Page 11 of Laird of Wrath

Everyone around him froze, waiting with bated breath to see what Laird Barclay would say, but Callum simply grabbed an apple and bit into its juicy flesh as he stared at the other man.

He had always been abrupt, but the war had hardened him even more. He had no time to waste on such things. Laird Barclay was a vulture, and the only reason he wanted to marry Sienna was that he had thought Callum dead. Callum was certain of it.

He wouldn’t give his sister to a much older man anyway.

“Excuse me?” Laird Barclay’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Ye cannae simply dismiss me like this!”

“Sure I can,” Callum said with a small shrug. “This is me home. I can do as I please. And Ihaterepeatin’ meself.”

Laird Barclay huffed out a humorless laugh, his gaze turning cold. “I daenae think ye understand the position yer clan is in,” he said, much to Callum’s chagrin. “Yer forces are weakened after almost a year of war. How many of yer men went there? How many returned?”

Callum dropped his fork, which landed with a loud clatter on his plate. He rose and stayed by the table for a few moments, before approaching Laird Barclay, towering over him.

“Are ye threatenin’ me?”

To his credit, Laird Barclay met his gaze without flinching. “Of course I’m nae threatenin’ ye.”

It was a lie.

Callum stood directly in front of him so that he was blocking Rhea and Sienna from view, like a shield. “I believe ye should be on yer way now.”

He didn’t need to say anything else.

Laird Barclay looked like he still wanted to argue, and there was no doubt in Callum’s mind that he would if he left him even a sliver of an opening, but he was a stone wall. He would not accept a single protest.

Eventually, Laird Barclay left.

Callum turned to the rest of the hall. “Everyone out,” he growled. “Everyone but ye.” He pointed at Rhea, who froze on the spot.

The servants scurried out, but Sienna stood next to Rhea like a loyal sentinel.

“I saidout.”

“Nay,” Sienna huffed.

Callum pinned her with a hard look, wondering when she had gathered the courage to defy him like this. But before he could say anything, Rhea laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s all right,” she assured her. “Go.”

Sienna gave her a hesitant look, but after Rhea gave her a reassuring nod, she finally left, but not without shooting Callum a glare.

Silence fell over the hall once the doors clicked shut. Callum approached Rhea, his heels clicking on the stone floor, the only sound that broke the quiet.

Rhea stood tall in front of him, never once avoiding his gaze.

“I told ye to protect me sister,” he reminded her. “I insisted that ye keep her safe.”

“Do ye think I didnae try?” she spat back. “What do ye think I’ve been doin’ all this time that ye were gone? Perhaps ye’d like to ask yer councilmen what they thought of Barclay’s marriage proposal.”

“Would I?”

“Och aye,” Rhea huffed. “They wouldnae listen to me because I daenae even have an heir!”

She was seething, Callum could tell. Her cheeks had turned a deep red, burning with rage, but he couldn’t help but think she looked so enticing. He wanted to see that flush on her cheeks caused by other things—by him, by the pleasure he could give her. And her complaint was precisely what he needed to bring it up.

He closed the distance between them, stepping close enough to cup her cheek in a gentle hand. The gesture seemed to surprise her. A gasp escaped her lips, and she looked up at him with a small, confused frown that he wanted to smooth with his finger.

He didn’t resist the urge. He brushed his thumb over her rosy lips, feeling the soft skin under the pad of his finger and watching as her eyes widened, her pupils dilating until they swallowed up almost all the brown of her irises.