae leave me, Keane. Please.
Keane stiffened at hearing the intensity behind her desperate plea, for her thoughts were loud and clear. It was the first time he had experienced her that way. From the moment he had snatched her from the chapel, she had expressed herself as a woman with little doubt. Feisty, stubborn, and determined. Now, however, he sensed the woman beneath that. The broken, unloved daughter of a callous man.
Even before hearing her thoughts, he had had no intention of leaving her alone. She was his wife now, and he would protect her from any threat, albeit her own father.
“I think I made mesel’ perfectly clear just a few moments ago, me laird,” Keane replied abruptly. “Lady Mackayis me wife, and ye will speak tae her in me presence, or ye willnae speak tae her at all.”
Roland appeared incensed at this remark, for his face grew even redder than it had earlier. Clenching his fists as tightly as his jaw, the man nearly shook with anger. Looking from Keane to Elsie and back again, however, he realized his position. Huffing in resignation, he spat, “Fine.”
He aimed his frustration and anger at Elsie and glowered at her. “I am more than disappointed by yer deceit, Elspeth. Tae plan this behind me back was a dreadful disloyalty. Neither mesel’ nor Laird Gunn can believe ye have taken things so far, simply tae get out o’ this union.”
Elsie shook her head and looked confused. “I dinnae ken what ye are talking about, Faither. What plan?”
“Och, dinnae give me that innocent look,” he snorted. “Ye think I dinnae ken that ye kent that this was going tae happen. That ye were in on it from the beginning.”
“Indeed, I wasnae,” Elsie cried.
“Liar!” her father bellowed.
Keane then lunged toward Munro, anger raging through him as he stood with his face only inches away. “I willnae tell ye again,” Keane barked. “Ye willnae speak tae me wife like that.”
“And what are ye going tae dae about it?” Munro spat back, pushing his shoulders back challengingly.
“Dinnae push me, Munro. Ye dinnae want tae find out the answer tae that question.”
