I shake my head. “I don’t regret punishing you. You deserved much worse than what you got.”
Still, she holds herself aloof, but doesn’t move away from my touch when I caress her back.
“Believe it or not, Fran, I’m on your side.”
Her jaw drops open. “And why would I believe that?”
“Because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten the truth from you. I’d have taken you straight to my brothers and handled it with them.”
It’s the truth.
She’s beginning to soften. I place my hand on her lower back and slide her closer to me. When she doesn’t protest, I wrap my arm more firmly around her back and hold her to me.
“I believe you when you said you never meant to put us in danger.”
“I’m still not really sure how you’re in danger.”
“You revealed Clan secrets. And there are so many facts that are based on truth, there are people reading the books now that believe everything to be true.”
Her eyebrows shoot heavenward. “Everything.”
“Aye, lass. Everything. We don’t know what’s fabricated and what’s true, and it’s fucking dangerous for us not to know that. Anyone who’s discovered the books could wonder the same.”
She bites her lip. I wonder if she realizes that she’s nearly resting her head on my chest at this point, her naked body flush against mine. Her breathing slows.
“The arranged marriages, you mean?”
“Aye, among other things. For example, it’s not publicly known that my mother wed my father under duress.”
She blinks. “Really?”
“Really, and that could be used against her.”
She frowns. “I didn’t think of that.”
There were a lot of things she didn’t think about.
“No one knows our grandmother lives here either.”
She bites her lip. “Oh.”
“It’s not common knowledge that my father’s ill, and fucking no one knows that Mac and Leith are married.”
“What? Seriously? Of course they must, they have family…”
“It’s kept as quiet as possible.”
“How can… people not know that?”
I exhale, trying to be patient. She literally didn’t know. “Because we’re reclusive here in the mountains. We don’t share our information freely. It can be used against us and has been.”
“Jesus.” She winces, and it’s the first indication of real guilt she’s given me. I feel myself softening toward her. She really didn’t know.
“No one knows the location of our interrogation room, the hierarchy of the bodyguards we hire.” I pause. “I should say, no one did. Until the books were released.”
She closes her eyes and lets out a breath. “I didn’t know, I truly didn’t. Maybe you should take me to your brothers. Let them deal with me properly.”
By instinct, I fist her hair, tug her head back, and her eyes fly open, meeting mine.
