Page 90 of The Rogue’s Redemption

“And you are the most stubborn—”

“Careful,” Allie said. “I see the beginnings of a smile. Remember you sit in Brockburg’s hall, home to the devil himself.”

Poor Gillian. She really was trying, but this was one fight she would not win.

“You really do love him.” Gill looked as if she had eaten rotten meat.

“I do,” she answered. “Please, Gill. Give him another chance. You’ve seen the worst of him, now allow yourself to be open to his best. Trust that even though I am your little sister, I am no longer a child. In this, I will not be swayed.”

Gillian looked up, toward the head table, and Allie followed her gaze.

“They are your husband’s allies and friends. A clan of honorable men, Reid included, who will keep me safe, just as they do their lady. And Juliette . . . she is—”

“Reid, come back here.”

Her sister looked toward the entrance, where Toren’s voice echoed through the hall.

“Reid!”

He stopped, seemingly surprised to see them.

And he was angry. As angry as she’d ever seen him. Fists clenched at his sides, Reid had been heading toward the sideboard when he spied them sitting at a trestle table. Juliette came rushing up behind her husband, and time seemed to stop.

It had not gone well.

She stood and looked into his eyes, imploring him silently. Reid seemed to understand as he turned to Gillian and greeted her as smoothly as the most refined courtier.

“Lady Gillian,” he said. “I had not realized you were here at Brockburg.”

Her sister smiled tightly. “Graeme is here as well.”

The news did not seem to please Reid, whose jaw flexed in anger. “Of course, you are both most welcome.”

By now, Toren and Juliette had reached them. If Juliette had appeared worried that morning, she seemed even more so now. Allie’s gaze darted from one of them to the next.

“The meeting did not go well?” She had not intended to ask in front of Gillian, but worry had loosed her tongue.

Reid shot a furious glance at his brother and then pursed his lips together. When he looked back at Allie, she saw something in his gaze that sent a chill through her body.

“Reid, tell me—”

“I am sorry, Allie.”

“Come,” she said. “We can walk.” She turned to Gillian. “If you will excuse us—”

“Nay.”

His voice put her instantly in mind of the old Reid, the one she’d met and did not like. Cold. Harsh.

“Stay with your sister,” he said as if he were speaking to a servant. The warmth with which he usually addressed her was nowhere to be found.

“But Reid, something is wrong.”

For the briefest of moments, the man she loved was there, standing before her. But the ever-so-slight softening in his eyes faded too quickly.

“It is,” he agreed. “We are wrong.”

Allie only understood the words when she noticed Gillian’s expression. Unfortunately, Toren and Juliette had heard him as well, and they all looked at her with pity. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. This could not be happening.