Page 27 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
Unfortunately, he could only afford to live in a room above the tavern, which didn’t allow for much privacy. He didn’t usually get visitors other than her, either.
Felix waited until she’d hidden in the closet at the far corner, then walked across the room and opened the door.
A messenger dressed in the McAllister blue, green, and yellow plaid stood there.
Felix frowned. What was a messenger from the Laird doing at his door? His heart skipped a beat. Had he somehow cheated the Laird? He’d always been very careful about who his targets were to draw the least amount of attention to him. That was something his father had taught him when he’d introducedhim to the trade at the tender age of nine. But he could have inadvertently cheated the Laird by tricking one of his friends or advisors.
“Felix Grant?” the messenger asked.
Felix nodded. “Aye.”
The messenger withdrew a missive and handed it to Felix, who took it curiously.
“What is this?” he asked.
The messenger pointed to the parchment. “Ye’ll find yer answers in there.” He paused and frowned. “Ye ken how to read?”
Felix bristled. Just because he wasn’t a noble didn’t mean he didn’t know his letters.
“I do,” he snapped.
The messenger didn’t seem apologetic for making such an assumption. He nodded, pointed at the parchment again, then said, “Then read it.”
Felix closed the door while looking down at the missive. He walked further into the room and went over to the dressing table. The woman came out from the closet, her hair a tangled mess and her expression full of concern.
“What is it, Felix?”
He broke the McAllister seal and opened the missive, his eyes going wider with every word he read.
“Nay,” he said in a horrified whisper. “Nay! He cannae do this!”
“What?” the woman asked, moving to stand next to him. She tried to peer around him to read the missive, but he was shaking it in the air angrily. “Who are ye talkin’ about? Who cannae do what?”
Felix finally turned to her. His face was flushed a bright red, and his eyes were narrowed into angry brown slits.
“Laird McAllister!” he seethed.
The woman’s face paled, and she sucked in a breath.
Felix waved the missive in front of her face. “He’s cancelin’ me betrothal to Holly!”
“Nay!” she exclaimed. They had worked so hard to make this happen, and now the Laird was ruining all their plans. “He cannae do this!”
“He is the Laird, and apparently, he can. And did!” Felix growled.
He reread the missive, then threw it atop the dressing table. His gaze fell to a tankard he’d left on the table. He snatched it up and threw it against the wall, the sound loud in the small room.
“She cannae escape me so easily.” His voice was low, and a calculating gleam entered his eyes.
The woman shivered slightly, but Felix wasn’t certain if it was caused by fear or excitement.
CHAPTER TEN
Holly knew she was not alone anymore. She didn’t open her eyes just yet, focusing on what sound had woken her. She listened for someone in the room with her. Her mind threw itself back, working out what had happened before she had gone to sleep.
It took a moment, but it came flooding back: the almost kiss, the fall, Cassandra, her head, and then falling into a deep sleep. She heard nothing more since the sound that woke her. She risked opening her eyes a crack.
The room was mostly dark, the deep shadows close to the bed telling her that night had fallen.
