Page 45 of His Forgotten Highland Bride

Ewan’s jaw tensed again, but he remained silent. Ronan continued his questions as they walked toward the castle.

“Why did she put ye out of the keep, Ewan? She’s not quick to anger. Lord knows I should have seen her wrath if that were true—so what did you do to cause such a punishment?”

“You can’t see her for what she is. She’s turned ye against me.”

Ronan was at a loss. Ewan was twisting things around without giving any real answers.

“I’ve told her I want to start over. I plan to have a life with her, Ewan. She’s my wife. I don’t know what has transpired between you, but until I get to the bottom of the matter, I want you to stay away from her.”

“Me? Do you think I would betray you, nephew?” Ewan looked genuinely shocked…and yet his jaw twitched.

They had made their way up to the castle. Ronan was ready to repeat his warning to avoid Brenna when Ewan glared at something over Ronan’s shoulder. Ronan turned to see Brenna dumping some scraps for a few small dogs. Ewan’s glare turned to surprise, and then he laughed. The sound alerted Brenna, who went pale before turning and rushing back to the safety of the kitchen.

Ewan’s laughter faded, and he slapped Ronan on the back. “From the looks of the handprint on her neck, it seems you’ve found a way to deal with the wench.”

Ronan batted away Ewan’s hand, which had come to rest on Ronan’s shoulder in a conspiratorial way. “That was an accident,” he quickly explained as guilt washed over him. “I would never hurt her on purpose.” He watched to see if Ewan would say the same, but he didn’t.

Instead, he grasped Ronan’s shoulder again and stared into his eyes.

“I’ll never forgive myself for being the reason you were shackled to that scheming witch. Be careful, Ro. Every word she speaks is a beautiful lie to turn ye against me. You’ll see the truth soon enough.”

Before he could say anything else, Ewan had turned in the opposite direction and hurried away.

Ronan stood there in complete confusion. He still wasn’t sure if it was Brenna or Ewan who was lying. Whoever it was, they were good at it.