Page 9 of Secrets of a Kilted Seduction

“And ye never breathed a word tae me?” Liam said, shaking his head, looking pained.

“Wait, will ye? I havenae told ye all yet,” Tadhg said, needing to get the rest off his chest after keeping secrets for so long.

“I’m sure he had his reasons, Liam. Keep goin’, Tadhg,” Odhrán intervened, leaning his chin on his hands and fixing Tadhg with a searching stare.

Tadhg sighed and resumed his sorry tale. “I was away fer several weeks, and me mission was successful. Too successful. The information I’d gathered about Alana’s birth had shocked me tae me core, and I wish I’d never found it out. I kent for a fact she had nae idea of her true origins, and I wanted tae be the one tae tell her. It was her right tae ken.”

“But I couldnae because I was workin’ in secret fer me Laird, and I was bound tae keep it tae mesel’ until I could report it back tae him. All the way home, I was worryin’ over it. Yer faither bein’ a sly, brutal man, Odhrán… I felt sure he was out tae find some way of usin’ the information tae his benefit, something that would involve her. He wouldnae care about her happiness. Tae him, she was naught but a chattel. So, ye can imagine how I dreaded tellin’ him.”

“Aye, that sounds just like him,” Odhrán remarked scathingly. “He must have been thrilled tae hear Alana has a claim by blood tae rule Clan MacIver. He would have been plannin’ tae use the information tae his advantage at some point, tae get somethin’ from John MacIver.”

“He said it could be useful leverage. He called Alana leverage,” Tadhg replied with disgust.

“The bastard was always schemin’ tae benefit himself,” Liam put in. “But what’s this got to ae dae with ye disappearin’ without a word fer four years?” Liam asked.

“Hear me out, Braither,” Tadhg told him. “I’m gettin’ tae that. Anyway, when I got back here, I went straight tae report all this tae Murphy Lennox. But he was away, on a huntin’ trip. They didnae ken when he would be back. He was away for three weeks. I spent a lot of that time with Alana, and nae a moment went by that I wasnae on the verge of tellin’ her the truth.

“But I was sworn tae yer faither. Much as I wanted tae, I couldnae tell her, and that’s as good as lyin’. So, I had tae lie tae the woman I loved fer the entire time.” He avoided saying ‘love,’ though he did indeed still love Alana deeply.

“I kent if she ever found out I’d kept it from her, she’d nae see me again. I couldnae bear the thought of losing her. I wanted tae wed her, and I stupidly thought it would make it harder fer her tae reject me if we were married. So, I asked her tae marry me, and she said yes. We we’re plannin’ tae be wed in a month’s time. I was the happiest man alive,” Tadhg recounted, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness at the memory of that day and the happiness he had lost.

“I remember that day,” Liam said. “Ye were in the gardens together. So, that’s what ye were talkin’ about, was it? I came tae tell ye the laird was back.”

Tadhg nodded. “Aye, that’s right. Finally, he was back, and I reluctantly went tae brief him on what I’d learned on me mission.”

“But why did ye nae tell me all this at the time?” Liam asked.

“The first person I had tae inform was Murphy Lennox. And as I saw it, the second was Alana. After that, with her permission, I would have told ye and Odhrán,” Tadhg explained. “But I didnae get the chance,” he added bitterly. “Murphy ordered me tae leave the castle that night and never come back. He said that if I didnae dae as he wanted or ever breathed a word of the truth, he’d hang Alana.”