Page 27 of A Kilted Marriage of Convenience

“Aidan, I...” Ciara mumbled, reaching out to him hesitantly, as if she wanted to ask him to erase what he had just heard from memory. Unfortunately, he could not do that. He needed to think, so he got to his feet and looked away from her.

“This is an interesting thought ye had, lass… a thought I need to ponder. I hope ye make a swift recovery,” he said. With that, he stepped out of the healer’s room, ignoring her when she called out to him again.

Aidan hurried up the stairs to his study, his mind in disarray. This plan was perfect for revenge, but only if he did not think about the fact that Ciara was a person, a woman, who might object to marrying him.

Did he really want to be the kind of man who forced marriage on a woman? He always thought it was disgusting when he heard stories of cruel men who dragged unwilling girls into marriages and tied them down forever. The mere thought made him uncomfortable.

He knew that if he married Ciara, he would definitely be able to take care of her, and he would treat her kindly. However, would she like him in return? Would she want to be his wife? If she did not want to wed him, she would be dissatisfied no matter how well he took care of her, and she would resent him no matter how much he apologized.

Forcing her into a marriage might clip her wings. Ciara was strong and outspoken, and he didn’t want to break her spirit by taming her. If he married her, Aidan wanted her to remain the same, and to marry him of her own volition.

Aidan had long given up on the idea of getting married for love. He was a man who could not even sleep beside a woman because he feared he would sleepwalk and harm her. He imagined Ciara must have dreams of true love. Wedding her just to punish her father would be selfish. Yet somehow, the idea of her marrying anyone else made him sick with jealousy.

Should I seduce her?

Seducing her was better than forcing her, in every way. He needed things to develop naturally between them, to gain her trust, to test the waters.

He had to come to a decision quickly, he knew. But while he wasted time thinking about what to do, the news of her abduction was traveling to Keir. He had to marry her before her father came to rescue her.

While Aidan was thinking, the door to his study suddenly burst open. Lillie strode inside, her gait full of purpose. Darragh came in behind her, his steps less enthusiastic, looking as though he had been dragged into this situation against his will.

“Aidan, I need to talk to ye and Darragh now,” Lillie ordered, leaning on his desk.

“Well, ye clearly dinnae need my permission, seeing as ye are already here,” Aidan teased.

“It’s urgent, that’s why.”

Darragh gave his brother a clueless shrug. “Alright,” Aidan said, “go ahead. What is it ye wanted to talk to us about?”

“Dae ye remember the person who ye two met the day ye came to save me from the MacNeil prison? The one who had helped me out? Whom I said brought me meals and took care of me every day?”

Lillie’s eyes were sparkling, yet Aidan could not understand where she was going. He vaguely remembered the cloaked figure who had been with his sister when he had rescued her.

“I dae remember. Why? What has happened?” Aidan asked.

“That person was Ciara!” Lillie announced.

It took a few seconds for what she had said to sink in. Ciara? How?

“Is that what Ciara said?” Darragh asked, incredulous.

“Nay. Ciara never said anything about it. I tripped while we were running today, and when she helped me up, I noticed that she had a mole on her hand. It was the hand I had grown used to seeing during my time in captivity, so of course I recognized it! I confronted her about it, and she finally admitted that she had been the one,” Lillie explained.

Both brothers seemed stunned, but Aidan even more so.

Why had Ciara not said anything? She was being held hostage! Anyone else would have said something to gain the advantage over their captors. She could have asked to leave, and Aidan would have let her as thanks. It was such a strange twist of fate for him to be holding the person who had freed his sister in his bid to punish the person who had taken his sister hostage. He was using her to punish her father when he should have been thanking her.

“I ken that she seemed different from her father, but I didnae think it was to the point where she would go against him so directly. That is quite brave,” Darragh murmured to himself.

“Ye see? That is why I told ye two nae to take her hostage to punish her father! Ye cannae punish someone for their family. Ciara isnae her father!” Lillie retorted.

Aidan got up. “I am considering marrying her to take revenge on her father. It was her idea, in truth.”

Darragh stroked his chin. “This is brilliant! If Ciara is his only bairn, then she is his heir. Marrying her would mean ye will inherit most of Keir’s lands. He will turn in his grave years after he is gone over this,” Darragh said triumphantly. “Are ye serious, brother? Shall I tell the council? How could none of us have thought of this!”

Aidan had too much on his mind to deal with his siblings. He headed for the door, excusing himself, before Lillie of Daragh convinced him to do something he might regret. “I need to talk to Ciara.”