Page 56 of Healing the Highland Sinner
She turned to find Ellair, his breath ragged, his face bloody, standing there. Anger burned like fire through her veins as she narrowed her eyes and glared balefully at him. Her rage warred with the worry she felt at seeing him injured and grimacing in pain. She tried to swallow it all down, but the anger lingered.
“We need tae talk, ye and I,” she growled.
“Aye. I suppose we dae.”
CHAPTER 25
Ellair was the last of the men Rosalind tended to. His wounds weren’t mortal, but she was sure they hurt like hell, so she’d made him wait and suffer. He deserved it. When she was done tending to the rest of her men and had deemed that he’d waited long enough, Rosalind made her way to Ellair’s room. She opened the door without knocking to find him shirtless and sitting on the edge of his bed, his head down, his face painted with regret.
He looked up as she came in. “Rosalind, I?—”
“Ye will nae speak until I tell ye tae speak,” she snapped. “I have questions and ye’re goin’ tae answer every bleedin’ one of them.”
He sighed heavily. “Aye.”
Eyeing him warily, she set her basket of medicines down and pulled a chair over to where he sat. Rosalind dropped into the seat in front of him and looked him over. She pulled out her potsof herbs and ointments and spent some time silently cleaning his wounds. The air between them grew thicker than syrup, heavy with a tension.
“How long have ye kent me braither is alive?” she asked.
“Just a night,” he replied.
“What the hell were ye thinkin’, sneakin’ intae Sinclair’s compound like that?” she hissed. “Ye could have gotten me braither killed!”
“I didnae ken yer braither was there, Rosalind. I swear it.”
“Then why did ye go there in the first place?”
“I heard through a contact that Sinclair had a hidden compound at the edge of town. I went there tae see what he was gettin’ up tae. I wanted tae ken what he was plannin’.”
“And why would ye dae that? What business is it of yers what Sinclair is doin’?”
“Because I ken he’s the one forcin’ ye tae dae this work ye dinnae want tae be daein’, because he’s got leverage on ye,” Ellair said. “I was hopin’ tae find somethin’ ye could leverage him back with. Maybe somethin’ ye could use tae force him tae release Blaine. I never actually expected tae find yer braither there.”
“Why did ye nae tell me what ye’d learned? Why did he keep this from me?”
He sighed. “Because I ken ye well enough tae ken that ye would have done somethin’ rash if ye kent Blaine was bein’ held there?—”
“’Tis nae fer ye tae decide. He’s me braither.”
“And ye likely would’ve gotten him killed if ye’d gone off half-cocked and stormed Sinclair’s compound,” he said. “Ye also would’ve gotten yerself killed and that’s somethin’ I couldnae abide. I didnae tell ye, tae protect both him and ye, Rosalind.”
She paused and lowered her gaze. As much as she wanted to refute his words, he was right. If he’d told her he knew where Blaine was, she would have very likely gathered her men and stormed the compound. Or she might have just gone on her own. Either way, it would have likely resulted in bloodshed and death. She hated that he was right.
“How did ye ken about the compound?” she asked.
“I told ye, I had a contact?—”
“Is that who ye were sneakin’ out tae meet tonight?”
“I wasnae sneakin’ out,” he replied. “But nay. I was goin’ tae meet somebody I thought might be able tae help us out of this situation.”
“Who?”
“A friend.”
“Who is yer friend?”
“’Tis nae yer concern. He’s somebody I trust. That’s all I’ll say about it,” he replied gruffly.
