Page 41 of Captured By the Highland Devil
“T’is a long story,” Elijah said calmly. “But that will come later. Ye need to listen to what Laird McKinnon has to tell ye.”
Ruben’s eyes were narrowed to Elijah. “And when we are done here, ye and I need to talk.”
“I will agree to that, me laird,” Elijah said, his eyes coasting over the witnesses. “But please me laird, let me talk with Lady Paige. She’ll take it from me best.”
Brows lowered, Ruben fixed his eyes on Elijah for a long, almost grating moment, then nodded curtly. “Go on but the rest of the men will stay.
Pulling up a chair, Elijah reached for Paige’s trembling hands and held them tight. “Listen to me, Paige. I will explain why I am alive later, but Laird McKinnon is right. Yer father did bet the land in a game of cards, I ken because I was there and saw it.”
Leaning on a wall, Ruben listened with one ear as he thought back to that night MacPherson had made the deal. The man had drunk enough to fill a wheelbarrow and to end up in one.
“That night, yer father was drunk, and the worst thing was, he wasnae heeding to common sense to stop,” Elijah said. “Yer father then went on to bet his lands against a thousand coins from Laird McKinnon.”
Ruben swallowed over his shock; the man had been there that night after all.
“Yer father insisted on betting the northeast lands and while he was cautioned, twice, he went along with it,” Elijah said. “But he chose to make the wager anyway. Yer father is an easy mark when he gets flustered. His eyes get big and have a feral look, like a beast that has been cornered.
“T’is nay wonder the man ruined himself at cards and then lied to ye to save face,” Elijah said. “He is a very foolish man that thinks he is three steps ahead of everyone but had nay tactic to connect each of them. For all he’s been doing, for all he’s lyin’, it’s only a way to trick ye.”
Paige pulled away and covered her face, trembling. She looked raw and vulnerable, as if her sensibilities were stripped away from her like rotten leaves falling from a dead plant.
“A—all this time,” she whispered. “All this time, he’s been lyin’ to me.”
Elijah made to hug her, but a curt shake of Ruben’s head stopped him. Sitting up, Paige’s voice was weak, “How are ye alive? Father told me ye were a casualty of the war.”
“Yer father kenned I was with him that night, so he had some men try to kill me to stop me from talkin’,” Elijah said. “I made sure to slip the noose, Paige, and made sure to make it look like I was dead. From there, I ran here, right in the very same territory yer father would never dare to look.”
She swallowed and looked to the two men. “That is what happened that night?”
“Aye, me lady,” one of the men nodded. “It’s just as yer cousin said.”
Standing, Paige looked between Ruben and Elijah. “I—I think I need to lie down. I cannae— I cannae—” she swayed and her knees buckled.
Elijah caught her as she collapsed but in the next moment Ruben made sure to hold onto her. Instantly, Elijah let go.
“I’ll take ye to yer room,” Ruben said. To Elijah, he said, “Ye, stay with me men. I need to speak with ye.”
Cradling her close, he carried her up the stairs, wondering if he needed to call a physician to attend to her. He did not like how frantic her eyes were fluttering. Instead of taking her to her room, he took her to his and gently sat her in the middle,
He perched on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hair from her eyes. “Lass, are ye all right?”
Paige pulled away from him and tried to turn away, but he stopped her. “Nay, Paige, look at me. Tell me if ye are all right?”
“Nay,” she said. “Nay, I am nae. I just had me life ripped away from me, Ruben. How in heaven’s name can I be all right?”
“Ye dinnae have yer life ripped away from ye,” Ruben said. “Ye had the lies ripped away from ye. I am sorry, lass, but ye needed to ken the man yer father was—is.”
“And Elijah…” her voice sounded far away. “All this time I thought he was dead, but he was here. Alive. I—I would have never guessed.”
He smoothed her hair from her eyes. “Get some rest, lass. I will talk with yer cousin for ye and I promise ye, he will be here when ye wake.”
She gazed up at him with wide, vulnerable eyes. “Ye promise?”
“Ye have me word.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
That evening, Norah was the one who found Ruben in his meeting room and softly moved the bottle of sloe wine from his hand. “From what I hear, ye daenae need to be drunk on the morrow.”
