Page 87 of A Sinful Night with a Scot
Elsie shook her head. “I dinnae understand. I cannae marry ye if I am married already.”
Tilting his head to the side, he looked at her like she was stupid. “Nay, me dear,” he drawled patronizingly. “But once I have forced ye tae annul yer marriage tae Mackay, ye will be free tae marry me. And if ye dinnae agree, I will marry ye as a widow.”
His words cut through her like a knife. That was his plan? And how did he imagine he was going to make her do something she clearly didn’t want to do? She felt her eyes fill with tears but she refused to give him the pleasure of seeing her cry.
“I willnae dae it. Ye will have tae kill me first.”
“Och, ye will, Elspeth,” the laird snarled. His tone was so certain that Elsie began to worry. “Ye will dae it tae save yer precious husband.”
Elsie gasped. “What dae ye mean?”
“Well,” he said, pacing back and forth with a sneering grin on his face. “At this very moment, Laird Keane Mackay is being held in a safe place by me guards. If ye dinnae dae as I ask, I will kill him. Then ye will be a widow, and I will get tae wed ye anyway.”
Elsie’s heart hitched at his words. She took a sharp intake of breath at the very idea of Keane’s life being taken because she refused to comply. She imagined the man she loved being tied up in some abandoned place somewhere, having God knows what being done to him.
Laird Gunn seemed delighted at her reaction, and with a wide grin, looked at her smugly.
But if there was one thing Elsie was not, it was a fool. As she allowed what he had said to sink in, she realized it could not be. Laird Munro was making no sense. If he did have Keane, hecould forgo forcing her to do anything. He could just kill him like he had killed his father. It had always been his intention to take over the Mackay clan. She knew that from overheard conversations between the laird and her father. He had no need to keep him alive. With Keane dead, she would be a widow, and he would be free to take her as he had threatened.
He doesnae have him. He’s bluffing.
That sudden realization bolstered her courage, and she stood a little taller. And yet, Elsie did not want him to know that she knew he was lying. Not yet, at any rate. She had to think it through. Besides, what if she was wrong? It was unlikely, but could she really take that chance? Taking another minute to come up with anything that might save both her and Keane, an idea popped into her mind.
“I am with child,” she lied.
It was now Laird Gunn’s turn to react, and as his jaw slackened, his mouth fell open. Glaring at her in astonishment, his mind worked, trying to decipher if what she was telling him was true.
“Ye are lying,” he barked.
But Elsie shook her head determinedly. “Indeed, I am nae. Keane was eager tae get me with child so I wouldnae escape,” she embellished.
“Escape?” the laird gawked. “But ye planned this.”
“As I told me faither,” Elsie said, trying to think on her feet. “I had naething tae dae with the kidnapping. But like him, ye likely dinnae believe that either. What daes it matter now? I am with child, and I am married tae another. I am nae yers, and I never will be.”
Laird Gunn continued to glare at her. Then, turning away, he paced back and forth in front of the fire. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. Elsie could not begin to imagine what he might be thinking but she was certain of one thing only. He didn’t believe her. What he would do with that information was anybody’s guess.
“Ye are sticking with this ridiculous story?” he finally asked, spinning to look at her.
“It’s nae a story,” Elsie defended. “I am with child.”
“We’ll soon see about that.”
Elsie frowned at him as he glared back at her.
“There’s only one way tae be certain. I will send fer the healer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
When the battle finally waned, Keane, Alisdair and Owen gathered together. Looking at the carnage around them, it took Keane a minute to take it all in. Blood pooled across the cobblestones, more red than black.
Most of the dead were Gunn’s men, as often happened on the attacker’s side. Keane had deduced that only seconds after leaving the castle and seeing the clan colors. Back then, he had been given no time to think why they were being attacked. Laird Munro had given his word that he and Gunn would now leave the Mackay clan in peace.
Of course, the attack earlier that day had warned him that the man had not kept his word. In the council meeting afterward, they had discussed that. Those men had been in hiding, biding their time until their laird launched an attack on the castle. It had only been bad luck that he, Alisdair and Owen had come upon them, forcing them out of their hiding place.
“I dinnae think any meeting with the lairds will dae us any good now,” Alisdair said, referencing the idea that the councilmen had come up with earlier.
“Aye. Ye could say that,” Keane said, still breathing heavily from the hours spent defending his home. “It just doesnae mak’ any sense. What was the point o’ the attack?”
