John’s mouth was tight and his expression strained as she drew nearer. Finally, she stood before him. Holding her breath, bracing for the worst, she looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”
His mouth drew even harder, whitening his lips and making the muscle in his jaw jump. “My blasted brother will explain. I’ll have nothing to do with this.”
John was furious. Whatever Gregor had done, clearly John didn’t agree with it.
“Gregor has returned?” She hoped she didn’t sound as relieved as she sounded.
“Aye. He’s a bastard but not a coward,” he said grudgingly—very grudgingly.
Cate had no idea what he was talking about, but something was obviously very wrong. Taking a deep breath for strength, she asked the question, “What has he done?”
John swore, dragging his fingers back through his hair the same way Gregor did when he didn’t know what to say. “It’s my fault. I didn’t realize what he was asking. I never would have told him before talking to you, if I’d known.”
“Whatever are you talking about, John? Told him what?”
“That you sent for me that morning. I didn’t think anything of it until he started acting like an arse that night, and I realized what he thought.”
Cate stared at him in confusion. “I sent for you?”
“Aye, that morning we walked in on you and Gregor…uh, in bed.”
Cate was aghast. She stood back, looking at him as if he were deranged. “I did no such thing!”
He frowned. “Pip said you had to tell me something important.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t send for you. There must be some mistake.” Suddenly her eyes widened in horror. She covered her gasp with her hand, realizing what it meant. “And you told Gregor this?”
Dear God, what he must think? What John told him must have seemed a confirmation of Seonaid’s claim that Cate had trapped him into marriage. No wonder he’d been acting so cold.
John nodded. “Aye, he asked me how it was that I came to your room that morning, and I didn’t think anything of it. At least not until he started drinking, and…”
He left off, clearly not wanting to say what else Gregor had been doing. Flirting—please let it only be flirting—with those other women.
“Acting like an arse?” she finished for him.
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Cate.”
The way he was looking at her…
Her pulse spiked with trepidation. “I didn’t send for you, John. I would never try to force him into marrying me. You know that, don’t you?”
He hesitated. It was clear that like Gregor, John had thought the worst. But unlike his brother, he had some doubts. “I didn’t want to think so. I hoped there was an explanation. I told him so, but he was too angry with me—I told him I wanted to fight with Bruce, not stay here and run his clan for him.”
Cate was glad that John had found the courage to tell Gregor how he felt. But how ironic that John gave her the benefit of the doubt her betrothed would not. Yet John had never been manipulated and betrayed by a woman he cared about. John hadn’t learned to be guarded and cautious. John didn’t fear ulterior motives from every woman he met. And John hadn’t heard her in the corridor with Seonaid.
She cringed again. Oh God, how Gregor must hate her! It was a betrayal of the worst kind to him. For all that he pretended that women who set their sights on him instantly upon meeting him or turned him into a notch on the bedpost didn’t matter to him, she knew it did.
“There is an explanation,” Cate said firmly. “I’ll find Pip, and we can clear this all up.”
The hard, tight look returned to his face. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
“What do you mean it’s too late—”
She stopped, the reason for John’s anger and odd behavior suddenly hitting her full force. She felt like she’d just been crushed under a wall of rocks.
No…No! Gregor wouldn’t…
But he would. The pain cut like a jagged knife, eviscerating her heart from her chest in one cruel slice. He’d warned her they couldn’t stay, and she hadn’t wanted to believe he could actually send them away. But his anger with her had given him all the excuse he needed. He was making it clear that they wouldn’t be a family.
