Page 74 of A Virgin for the Icy Laird
“Laird McDonnell isnae like that,” Elize spat.
The fierce conviction in her voice surprised Emily. When had she come to trust Adair?
“Ye have only ken him for a few weeks,” Laird Scott reminded her. “How are ye so sure that he willnae send ye away eventually? There is an abundance of knitters in the Highlands; he can hire any one of them. Why do ye think ye’re so special?”
He was clearly enjoying himself.
“Laird MacDonnell is me sister’s fiancé. She is to be the lady of the clan,” Elize shot back.
He laughed mockingly. “The mighty Laird MacDonnell, marrying an orphan. That is very strange,” he drawled. “It is no matter, of course. But it would be very strange if he were to marry from the same family as his brother.”
“Isla is me sister?” Emily asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Cousin. Ye see, ye both are me braither’s long-lost daughters,” Laird Scott said with a brilliant smile. “I am taking ye home, where ye belong. Yer parents must have missed ye both so dearly.”
Shock and disbelief flitted through Emily at his words. He was her uncle? She and Elize had living kin all this time?
She closed her eyes, trying to rack her brain for a memory of him or even Isla, but as always, she drew a blank.
“I daenae believe ye,” she started gently. “If we are truly yer family, why are ye doing this to us? What did we do to ye?”
“After receiving news of ye two drowning with yer faither, we went to search for ye, but ye were nowhere to be found. We believed ye lost, and I was at peace. But ye just had to reappear, did ye nae?”
“How did ye find us now?” she asked, suspicion coloring her voice.
“Ye bonny lass are a spitting image of yer faither. It wasnae difficult to ken who yer sire is.”
“If that were the case, ye could have simply let us be. We didnae ken anything about ye or our family. Ye could have let us remain in MacDonnell Castle as servants, and we would have been no threat to ye. Why do this?”
Panic flared in her chest at the crazed look in his eyes, but she had to keep him talking to buy herself and her sister time. She could only hope that Mrs. Donnelly had promptly sent a messenger to Adair.
“And what if ye suddenly remembered yer birthright? What would have stopped ye from going to tattle to MacDonnell?” Laird Scott sneered. “He doesnae seem the sort to ignore suchmatters. He would do everything to help ye so he may keep ye with him and take over me clan. I would rather die than seemeclan in the hands of a man like that.”
Emily looked at him, trying not to let her rising panic show. The broad grin on his face triggered a memory, and she lowered her head at the pain shooting through her skull.
“Emily, are ye well?” he asked, faux concern dripping from his voice. “Ye look pale. Have I frightened ye? Daenae worry, I will make yer deaths quick.”
“We’re yer family,” Emily spluttered, feeling hopeless. “Daenae ye feel any remorse?”
He barked a laugh. “I ken this must be confusing to ye, but allow me to explain. Ye two belong to the prestigious Clan Scott, and I am yer faither’s braither, a second son.” The last two words dripped with venom.
“Second to the very charming Ewan,” he continued, his face scrunching up as though he had tasted something sour. “In me early years, I was in awe of me older beautiful braither, who doted on me. I enjoyed his attention and wished to be like him.
“But that wish persisted as we grew older and our parents’ attention shifted to him. They were grooming him for the lairdship, they said. They obsessed over everything about him, starting from his clothing to his manners to his hobbies. I was forever in his shadow, receiving gifts that had already been used by him, being introduced only after he was introduced.”
Emily could sense where the conversation was going. The resentment in his words was unmistakable. She suspected that they had entered dangerous territory that might traumatize her.
But she was desperate to know more about her past and the parents she barely remembered.
“It didnae help that in addition to being the heir to such an influential clan, he was handsome with a charisma to match,” Laird Scott hissed, clearly speaking more to himself than to them. “He had this pull, drawing the best of everything to his orbit—the best of friends, ladies, events. It did not take me long to realize something very important. I did not just wish to be like Ewan. Iwishedto be him.
“Unfortunately, while I was able to change me life, I was unable to change me appearance. Over time, Ewan grew into the Laird the clan loved and respected. They deferred to him for everything, even when he asked me to mediate disputes. The villagers respected his authority only, no matter how much I explained that I was his advisor. Bunch of nitwits. Fools, all of them!”
Emily flinched back at the fire in his eyes. She sensed the air grow colder and wished she could at least look out the window to see where they were.
“What did ye do, then?” she asked.
“Are ye in a hurry to go somewhere, dear niece?” He gave a mocking grin. “We still have time, and I must tell ye the full story.”
