“I’ve no’ grown cold, only stronger against a monster as ye.”
Valiantly, she held his gaze—caring little for what else he’d do to her. Let these strangers who accompanied him here see him for what he truly was.
He shook his head. “None of it matters anymore,” he said. “Lord Nelson and these fine men have accompanied me here to make sure ye do as I bid. In three days, ye will marry Lord Nelson right here with Laird MacKay standing as witness. And in return for his loyalty, I will give yer sister Ariana in marriage to the MacKay. That way, our interests in the north and south are guaranteed.”
“No!” She wanted to maim him, to kill him. Betrothing his middle daughter to such a beast would kill Ariana. “How could ye hate us so much? Are we not yer own flesh and blood?”
Bane gripped her chin cruelly and turned her face, taking her measure. “Aye, ye are me daughter. I willna deny it. But ye are a willful harpy—unworthy of me tenderness. Ariana is little better. But Keara, she is a gentle lass…perhaps the pearl of me heart.”
“W-what will ye do with Keara?”
“Well now,” her sire said manipulatively, “that depends on how ye conduct yerself from here on, girl.”
Once again, he played her, baited her, and controlled her with threats. He knew her weaknesses, her strengths. How to build her up and tear her down. How to silence her forever…
“Do what I say,” he continued, “and I will let Keara choose a man of her liking to marry next year. Defy me, shame me in front of Lord Nelson and the MacKay, and I will sell her to a slave ship that will take her far away to serve as a concubine in some foreign king’s harem.”
The threat pierced her soul, and uncontrollable tears streamed down her cheeks as she slashed her fingernails across her father’s left cheek, leaving a trail of blood.
He let out a surprised yelp and rubbed his hand over his cheek, then looked at his fingers. “Ye drew blood, bitch!” He raised his fist to strike her, but one of the guards caught Bane’s hand midair.
“Nay! You won’t mar her face again. Lord Nelson desires a pretty bride, not a damaged one.”
Bane heaved the angriest huff Kali had ever heard. “Fine,” he said. “Bind her hands and bring her to the keep to face the MacKay.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Free her hands,” Laird MacKay ordered as Thomas Bane, Kali, two guards, and the maid Heather were all pushed into his solar. “I’ll no’ have me futuresister-in-lawmanhandled like a common criminal.” He stroked his bushy beard, the corners of his eyes crinkled with mirth at the sudden change in circumstances. “Give yer mistress a cup of wine, girl—she needs it.”
Heather rushed to do the laird’s bidding as Kali’s hands were cut free of the rough cord used to bind them. Then she was pushed down into one of the chairs arranged in front of the laird’s table. Once the cup of wine was offered to her, Kali gladly accepted it and took a long drink, her nerves in desperate need of steadying. She still didn’t know anything, feared the worst for her sisters and now for the man she loved—Adam.
“There now,” the MacKay said with mock care. “Ye are as elegant and civilized as any woman I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”
Kali frowned at him with contempt; what was this man playing at? Where had the real Laird MacKay gotten to and who was this imposter? “What have ye done?” Those were the only words she could force out of her mouth.
Unfortunately, Kali’s sire disapproved and cuffed the side of her head. “Watch how ye address the laird.”
The MacKay’s gaze lingered on Kali, and she squirmed under the weight of it, feeling ill at ease. Her obvious displeasure didn’t seem to affect the man, for he stood up and walked around his table, coming to stand beside her father.
“I know ye are verra angry with the lass, Bane. But with ye standing over her, intimidating her, she is less likely to speak honestly. Leave her to me.”
The guards didn’t wait for Bane to reply, they immediately started to shuffle him toward the door. He protested, of course. “Me daughter alone with ye? Let the maid stay as a chaperone.”
The MacKay chuckled as he followed in the wake of the guards. “Ye pay me the highest of compliments, Bane. Though I think it unintentional. True, I possess an unbridled zeal for women, young or old, it doesna matter. But to think I’d deflower yer daughter in me solar…” He laughed harder as he slammed the door on Bane’s perturbed face, leaving only himself, Kali, and Heather in the room.
Kali had turned in the chair to watch every move the men made, and now she stared at the laird with utter abhorrence.
He returned to his seat at the table, finished drinking his own glass of wine, set the cup aside, folded his hands on the table, then studied her silently for several achingly uncomfortable moments.
“Yer sire strikes ye too easily, lass.”
Kali shrugged one shoulder. “’Tis the reality I live with.”
“Ye didna bide yer time here well. Ye went against everything I told ye—kept company with those thieving children and seduced me heir.”
“Where is Adam?” she demanded, unafraid of the laird. Her fate had been sealed, as her father had said. She was expected to marry Lord Nelson in three days.
“Where ye canna influence his good sense anymore,” he answered. “Hale, if ye are truly worried about his welfare.”
