He reels back as if struck, his expression closing in on itself. “Where have you come from?”
I’m queasy with regret. With fear. I step back, but before I can move more than an inch, he flicks a glance behind me.
Men materialize at my sides and grab my arms.
“Who knows this person?” he bellows.
A dozen faces stare back, but no one speaks.
I pull back my shoulders. I refuse to be cowed. I’m a Campbell almost as much as he is. And besides, he wouldn’t dare do anything in front of a room full of people…right?
“Mister Campbell, my name?—”
His head snaps toward me.
“Master. Nae Mister.” His eyes narrow, his voice turning sharp as steel. “Laird.”
The word rolls off his tongue, thick and Scottish. I flash back to Donag’s cottage.A new plaything will make the laird forget Janet soon enough.
A sickening weight drops in my gut.
I force a smile, but it feels more like baring my teeth. Maybe if he knows we share a last name—maybe if we’re even related—he’ll back off. My throat is too dry tospeak, and it takes a couple swallows before I manage: “I’m Rose Campbell.”
Instead of softening, he barks out a humorless laugh.
“Rose!”
A disturbing look twists his face.
“You dare.”
He drags a rough finger down my cheek. I force myself not to flinch.
“Playing the naïf, are you?” His expression hardens. He seizes my chin.
His grip is like steel, fingers biting into my jaw. I try to jerk away, but his hold is unshakable. My eyes dart from side to side, searching for help, but the crowd only watches, rapt and silent, sipping their drinks as if I’m entertainment.
He releases me with a sharp flick of his wrist.
In my peripheral vision, a shadow shifts.
Callum.
He’s in the hallway beyond, half hidden, watching, listening.
He tried to help. I didn’t believe him. Now I’m alone.
Laird Campbell circles me, slow and proprietary, his gaze crawling over me like Poppa sizing up cattle at auction. The sheer audacity of his raw, assessing stare sends shame burning through me.
As he completes the loop, he looms over me, voice thick with disdain.
“Nobody is this innocent. You’re either a bratty upstart or a MacGregor spy.”
His lips curl in a knowing smirk.
“Either way, you’re coming with me.”
Chapter
