“Ye will regret what ye have done, Charlotte. I will make sure of that. Ye will rue the day that ye decided to abandon me for some sorry excuse for a Laird. He may have the title and the lands, but I am the only person who has ever loved ye. Ye will never find another to love ye; who could love used goods?”
He didn’t wait to see the effect his words had on her. He simply turned, leaving her in the corner as her chin trembled.
She waited until she heard her door slam shut and then she let the first of many tears fall.
* * *
“Och,the Laird has finally decided to grace us with his presence,” Alastair crooned as soon as Cameron opened the door to his study.
Cameron rolled his eyes at the old man’s dramatics, even though they both knew he had been out much longer than he should have been.
“Have I missed anything important? Did something happen while I was away?” Cameron asked nonchalantly.
He poured himself a fresh glass of whiskey, knowing he would need something to help settle him after his outing with Charlotte.
It wasn’t that he was rattled or even upset, rather he was too excited to sit still. He would need to focus on the work he had in front of him sooner rather than later and that meant calming himself down in whatever ways he could.
After leaving Charlotte at her door, he walked through the halls, needing the time to reel his smile back in. He wouldn’t give Alastair the satisfaction of knowing how well things were going between him and Charlotte. At least, not right away. He hated to see his advisor’s smug grin at knowing his plans had worked.
His walk worked well enough, but delaying Alastair even further put him in a worse mood. Cameron didn’t mind. There was little that would diminish the happiness that coursed through him.
Only a few days ago he had been convinced that he was falling for a woman who was in love with another man. He had been so upset that it had kept him in his bed for more than a day. Yet now, everything was worked out between the two of them. The tenuous peace they had established in concocting their deal had been replaced by friendship and contentment from being around each other. No longer was he worried that his days would be filled with little more than duty and responsibility to his clan. He knew that he would have Charlotte to brighten even the most rainy of days. It was enough to allow him to walk into his study with his shoulders squared, despite knowing that Alastair would be giving him an earful.
“Och nay,” his advisor argued. “Ye are nae going to strut in here as if ye have nae been missing for the entire afternoon. I had half of the castle looking for ye. So, please, pray tell where ye managed to sneak off to?”
Cameron shrugged, hiding behind his mug. He would keep his word to Charlotte and not let his advisor know more than he had to.
“The last anyone heard or saw of ye, ye and Charlotte were out strolling through the grounds. But when I went to find ye so we could begin our work for the day, neither of ye were to be found. And there were two horses missing from the stables. Would ye happen to have an answer for that?”
“We went out for a ride.”
“A ride?” Alastair sputtered.
“Aye. Ye were the one who told me to get to ken her better, to ensure our marriage for the sake of the clan. I was only following yer instructions. I thought it might be good for her to see more of the lands that she will one day call her own.”
Cameron shrugged again as he eased into his chair, enjoying Alastair’s fit far too much.
“Do ye ken how dangerous it is for a Laird to be out of his castle without any protection? We have nay shortage of enemies and yet ye carelessly took yer betrothed out for a ride? Simply to show her what she could see clearly from any number of windows from the castle?”
“Och, ye ken it is nae the same. Besides, we were safe the entire time. I had my sword with me. I could have protected her.”
“From a rabbit, perhaps. But could ye have fought off a dozen armed guards whose only intention is to see ye harmed?”
Cameron flinched at the picture Alastair painted. He cared little for his own well-being, but he had not considered the full ramifications of what might have happened to Charlotte.
“That is what I thought. Ye should have been here, training with the others so that perhaps one day, ye might. In the meantime, take some guards with ye. That is what they are for.”
“Aye,” Cameron sighed. “Ye are right. I will be more careful next time.”
Alastair nodded in approval before he found his own seat, having exhausted himself.
“Well, are ye going to tell me how yer afternoon with the lady went?”
Cameron huffed a laugh at Alastair’s nosiness and shook his head.
“Nay. Now, what did I miss that was so important?”
“I received word back from my scouts stationed at the edge of our borders. There have been sightings of many soldiers from other clans encroaching on our territory.”
