Page 63 of Stealing a Kilted Heart

Knox didn’t care. Callum could hate him all he wanted. He could rage and throw a tantrum like a child, but he would never have it his way.

Then, without another word, Callum turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, leaving his group of soldiers bewildered. Slowly, they dissipated, some of them heading to the barracks while others headed to the kitchens, and Knox turned around to face the room.

No one was looking at him. In fact, no one was looking anywhere but at their plates, and soon, the boldest of them excused himself, pulling his wife along. With him making the first step, the others soon followed, mumbling excuses about being tired from their travels and needing to retire. They thanked Knox politely for his hospitality as they exited the room.

Even the musicians had stopped playing and were now waiting to be excused, but Knox only had eyes for Fia.

She was still standing by her chair as if frozen in time, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Drawing in a deep breath, Knox forced himself to walk up to her, the words catching in his throat once before he managed to speak.

“Is it true? What he said?” he asked. He didn’t even want to entertain the idea, but he had to hear it from Fia’s lips. He had to hear her reassurance that Callum was a fool who only knew how to lie.

But that wasn’t what she said. In fact, she only nodded silently and a fresh wave of tears poured down her face, glinting under the torchlight.

Knox’s heart stopped. Time seemed to stand still, the silence between them heavy and oppressive. If he thought there had been a frigidity in the room before, now it was almost unbearable, spreading into his bones, chilling him to the core.

It was not what he had expected to hear and he could hardly believe it. How could Fia have done this to him? How could she have approached him with anything other than pure intentions when she herself seemed so pure?

“I… I need tae think,” he told her, pulling out of her grasp when she reached for him. It prompted a soft sob out of her, but as much as Knox wanted to comfort her, to tell her it would all be alright, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than stumble backwards, eager to retreat to his chambers. “I just… need tae think.”

With that, he was gone, never once looking back at her.