Page 56 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

Aaden’s voice trailed off and he glanced at Evander, who was frowning at the letters as inconspicuously as he could over the laird’s shoulder. The laird picked up the first one on the pile and unfolded it, eyes skimming over the words.

It was time for Aaden to finally reveal the truth. There was no stopping it now, even if he wanted to take it all back.

“Me maither is Janice MacEwan, Lady o’ the MacEwan Clan,” he said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible, though it was far from an easy task. Aaden’s gaze found Evander first. Upon hearing his words, his cousin turned pallid, the color swiftly draining from his face. He looked at Aaden in disbelief, eyes wide as though he had witnessed something terrible that would be etched into his mind forever.

“What?”

Evander’s voice was small, weak as he spoke. Suddenly, he looked like a boy again and Aaden remembered those years when they still lived under the same roof, when he was a child and Evander barely a toddler. The memories had faded since, leaving only vague images behind, but Aaden could remember a time when he was valiantly trying to protect Evander, looking after him like it was his duty.

Despite everything, he felt the same sense of duty now. A part of him wanted to ask the laird to speak in private, but this was something Evander needed to hear. If he knew what his father was doing to their mother, then he deserved every moment of anguish. If he didn’t, then at least he would finally find out what kind of man his father was.

“It’s true,” Aaden told Evander. “Ye may read the letters if ye wish. That is why yer faither sent me an’ me faither away, nae because me faither committed an act o’ treason.”

Evander was stunned into silence for a long while, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly as though he couldn’t decide what to say or if he should say anything at all. When he finally spoke, he said, “But… but everyone kens… has he been lyin’ tae everyone this whole time?”

“Aye,” said Aaden, the word coming out as a weary exhale. “He never wished tae reveal the truth. It was too humiliatin’ fer him.”

“But me maither… I ken she doesnae love him, but she wouldnae betray him like this,” said Evander. “She would never—she is kind an’ loyal. She would never dae that.”

The news seemed to have caused Evander genuine distress, his words choked off by the waves of emotion that crashed over him one after the other. From the way he spoke about their mother, Aaden doubted that he actually knew Ruadh had her under threat of death, after all. He appeared to be clueless about everything, swept along in his father’s lies as everyone else.

“Yer parents were nae married when she had me,” Aaden said. “She an’ me faither were in love, but she was promised tae Ruadh an’… well, he refused tae let her go.”

Evander was unsteady on his feet, swaying where he stood, but he managed to keep himself upright, much to Aaden’s relief. He didn’t have the time to deal with Evander as his world collapsed around him. Under any other circumstances, perhaps he would have tried to comfort him, but now he was more concerned about their mother. Evander would pull through. With time, he would come to accept the reality, no matter how painful it was.

“What does this have tae dae with Freya an’ Lilith?” Evander asked. “This… what does it have tae dae with me faither’s plans?”

Aaden took a step closer to Evander, hesitating for a moment. “What is it that ye ken about the plan?”

“I ken what ye ken,” Evander said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Our clan needs the gold an’ the lands, so we were meant tae wed Lilith an’ Freya. That’s always been the plan.”

It wasn’t news to anyone, so no one was surprised to hear those words from Evander’s mouth. Still, Laird Stewart frowned deeply, his face turning an ugly shade of red at the reminder of what they had almost managed to do to his daughters and his clan.

Aaden nodded. “Aye… but dae ye ken how yer faither forced me intae this?”

“Ye owe him,” Evander said. “That is what faither said. Ye owe him fer what yer faither did.”

For a brief moment, Aaden glanced at Lilith, who stood side by side with her sister, the two of them holding onto each other’s hands. She nodded firmly at him, and that was the only thing that gave him the courage to keep talking.

“He is keepin’ our maither imprisoned,” he said. “He is threatenin’ tae kill her if I dinnae dae as he tells me. I would have never done such a thing otherwise. I would have never come here an’ lied tae everyone like this, but I had nae choice.”

“Nay,” said Evander, shaking his head viciously, his golden hair swaying wildly with the gesture. “Nay, it cannae be. Me faither has done many things, but he wouldnae dae this! Even fer him, it is too much.”

“It is true, Evander,” Aaden said. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Laird Stewart, but there was no indication in his expression whether he believed him or not. There was nothing in his face that betrayed any emotion or thought. “It is true an’ now that his plan has been revealed, she is in danger. Dae ye ken where he could be keepin’ her?”

“I—” Evander began, but then he quickly fell silent again, lost in his thoughts. Aaden placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him on track. “I dinnae ken. I didnae even ken he was doin’ any o’ this, Aaden!”

Evander’s tone had turned high and reedy, hysterical as he slipped out of Aaden’s grip and began to pace back and forth in a short line. For a moment, Aaden couldn’t help but wonder if it was perhaps all a performance, fabricated by Evander for the specific purpose of tricking them all in case they found out the truth.

But Aaden couldn’t get past the genuine fear in Evander’s eyes.

“Maither is in danger,” Aaden said firmly, to make sure he got the message across to Evander. “If we dinnae find her, yer faither could hurt her now that he kens the truth is out.”

That brought Evander to a halt, his entire body seizing with terror. Still, though, he shook his head, refusing to believe it. “What are ye sayin’? How could he hurt her? This isnae happenin’. It isnae happenin’.”

“It is,” Aaden said, his tone a little harsher than he intended. He needed Evander to understand, though. He needed him to get past his denial. “If what ye say is true, if ye truly didnae ken anythin’ about all this an’ if ye care about Maither, then ye must help me find her.”

That seemed to snap Evander out of his denial, if only for a moment. “O’ course I care about her,” he said, turning his glare on Aaden. “How dare ye even suggest that I kent? Dae ye think I would have let him hurt her?”