Page 14 of Marry the Highland Villain
“Conall… ye said the wedding will take place in a week?”
“Aye.”
Brigid took a deep breath. “I’d like to have my family here if ye’ll permit them to come.”
She stared down at her plate, her shoulders rigid with tension as she waited for his answer.
Conall stiffened. “Yer kinfolk?”
“My sisters, aye. I’d like to have them beside me when I wed.”
If they are here, they will also be safe from further attacks from Grandfather. Perhaps we might all even be… safe. Welcome in a clan, at least.
But that was a different matter altogether, and if she was being honest with herself, it was more of a long-cherished and childish dream than a realistic request. No one ever welcomed a pirate’s child—Brigid knew that all too well.
But if they were attending her wedding, standing by her side, they would be safe and happy for a few days at least. And she would not have to go through this alone.
“Ye’re welcome to invite yer sisters.”
Brigid’s shoulders sagged with relief at his words, which were as unexpected as they were welcome. Hope leaped into her chest, along with relief and the beginnings of a tentative sense of gratitude toward the man.
He could have so easily said no. No one would have blamed him for it. And yet he’d accepted her request without so much as a murmur.
“Then perhaps I could be permitted to go and fetch them,” she ventured, encouraged by her success. “It might take a few days, but I?—”
“Ye’ll nae be goin’ anywhere.”
Brigid’s burgeoning feelings of hope and relief disappeared as abruptly as the interruption.
“I… But ye just said…”
“I said ye can invite yer sisters. I didnae say ye could do it in person. Write them a letter if ye wish—I’ll see to it that it’s delivered. But ye’ll nae be leavin’ MacKane lands without my permission. And I’m nae givin’ it.”
His tone suggested there was no point in arguing with him, but it was not in Brigid’s nature to take no for an answer, and she was not about to start now.
“But… a letter… it would be so impersonal. And even if I am willin’ to do it, I still need to gather my things. The men who brought me here didnae give me time to pack. All I have with me is the clothes I arrived in.”
Her eyes welled with tears, and a flash of anger crossed her face.
“Yer sisters can bring yer things,” Conall said, unmoved. “An’ ye can write whatever ye wish to ask them to attend the wedding.”
Brigid swallowed back her first retort. “If that is yer wish, then could I at least have a few more days to prepare for the wedding? It will tak’ time to make arrangements and to?—”
“The wedding will tak’ place in seven days.” Conall’s response was short and curt, and there was no mistaking the fact that, as far as he was concerned, the conversation was over.
Brigid’s anger surged again, and this time she didn’t bother to try to hold it back.
“Why, though? Because ye fear I’ll go to my grandfather rather than my sisters? Even though ye ken I have nay relationship with him? Are ye so sure I’m a danger to ye that ye’ll nae even let me see my kinfolk or collect my belongings?”
“Careful, lass.” Conall’s voice was low and harsh, the type that might have frightened her if she hadn’t grown up with a man who had used that tone often with everyone who wasn’t a member of his family. “Ye dinnae want to cross me in such amanner. Besides, ’tis as much for yer safety as it is for that of my clan. My men cannae protect ye on the road.”
“Ye didnae even offer me protection,” Brigid protested, her cheeks red with outrage. “Ye only forbid me to go to my kinfolk. What am I supposed to make of that?”
A part of her knew she was being reckless, perhaps foolish even, for challenging a man who held her life and safety in his hands. She had only just accepted the idea of marrying Lair MacKane, and now here she was, arguing with him already. However, the idea that she would be unable to have her sisters with her on her wedding day stung too much for her to keep silent.
“Careful how ye challenge me, lass. I’ll nae warn ye again. I’ve made my decision, and I willnae change it.”
Without giving Brigid a chance to respond, Conall stood up and stalked away from the table, leaving half of his meal uneaten.
