Page 42 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

It must have been a lie that Ruadh had rehearsed many times before. There was nothing to suggest that he was lying, nothing to prove that his mother was in danger, locked up somewhere out of his reach. With every labored breath Aaden took, the truth threatened to spill out of him, consequences be damned. Ruadh couldn’t get away with everything he had done to her, to his father, to Aaden himself. He couldn’t be the one who stood victorious in the end.

But if I telll the truth, he will kill her. He will kill her an’ I will lose Lilith, too.

Abruptly, Aaden pushed his chair back, the wood scraping against the stone floor. He stood, standing still for a brief moment, and then left the table, mumbling a half-hearted excuse.

“Aaden?”

Lilith’s concerned voice barely reached his ears. They were buzzing with the rush of his blood, every other sound dampened behind the insistent droning. He didn’t stop walking until his feet had taken him to one of the long balconies that curved around the front of the castle, his mind clearing a little only when the chill air hit his face.

Aaden gripped the stone railing, his shoulders crumbling into his chest. Despite the abundance of air, his chest constricted, and he felt as though he couldn’t breathe, his body refusing to cooperate with him as he tried to draw air in his lungs. Only a few steps away, Ruadh was probably making excuses for him, laughing and drinking and eating cheerfully.

All while his mother suffered, locked in a cage.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Lilith stared, along with everyone else, as Aaden fled from the great hall with hardly a word. She glanced around the room, trying to figure out if anyone else knew what had prompted such a reaction, but they all seemed just as confused as she was—save for Laird MacEwan, perhaps, who barely gave his nephew another glance.

“Upset stomach,” the man said nonchalantly. “It was the same when he was a bairn. He would have tae run away from the table often.”

“I see,” her father said, nodding in understanding. “How unfortunate. Lilith, why dinnae ye see if he needs assistance? Make sure he’s alright.”

“He’ll be fine,” Laird MacEwan said, waving a hand dismissively. “There is nay need fer concern.”

“I’ll go,” Lilith said, ignoring the reassurances. She had never seen Aaden leave the table so abruptly before, and no matter the reassurances, she doubted the reason for his departure was an upset stomach. Standing, she bowed to the table and followed Aaden, almost passing him by in her search before she caught a glimpse of him through a window.

He was holding onto the balcony rail, hunched over it, and though Lilith couldn’t see his face, she could see that his shoulders were shaking. Perhaps she had been quick to dismiss Laird MacEwan’s words, she thought, though she hoped that Aaden hadn’t fallen ill.

“Aaden?” she asked, as she stepped onto the balcony. Even as she approached him, he didn’t respond or turn to her, but rather continued to stare right up ahead, his head even dropping between his shoulders when she came to stand next to him.

It took Lilith a few moments to notice the tears that streamed down Aaden’s cheeks, his hazel eyes shining with them under the soft light of the torches. At first, she didn’t know what to say, too stunned by the sight of him like this to find the right words. In the end, she only cupped his cheek and pulled him close, and though Aaden curled around her for the briefest of moments, seeking out the comfort she was giving him, he then pulled back from her completely.

Lilith’s hand fell to her side, a lump forming in her throat. Concern flared up inside her, more so now than when Aaden had left the table, as she wasn’t used to him pushing her away like this, nor was she used to seeing him in such a state.

This was much more than a simply upset stomach, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Laird MacEwan knew the real reason for Aaden’s sudden disappearance and was simply trying to cover it up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, taking a step closer even as Aaden pulled away. “What happened?”

“Naething,” Aaden said, turning around from her as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “Naething happened. Go back inside.”

Once again, Aaden refused to tell the truth. Lilith didn’t know what to make of it, this insistence to lie to her when the truth was so obvious, when he was usually so open with her. The last thing she wanted was to argue with him, though, when he was so clearly upset, so she tried to approach him gently, hoping that all he needed was a bit of reassurance that she was there to listen.

“Ye can tell me,” she said. “I can see somethin’ has upset ye an’ I dinnae ken how tae help ye if ye dinnae tell me what it is.”

“I dinnae need yer help,” Aaden snapped, colder than Lilith had ever heard him before. Even when she had seen him angry in the past, it was never like this, and she curled her hands into fists, nails biting into her palms as she tried to control the anger that bubbled up inside her.

This isnae him. Somethin’ happened tae make him like this.

“I dinnae ken what it is that brought ye tae this state, but ye willnae speak tae me like this,” she said. “Ye’re still a guest in me house. Ye will show me respect.”

“A guest, is it?” Aaden said, laughing, though the sound was far from humorous. “An’ here I thought I was tae be yer husband.”

“Ye’re nae me husband yet,” Lilith pointed out. “An’ perhaps ye willnae be if ye insist on actin’ like this.”

Finally turning around, Aaden took a few steps towards Lilith, eyes narrowing just slightly. “Is that so? Will ye go back on yer word tae wed me?”

There was a hint of amusement in Aaden’s tone, his gaze losing its previous sharp edge as though his irritation was bleeding out of him. Lilith rolled her eyes, her chin jutting out proudly as she said, “I will if ye act a fool.”

“An’ what will people say then?” Aaden asked. He moved slowly, reminding Lilith of a creator stalking its prey, and a heat began to spread over her body as she looked at him, their argument only throwing fuel to the fire. “Everyone kens we are tae wed now.”