Page 28 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

Aaden and Evander had been plaguing their home for two whole weeks and Lilith couldn’t wait for the day when they would finally leave. Neither of them seemed to have any intention of doing so, though, nor did her father seem to have any intention of sending them away, despite Lilith’s best efforts to cause a rift among them.

It had been a week since she had caught Evander with the maid and Lilith had spent every single one of those days battling with herself, trying to decide whether she should tell Freya the truth. Every time she saw her with Evander, the two of them acting like a lovesick couple, a terrible nausea gripped her and she had to leave the room before it all spilled out of her like a flood, pulling everything along in its stride.

She couldn’t even face Aaden anymore. Any affection she had had for him had now dissipated entirely, leaving behind nothing but hatred and the bitter taste of his betrayal. She regretted ever trusting him, opening herself up to him and expecting him to understand when in reality, he was just like his cousin. Why else would he defend Evander? Why else would he take his side instead of telling Freya the truth?

Lilith glanced at her sister, who sat across from her in the morning room, embroidering on a piece of cloth under the scant sunlight that streamed into the room through the large windows. She was perfectly happy, perfectly unaware, and Lilith’s chest ached more and more with every passing day as she thought about the future that was to befall her.

She had said nothing to her in the week that had passed since the incident, mainly because regardless of what she had told Evander, she feared that Freya wouldn’t believe her. She was so taken with him, so in love that anything Lilith could tell her would fall on deaf ears. When Freya loved, she loved fiercely and she was quick to trust people, even when they didn’t deserve it.

A book lay abandoned in Lilith’s lap, her fingers marking the page she had last read, though she could hardly remember the story. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice Freya trying to get her attention until she waved a hand in front of her face, calling her name in an insistent tone that suggested she had called her several times before.

“What?” Lilith asked, blinking up at her in surprise.

“I said why are ye starin’?” Freya sat back down on the plush couch, but she put her embroidery aside, focusing her attention on Lilith instead, much to her chagrin. What could Lilith tell her that wouldn’t sound strange? “What is on yer mind?”

“Naething,” Lilith said, but she hardly sounded convincing.

“Is it Aaden?” Freya asked with a mischievous smirk.

In a way, she was right, but not for the reason she hoped. Lilith knew how much Freya wanted her to like Aaden and she wouldn’t stop until she either got what she wanted, or Lilith gave her a good reason why she couldn’t.

I must tell her the truth. She needs tae ken.

Even so, she didn’t speak. Every time she tried to force the words out, they died on her tongue and Freya was none the wiser.

This time, Freya didn’t press for an explanation. Instead, something seemed to catch her attention and she looked out of the window, lips splitting into a wide grin. There was only one person who could make her smile like that, Lilith knew, and she stood with a sigh, making her way over to the window to see Evander and Aaden there, waving up at them. Evander even had the gall to wink at Freya and Aaden followed his lead, doing the same to Lilith.

Bastards.

With a decisive flick of her wrist, she closed the curtain.

“Lilith!” Freya protested, hands thrown up in exasperation. “Why are ye so rude? What has Aaden done tae deserve this treatment?”

I must tell her the truth. I must.

And yet the thought that Evander would tell everyone about her night with Aaden stopped her in her tracks. She didn’t care about her own reputation, but she cared about Freya’s. Her sister wanted to find love more than anything else and Lilith couldn’t do anything that would jeopardize her future like this.

She had no doubt Evander would deliver on his threat to expose them if she told everyone the truth. For that moment of weakness, she was now paying the price.

Instead of telling Freya the truth, she scrabbled to find an excuse. In the end, she settled for, “I think he is tryin’ too hard tae win me affections. I thought the song he sang was a nice gesture, but he is too eager.”

“Too eager?” Freya scoffed, resting her hands on her hips as she gave Lilith an unimpressed look. “Dae ye hear yerself? Too eager? How can it be a bad thing that he likes ye?”

“I dinnae ken his motives.”

In fact, despite what Aaden had told her, she had begun to question his motives once more. It had been easy to believe in the moment that he truly found her as interesting as he had claimed, but she couldn’t help but replay Evander’s words in her mind: I think ye should dae what ye came here tae dae.

What was his plan? Aaden had never explained himself and Lilith didn’t know if he ever would, but if he was under the impression that she would forget all about it, he was sorely mistaken.

“Perhaps his motive is that he likes ye,” Freya said. “Why dae ye think it so unlikely?”

With a roll of her eyes, Lilith pushed past Freya to collapse on an armchair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are ye actin’ as though it’s such a terrible thing that I dinnae wish tae marry him?”

“Why dinnae ye wish tae marry him?” Freya asked instead of responding to her question. It wasn’t often that the two of them fought and Lilith couldn’t help but wish Evander and Aaden had never come into their lives to create this mess. Had it not been for them, then she and Freya would have no reason to argue like this. “What is so wrong with him?”

“I dinnae ken!” Lilith said. She couldn’t hold back anymore. Rage and regret and grief welled up inside her, the words spilling past her lips before she could stop them. “But somethin’ is! An’ if I wed him, then ye’ll wed Evander an’ I willnae allow that.”

Freya froze, blinking at Lilith in surprise at the outburst. Then she laughed a hollow laugh. “This again? I dinnae understand what it is that ye have against him, but I love Evander an’ he loves me. Why cannae ye accept that? Why dae ye hate him so much?”