Page 64 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
“I cannae keep sleepin’ and wakin’ up every day kennin’ that the culprit is doing the same.”
Ava sighed, rubbing her temples as she felt the beginning of a headache. “I don’t know why I let myself think you’re different from them.”
Brodrick furrowed his brow. “What?”
“You are all the same, aren’t you? Men, everywhere. Do you even care about the hundreds of people you harm along the way in your relentless pursuit of this one man?”
Brodrick swallowed, words hanging on the tip of his tongue but refusing to come out.
“You all just want to pillage villages, pick on the easiest targets, and exercise your power over them. With all due respect, My Laird, that does not exactly scream bravery to me.”
Ava turned and was about to resume walking when Brodrick reached out, wrapping his hand tightly against her wrist.
“Dinnae,” he started. “And I mean this severely, Governess. Dinnae ever compare me to the Viscount What’s-His-Name.”
Ava tried yanking her hand free, but his grip only grew tighter.
“Have you ever lost a child, Ava? Even for a day?”
Ava didn’t respond, but she pulled even harder, trying to yank her hand out of his grasp.
“How about a month, then? What about a week? I suppose ye dinnae ken what it feels like to have yer child taken away from ye for ten whole years, then.”
He pulled her closer to him, their faces only a few inches apart.
“Margaret was only a few months old when her maither was killed—when she was taken away from me. Every day, I wake up wonderin’ if I could’ve done anything different that would have prevented it. I have searched for me daughter for ten years ever since, carryin’ that regret with me wherever I go. Someone is goin’ to pay, lass. And they’re goin’ to pay dearly.”
He paused, his chest heaving up and down with shallow breaths. The wild morning winds blew around them, flapping his tartan and her dress.
He thought about it at that moment. Leaning in. Claiming her lips. Time would freeze, and for a moment, he would feel a temporary peace. He could see the thought flicker behind her eyes too.
Her eyes darted down to his lips and then back to his eyes, her heavy breaths mingling with his.
“It is no matter what you think of me anyway,” she finally whispered.
Brodrick’s eyes narrowed, and a wave of confusion properly settled on his face. “What are ye talking about?”
Ava shrugged. “It is true isn't it? This is all temporary.”
Brodrick continued to stare at her, the confusion growing on his face by the second.
“I leave for the orphanage soon.” She finally announced, like she had just dropped a cannon.
The words triggered something in Brodrick. Something he had yet to understand. He released his grip on her wrist. “Right.”
“Ava!” Flora’s voice suddenly called from the stables.
Brodrick swallowed. In this brief moment of insanity, he had forgotten that they were supposed to go horse riding, before all hell was let loose.
“I shall head to the study,” he muttered, no longer feeling the urge to ride. “Ye should go with them. I’ll only slow ye down.”
“Brodrick—”
“’Tis alright,” Brodrick cut her off. “I need to talk with me men anyway. Remind them where their loyalties must lie. I will be here when ye return.”
“But Flora?—”
“Tell her there was something I had to do. Margaret, too. I am certain they’ll understand.”
