‘Damn the both of you,’ he said, rising to his feet. His voice turned to thunder. ‘Did you enjoy laughing behind my back? Give Connor any woman and he’ll not know the difference. Is that what you said?’
He jerked the rest of his clothing back on, and Aileen covered her mouth with her hands. ‘No. We never talked about it.’
‘I saw Lianna the next morn. Naked in Tómas’s arms. I thought she’d betrayed me. But it wasn’t her. I had no cause to be angry with her.’
His eyes were black with hatred, and Aileen wished she could take the confession back. But it was too late. He wasn’t going to forgive her.
Blood rushed to her face, and she couldn’t stop shivering. Right now she wanted to flee, to seek the solace of the night and weep for all she’d lost. But she had made her own fate. It was time to face the penalty for her stolen night.
‘I don’t regret what I did,’ she said. How could she? Rhiannon was her treasure, her very heart.
‘I have a daughter,’ he said. ‘One who was raised believing her father was another man. And you find no shame in that?’
‘I tried to tell you. Twice.’ She reached out, but he would not look at her. ‘You refused to listen to me.’
‘And now? What do you expect me to do? Go and tell her who I am?’
She paled. ‘Don’t. It would only frighten her.’ She had never seen Connor so angry, but her protectiveness toward Rhiannon fortified her courage.
‘You want me to pretend as though she doesn’t exist?’
‘That would be for the best.’ Now, it was more clear than ever that she couldn’t have Connor back in her life. His words bruised her heart, and she would not shatter Rhiannon’s safe world with the truth.
‘I won’t have my daughter believing her father abandoned her.’ Cold steel eyes glared at her.
Strange, how one revelation could transform a man so. Only a moment ago, she had lain naked in his arms, both of them sated from lovemaking. Now in his visage, she saw hatred.
‘You abandoned me,’ Aileen whispered. ‘That day in the rain, when I first tried to tell you. You didn’t want any part of me.’
Her anger boiled inside her with the need to spill out all the feelings she’d held back over the past seven years. ‘Poor, plain-faced Aileen, in love with Connor MacEgan,’ she taunted. ‘I knew it would horrify you to learn that you’d shared my bed. You made that clear from the first. I wasn’t about to let you hurt Rhiannon.’
‘I would have helped you take care of her.’
‘No, you wouldn’t.’ She closed her eyes. ‘You wouldn’t have believed me. And I had Eachan to take care of us.’
‘She deserves to know the truth.’ He crossed his arms, trying to intimidate her.
She’d have none of it. Her maternal hackles rose up. ‘Are you going to give up your fight against Ó Banníon?’
‘No.’
‘Then there’s no need to tell Rhiannon about you. You won’t be there to watch her grow up.’ By Danu, why couldn’t she stop the tears from filling up inside her? She needed to be strong, to stand up for her daughter’s needs.
‘You don’t believe I will defeat him.’
‘I don’t, no.’Do not cry. Do not let him see you weaken. She tightened her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms.
‘Then there’s nothing more to be said, is there?’ He strode to the door, tossing it open. With a backwards glance, he added, ‘After Samhain, I want Rhiannon fostered at my home in Laochre. Deny me, and you will regret it.’
Connor slammed his fist against the exterior of the sick hut. For nearly ten years, he’d not returned to these lands. He’d cut himself off from friends and from his foster family. But Lianna had done nothing wrong. It was Aileen who was to blame for it.
He might have forgiven her if it had only been a stolen night of lovemaking. But she’d borne him a child.
He thought of Rhiannon, her wild dark hair like her mother’s. Like a young colt with long limbs, she would be a tall maiden one day. Her creamy complexion rivalled Aileen’s, but her eyes mirrored his own. He should have recognised it.
Beyond her appearance, he knew nothing of the girl. To have a child nearly six summers of age and to be unaware of her existence troubled him. How could Aileen hold such a secret and not tell him? He was not the sort of man to leave bastard children behind.
He gathered his belongings into a bundle, placing his brother’s sword atop it. He lifted the heavy weapon with his left hand, then shifted it to his right. His wrist burned, but he gave a practice swing.
