“Could be Nan.”
I snort. “Your grandmother definitely reads them and has nothing but dirty comments to make.”
“Aye,” he says with a wry smile. “Not surprised. Could also be my mum, but if they really are about us…”
I cringe. “God, scratch your sisters and mum off that list.”
He grimaces. “But my gran’s alright then?”
“Oh, ewwww,” I cringe. “No, it’s definitely not one of the family. But listen, Tate, it’s a bit ridiculous that you all think they’re about you anyway.” We open the back door and head to the car. “I mean… let’s be honest,” I say in a low tone, just above a whisper. “There’s more than one Scottish mob, isn’t there?”
“Of course,” he says, scowling.
“Then why can’t it be any one of them?”
“Because,” he says with finality, “I’m no bloody fool.”
Warning, my mind blares. Danger.
“Didn’t say you were?—”
“She knows too much,” Tate says. So we’re back to “she?”
Danger!
“Still, could be?—”
“She’s hinted at even more. And while you were in the doctor’s office, I read plenty more and can see now why Leith wants me to find the writer.”
“Oh? And why would that be?”
Does he notice the way my hand’s trembling, or how my voice shakes? Can he hear the rapid beating of my heart?
At this point, I half want him to find out, so we can move on from here. The questions between us are making me physically ill.
“She’s mentioned things we don’t know, as if she has an inside source.”
Why, why, did I keep them so realistic?
Why?
“Like what?”
He blows out a breath. “Like I’d tell you.”
“Why not? If it’s in the book, then anyone can read it.”
He opens the door for me, and I slide in, heart thudding in my chest so hard I feel nauseous. He goes to his side, brooding in silence when he returns.
“First, they’ve had one of my sisters sent off in an arranged marriage.”
I nod. I added that in because Islan told me it was a strong possibility, and also because she maybe just casually mentioned one day how hot the Welsh Captain was.
“...and?”
He shakes his head as he starts the car.
“And more. Like the way she knows our code of conduct,” he says, accelerating as we pull onto the main road. “Like she knows we’ve got sources in Paris, and friends in Ireland. She mentions our hierarchy in vivid detail, and even seems to know that the year before the eldest brother assumed a position of leadership, we made a deal not to trade arms on any of the coasts, in agreement with our friends in Ireland.”
