Ewan roared in anger as he came around the table to attack.
Nora was dumbfounded as she watched the two men fight.
“You bastard!” Graham snarled as they punched at each other. “You ruined my life.”
Ewan said nothing as he caught the man a blow that sent him straight to the floor.
Ewan picked him up by his shirt and shoved him toward the door. “Leave, Graham. Otherwise, I might kill you.”
Graham laughed, displaying a set of bloody teeth. “Why don’t you then? What’s my life to you? I might as well be dead since your family ruined mine.”
“What did we do to you? ‘Twas your sister who killed my brother.”
Graham spat blood onto the floor and snarled at Ewan. “Isobail would never have left home had it not been for you and your brother. You’re the one who killed Kieran. Don’t try and blame an innocent lass for your deeds. She was a good lass until you ruined her.”
Ewan bent down and caught the man about his waist. He ran at the wall, pinning Graham to it.
Nora was on her feet and across the room before she even realized she’d moved.
“Ewan!” she snapped at him. “Put him down.”
“Nay, not until I kill him.”
Lysander appeared at her side to help her separate them. Nora forced Ewan back while Lysander escorted the other man toward the door.
“Calm down,” she said as she met his blazing eyes.
Graham turned at the door and called out one last parting word. “You never answered my question, MacAllister. Who did you steal her from?”
Ewan took a step, but Nora stopped him. “What are you doing?”
She saw the pain on his face, the torment. She reached up to touch the cut on his lip, but he dodged her hand.
“Don’t touch me.”
He turned about and left her there to stare after him.
Nora followed after him. He was already to the wagon.
“Ewan MacAllister,” she said sharply, “stop right where you are.”
“Go away, Nora. I’m in no mood for you.”
“Why? Because of what that fool said?”
He clenched his teeth and looked away.
She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, then forced him to look at her. “You didn’t steal me from anyone.”
“Think you Ryan will feel that way? You don’t belong to me, Nora. I had no right to you.”
“You’re right. I don’t belong to you. I belong to no man on this earth. I am my own person and not the property of my father, Ryan or anyone else. Who I give myself to is my concern not theirs.”
He tried to pull away, but she held him.
“Look at me.”
He did.
