Page 29 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
He stepped outside the room, still holding the lantern up.
“Come on, then. In ye go,” he ordered.
Ollie complied with the order and sauntered into the room. Holly’s heart did somersaults when she spotted her furry friend. She beamed wide, waiting for him to get closer.
Ollie walked as if he were the most unbothered creature in the world, slowly making his way to the bed, checking the room as he went. When he was close enough, Holly patted the blankets. “Come on, Ollie. Up ye come.”
Ollie looked back at the Laird, then jumped up onto the bed. He approached Holly and rubbed against her, arching his back and purring softly. Holly stroked her hand along his back and then scratched behind his ears. She felt whole again with Ollie by her side.
The cat circled and flopped against her, laying his head down but still regarding the Laird as he moved back into the room.
“Thank ye,” Holly said, “for takin’ care of me, and then Ollie while I was recoverin’, and for bringin’ him back to me.”
“Aye, ye’re welcome,” Elias said. “He lay in me room, doin’ nothin’, and then followed me when I headed to yer room. I think he missed ye.”
Holly smiled. She looked down at the cat and liked to think that was true. “He’s all I have now.”
She wished that was not true. There was sadness in only having a cat and no family.
“Ye have nay other family?” Elias asked.
Holly didn’t look up. She sat staring down at her cat and shook her head. She didn’t want to look at the Laird, a man who wouldn’t care about any of that. He was a murderous man who liked death. That was the impression she’d gotten from the staff, excluding Cassandra.
So, it was a surprise when the Laird set the lantern down on the other bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. The mattress sank slightly as he sat, and Ollie lifted his head to take a look before lowering it again.
“Tell me what happened,” Elias said. His voice was soft, but it still sounded like a command.
Holly didn’t want to talk about it, but she felt compelled. She petted Ollie some more as he fell asleep.
“I was kidnapped when I was fifteen,” she started.
“What?”
The bed shifted as the Laird moved. Holly looked down at the cat, then the wall—anywhere except the Laird. His expression became beastly at the mention of her past pain. She barely knew him, and he wanted to know her life story.
“Some men took me when I was in town, shoppin’ for ribbons. Me faither always let me buy new ribbons for me hair whenever we were in town. I wandered off, and the next thing I kenned, I had a hood over me head, and two men were takin’ me somewhere. I woke up elsewhere. I dinnae remember everythin’ about it.”
“This happened to ye?” the Laird asked.
“Aye,” Holly replied.
Ye asked me about nae havin’ a family, and I’m sure ye’re wonderin’ why I’m tellin’ ye this, but it’s all connected. It’s all me fault.
“I remember hittin’ me head and then wakin’ up in a room somewhere. There was another man. I remember his name. Peter Mitchell. He was their leader.”
Holly’s hand trembled, and she petted her cat so it wouldn’t show. Her other hand was tucked tightly in her lap. She needed to remain strong before the Laird. He was a strong man who demanded the same in return, and if she were to be the lady of the castle, she would do the same.
She took a breath to steady herself.
“They meant to sell me into prostitution,” she said.
The Laird frowned.
“They would’ve if me faither hadnae arrived in time. He took on all three of them by himself.” Her heart swelled with pride as she remembered her father taking on all three. “He killed them all,” she boasted.
Am I any better than he is? The Laird returns bathed in the blood of his enemies, and I boast about me faither spillin’ the blood of three men.
She could still taste it in her mouth—a metallic acidity that made her mouth water. She was glad when she saw the blood spilling from the three men, only recognizing the horror of it later. She was only fifteen. That, and what came after, was not something a young girl should go through.
