Page 30 of The Rogue’s Redemption

That both men wanted the same thing hardly mattered.

“Alex—”

“Does not speak for Toren.”

Would Douglas have questioned his brother this way?

Nay, likely not, but Reid could hardly blame him. He had not gone out of his way to try earning the man’s respect.

“Then who will?”

Douglas was asking not about this council but about the future of Clan Kerr. A subject he did not care to discuss. He would have said as much, except this was Douglas, and no one, not even his brothers, would dare ignore a question from this man.

“Toren has not yet named a second.”

Allie stood with Lady Gillian, who seemed to be upset, though no less so than her sister.

“Some say you are not interested.”

Reid had wondered how long it would take him to ask. “I am not.”

He waited for more questions.

Why are you not interested? What does Toren think of your decision? Who will be named his second?

But they never came. Instead, Douglas looked at him as his father might have done were he alive, with a combination of surprise and censure. He said only, “You would do well in the position.”

Reid ignored the comment and instead took his own advice, clearing his expression of emotion, and continued to watch Allie and Gillian’s argument.

“To think she could have married Covington,” Douglas observed. Though he spoke of Gillian, the same could be said for Allie. What father would promise not one, but two, of his daughters to such a man? They were fortunate to have escaped that sentence.

“They say the father has come back to our side.”

“According to Graeme, he only entertained the Earl of Covington to save Lyndwood. As a longtime friend to Kenshire, he must wish for peace as we do.” Douglas made a sound that told Reid he was not fully convinced.

“You know as well as I do,” Reid said, “allegiances are sometimes complicated.”

Again, Douglas did not hide his displeasure. “For some, perhaps. We shall speak more tomorrow.” With that, he nodded and walked away.

Reid himself was about to leave when Allie spun away from her sister and fled. It only took him a moment to recover before following her.

And sealing his fate.

10

“Allie?”

Reid thought he had seen her go this way, but she was nowhere to be found. He searched the inner courtyard, walked past a vegetable garden, and stood in the center of the vast, open space, unsure how he could have missed her.

There.

She was halfway up a set of stairs that led to the battlement near the gatehouse when he felt something at his feet. Looking down, he knew his Englishwoman would have to wait. Reid picked up the kitten, pushing back early memories of his mother who refused to allow an animal to go unloved, and placed her so close to his face their noses touched.

“You have no owner,” he told her, the grays and browns of her fur melding together like a seamless patchwork. “And are a jumpy one.” Though she tried to get out of his grasp, Reid held her a moment longer.

“White paws.” The mark of an angel. He smiled remembering his father’s reaction to that particular assertation made by the woman he’d thought abandoned him. “Well, my wee angel, hear me well. Take what you’re offered.”

Still now, he had no idea what the words meant. But his mother had uttered them often enough, and inexplicably, all manner of animals returned to her for the nourishment they needed to survive.