He looked taken aback by her question, and while the look delighted her, she was still angry.
Just who was this man to tell her what to do?
Jonathan had already betrayed her by adding such a stipulation to manipulate her into something she did not want, and she had not even been given time to process it. Now this stranger thought he could force his way into her home and order her to do his bidding?
How dare he?
“Jonathan trusted me with seeing ye well situated with a husband, and I have every intention of doing so.”
“If yer inheritance wasnae to tied to yer duty, would ye have come all this way?” she hissed. “Ye were content to stay in yer castle all these years. I advise ye to go back there and leave me be.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
She had insulted him, that much was obvious, and she was glad she had. Her fatal flaw had always been her ability to speak the truth, no matter how it hurt, and he needed to hear it.
He had not come out of some sense of duty to Jonathan. He had only traveled this distance because he wanted to claim his inheritance. It annoyed her even more that Mr. McCain had gone to him first to inform him of the will. Or how else would he have found her so quickly?
Gods above!
She was tired of the men in her life and their poor attempts to control her.
“Insult me all ye wish, but ye daenae have a say in the matter,” he said calmly, clearly trying to rein in his temper. “I am responsible for ye now, and ye will obey me.”
“And I have told ye,” she retorted, “ye daenae have to bother yerself with me existence. Discuss a way out of the terms with Mr. McCain. I am sure he will listen to ye.”
“It doesnae work that way. Why are ye being so stubborn?”
“Stubborn?” she scoffed. “I have just learned that the only faither I had ken betrayed me trust and is trying to force me intoa life I daenae want, and ye think I’m beingstubborn? Ye clearly are an unreasonable man.”
His face softened, and she saw what she hated reflected in his eyes: pity.
“I daenae need yer pity!” she snapped. “I need ye to leave me home and to leave me in peace. I was doing just fine before I kent about the will, and I intend to continue doing so.”
“Yer future has been committed to me as such I cannae allow ye to continue to do as ye wish,” he insisted. “Ye have nay choice but to do what I say.”
“I daenae have to do anything ye ask of me.”
“I didnae ask anything of ye, Miss Collins,” he said in a pointed tone. “I gave ye an order. Ye will come with me to the castle?—”
“Who are ye to give me orders?”
“I am yer Laird, and since ye are a member of this clan, ye have to do as I say.”
Talia could not help herself; she burst into laughter. But when she looked at him, she saw the grim look on his face.
He was actually serious, and he seemed offended by the fact that she was laughing at him.
What was he expecting, though? That she would follow his inane order?
“Ye cannae seriously think that would make me obey ye,” she snorted. “Does it usually work? Even if it does, I am sorry it doesnae make me change me mind. If it bothers ye so much, I can simply leave the clan. That way, I’ll be free of me obligations to ye.”
“Argh!” he growled.
She stepped back as he rushed forward, her heart lurching in fear. She felt her back hit the wall.
“What are ye doing?” she squeaked when he kept approaching.
Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, and she lifted her arms to protect her face, thinking he was going to hit her. But he did nothing of the sort.
