Page 93 of A Sinful Night with a Scot
“Keane,” Elsie said softly from behind him.
Keane glanced over his shoulder and watched Elsie’s eyes soften and fill with tears. She shook her head. “Leave him be. He has lost everything now anyway. I dinnae have it in me tae have ye kill me own flesh and blood.”
Keane spun his head to look once more at Roland. “Ye see that?” he snapped. “Ye cannae tak’ credit fer that at all. Clearly, she got her kindness from her maither. Ye are lucky that yer daughter doesnae have a heart like ye. If she had, ye’d be dead already.”
Elsie then stepped forward and looked her father straight in the eye.
“I dinnae want tae ever lay me eyes upon ye again,” she hissed. “I am now free o’ ye. Free o’ yer demands and yer control. Fer the first time in me life, I am free tae mak’ me own choices. And dae ye ken what the first one is, Faither?”
Roland only glared back at her.
She pointed to Keane. “It is that man there. The first and only man who has ever loved me. That was yer job. A job ye failed in miserably. Dinnae come looking fer me again, or me answer tae Keane’s question will certainly be different.”
Roland seemingly had no reply, and for a moment, silence hung in the air.
“We need tae move,” Owen said, breaking the tension. “Our men can only distract this lot fer so long.”
Keane nodded. “Then let us go. I dinnae want tae remain here another second.”
Leaving Roland on his knees, the four hurried down the corridor. Several minutes later, they burst into the gardens. There was no sign of any soldiers and thus, the journey to the wall was without hindrance. Once there, Owen repeated the drill, and cupped his hands. Alisdair went first, scrambling up the wall.
As he did so, Keane took Elsie by the hand. “I’m never going tae lose ye again.” He then pressed his mouth firmly on hers, expressing all the pain, and fear he had suffered for the last two days.
After that, Elsie was helped onto the wall, swiftly followed by the others. On the other side, the men jumped down. Elsie jumped into Keane’s arms, and the four of them ran as fast as they could.
Owen whistled a loud signal to the men, and they hurriedly began to retreat. By the time they got to the camp, the men were already there to meet them.
Keane looked back at the castle they had just left and sighed heavily. “I never want tae set eyes on this place again.”
“Come, me friend,” Alisdair said, slapping his arm. “Let’s go home.”
EPILOGUE
One month later…
It had been a month of peace, calm, quiet, and contentment. And not just for Keane. The whole castle had felt it. In fact, the feeling had spread throughout the clan. He had wondered if Laird Gunn and Laird Munro would indeed stay away. But the more days passed without any sign of them, the more Keane had begun to believe that they were truly going to be left in peace.
Of course, Alisdair had been as suspicious, and from the hour they returned home after rescuing Elsie, his faithful companion had assigned scouts on the outer edge of the clan lands, just in case.
“I want tae believe it as much as ye, me friend,” Alisdair had said. The two of them had been sitting in front of the fire in his study, sipping amber liquid from short glasses. “But Roland has already shown us how much he cannae be trusted.”
“I agree,” Keane replied. “I dae think Elise’s words tae him at the end made a much bigger impact than even she could have imagined though.”
Alisdair smiled. “I will admit, she made me proud. Her transformation has been a joy tae watch. She stood with such resilience against the man who treated her so undeservedly. And whether he will ever admit it tae himself or nae, that man was wounded.”
Keane shrugged. “Too little, too late, as far as I’m concerned. He was given an opportunity tae be a wonderful faither, and he failed. Whatever he felt at her words was deserved. Though if I had me way, he would have felt naething any longer.”
“And that is why having Elsie by yer side is so good fer ye, me friend.” Alisdair grinned. “Ye need someone tae keep ye and that sword o’ yers in check.”
Once they had returned home, and all the excitement was over, Keane had been forced to face his own thoughts about fatherhood. He and Elsie did not speak about it on the return journey, and even now, the conversation had not been broached by either one. He knew Elsie’s reasons.
That night in the library, he had told her that it was something he could not give her. Bringing him to tears, she had relinquished his offer of freedom, and the chance of motherhood, instead deciding she would prefer to be with him. Her choice had blown him away at the time, and still sent a thrillthrough his body when he thought about how deep her love was for him.
But remembering how he felt when Munro had declared that Elsie was with child, he had thought about it often. He had surprised himself, for before that time, he thought he knew himself. Elsie had changed him, he knew that. Maybe he was not fully aware of just how much.
A few days later, Iseabail and Owen left to return home. He had been grateful for all their help, and told them so.
“I’ve come tae discover that life is never boring with our families,” Owen had said with a huge grin.
