Page 5 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

“Gold, o’ course,” Ruadh said. “I will receive the dowry fer both weddings. An’ then, with time, power. Imagine it, me son an’ me nephew married tae the two Stewart lasses. It’s an alliance that will never break. An’ dinnae act as though ye will receive naething out o’ this. Ye will be a laird one day. In name only, perhaps, but ye’ll still live a nice, comfortable life. An’ ye’ll have a bonnie wife. They say Lilith Stewart is a very bonnie lass. She’s certainly more than a bastard like ye deserves, so ye should be grateful I am givin’ her tae ye.”

Before Aaden could say anything else, Evander entered the room. Though it had been years since they had last seen each other, Aaden recognized him immediately, and by the way the other paused by the door, looking at him with clear surprise etched on his face, he recognized him, too.

They looked alike, the two of them. They both shared their mother’s golden hair, the bow of her lips, the shape of her eyes. They even shared some resemblance through their fathers, inheriting their common feature: a strong, straight nose.

“Cousin,” Evander said, lips stretching into an easy smile. “When did ye come tae visit?”

Cousin.

Naturally, Read hadn’t told Evander about their true relation. Evander still thought they were only cousins, not half-brothers, and as much as Aaden wanted him to know the truth, he would keep Ruadh’s secret for the sake of their mother.

“Just now,” Ruadh said before Aaden could respond. “I was tellin’ him about Lilith an’ Freya. Aaden has agreed tae wed Lilith.”

Aaden didn’t remember ever making such a promise, but what other choice did he have? Ruadh had his mother. He could kill her at any moment and then Aaden would have lost the only real family he had left. He couldn’t let him touch her. He couldn’t let him take her life, too, after everything else he had taken from her.

“I saw Freya a few months ago when I went tae a clan meetin’ at Stewart Castle,” Evander said, coming to stand next to Aaden. “I already ken she wants me. She tried everythin’ in her power tae get me attention an’… well, she did. I would have kissed her, too, had it nae been fer her meddlin’ sister. She kept trailin’ after Freya, remindin’ her tae be proper. But that’s alright. I have been writin’ tae her ever since an’ I’ve done me best tae make her fall fer me.”

“I’m sure it wasnae difficult fer ye,” said Ruadh. “These lasses are so easily swayed by sweet words.”

“They truly are,” Evander said, and both of them laughed, the sound filling the large room. They had a similar laugh, deep and booming, like a solid thing. “All I had tae dae was promise her I would love her forever an’ she was ready tae believe anythin’ I told her.”

Aaden looked at the two of them with disgust as he took a few steps back, putting some space between him and his brother. He didn’t want to be there. Had it not been for his mother, he would have never even come.

“Lilith is very bonnie, ye ken,” Evander said, echoing his father’s prior words. “But ye should be careful. They call her the Snow Lass because she’s so frigid. Nae one has managed tae get tae that cold heart o’ hers.”

“Ye will both visit Stewart Castle soon,” Ruadh said, interrupting his son. “Laird Stewart is acceptin’ the suitors, so Aaden, ye can go an’ charm Lilith while Evander speaks with the laird about Freya’s hand. An’ ye are nae tae fail. It will be most beneficial tae all o’ us if Lilith chooses ye.”

Aaden’s first instinct was to refuse, but he had no choice. There was no point in arguing now, not when both he and Ruadh knew he would do as he was told. His uncle had him under his control now. There was nothing Aaden could do as long as he kept threatening his mother.

Looking between the two men, Aaden couldn’t help but wonder how everything had come to this. He, who never wanted to marry, was now being forced into this marriage. The only good thing about it all was that there would be no love involved. That gave him some peace of mind, at least.

Besides, he was Aaden MacEwan, the womanizer. How difficult could it be to seduce this girl?

CHAPTER TWO

Ruadh’s POV

Seeing Aaden after all this time was nothing but jarring, but Ruadh knew how to keep his emotions to himself. The boy looked so much like Evander, so much like the mother they shared that Ruadh’s self-control had almost slipped upon laying eyes on him. He resembled both Janice and his traitor of a father, a cruel reminder of their betrayal.

Janice was always meant to be his. Love had little, if anything to do with it. She had been promised to him and his brother never had any right to steal her.

Watching Aaden and Evander as they rode north towards Castle Stewart from the window of his study, though, was a good reminder that, in the end, Ruadh had gotten what he wanted. He wasn’t a weak, docile man like his brother. What he wanted, he took either by persuasion or by force and this time, it would be no different.

“Forgive me, me laird, but may I ask why ye decided tae invite yer nephew here after all these years o’ exile?” one of his chieftains, Bram, asked. He was near Ruadh’s age, but where Ruadh’s hair was still dark, Bram’s had turned a silvery grey. The two of them had grown up in the castle, but Ruadh couldn’t claim they had been brought up together, despite being of similar age and status. To him, friendships had always been an elusive thing.

“I have me reasons,” Ruadh said, his gaze never once leaving the pair of horses and their riders until they had disappeared down the path.

“It only seems strange tae me that ye would invite the son o’ the traitor here tae hand him a bride an’ a clan o’ his own,” Bram said. The other four men of his council mumbled their agreement, though none of them expressed their concerns quite as readily as Bram. “His faither conspired against ye.”

“Aye,” another of his men, Athol, said. He, too, was an older man, though he still retained much of his younger strength, towering over everyone else in the room. “What if he turns out tae be a traitor as well? What if he conspires with an enemy clan like his faither did? He may even use Clan Stewart tae achieve his goals if he marries the Stewart lass.”

“Dae ye take me fer a fool?” Ruadh asked, his patience quickly draining, having to explain himself to his council. They didn’t know everything about Aaden. Ruadh had never told them what his father had truly done. He had never told anyone about Aaden’s true origins and he never would. Doing so would only humiliate him in front of everyone’s eyes. “We are in a dire position an’ ye ken that better than anyone. We need power. We need gold. An’ Clan Stewart has both these things.”

“Why willnae ye wed Evander tae Lilith Stewart, then?” asked Bram. “She is the heir. She is the one yer son must wed.”

“Evander doesnae have the taste fer lasses like Lilith Stewart. The younger lass, Freya… she can be manipulated. She is better fer Evander,” Ruadh said with a small shrug. What he truly meant was that his son didn’t have the strength to control or even charm a woman with such a reputation, though he would never admit that to his council. As much as he liked to brag, Evander’s success with women was limited to those who were meek and easily impressed. A woman like Lilith Stewart was bound to reject him if not bite off his head.

“But this is a matter of strategy,” Bram pointed out. “It matters little if he desires her.”