Wicked Laird (Brethren of Stone 2)

“I’ll go,” McKenzie spit, “but ye haven’t heard the last of me.”

“Likewise,” Blair cocked the hammer of his gun as the men slowly backed away. When they’d finally reached their horses, they climbed on, spinning to glare at Blair before they finally rode away.

“What’s happened?” Ailean asked Blair as the boys trotted along next to him.

“I found yer sister sinking in the boat.” He looked over to see Ailean staring at him with wide eyes then climbed onto his horse so they could leave. “She’s fine. Her ankle’s bruised but we’re going to get the boat to shore and see if we can fix it. Come on, let’s go.”

The boy’s eyes relaxed with relief. “Thank ye fer helping her.” Then they narrowed. “Why are ye doing this?”

“Doing what?” He hopped off the beast so that he could better talk to the boy. The suspicion that laced Ailean’s voice sounded much like his sister’s.

“Helping her. What do you want from her?” The boy’s chest puffed out and his fists clenched.

It might have been laughable, a twelve-year-old boy getting ready to do battle with a grown man. Not to praise himself too much, but he towered over most fully grown men. He could crush Ailean in a single blow. “She was in peril. I helped her.” He hesitated. Did he ask about McKenzie? “And to answer you honestly, though I haven’t discussed it with him, I wondered if she might be able to cook and clean for me to work off the debt. I could use the help.”

“Who are ye then?” It wasn’t said with disrespect. The boy’s chest had deflated and his head tilted to the side as though he were more curious than worried. “That ye can afford to employ her?”

Blair grimaced. He didn’t usually answer to others but the boy was trying to protect his family and that was something that Blair understood implicitly. “I’m Blair Sinclair.”

“Ye’re the new laird.” One of the other boys smacked Ailean on the arm as he spoke.

“Aye,” he answered.

Ailean stepped up next to him. “I can take care of my sister’s debt. I’ll work fer ye.”

Blair swallowed as he reached up to ruffle the boy’s hair but then thought better of it and dropped it again. This boy was stepping into the role of man. He wouldn’t patronize him. “That is very considerate of ye.”

“Ye can’t do that,” said another of the boys, Shamus, Blair thought he’d been called. “Yer the one that makes money now. Without it, how would the two of ye eat? And besides, if yer sister does a good job then maybe she can get full-time work. Ye won’t have to take care of her anymore.”

Ailean punched the other boy, hard in the upper arm. “I’m not takin’ care of her, she takes care of me. I’d be all alone if she took a house job. That’s why she doesn’t do it.” Ailean looked over to him and distrust flickered in his eyes. “Besides, Derby won’t pay me anymore. I need a job anyway. And, with all due respect, I don’t trust any man to be alone with her. Not after what happened.”

Blair did not let out the rumble of anger that reverberated through his chest. It wasn’t the boy’s mistrust that upset him but he was beginning to understand the suspicious undertone in both Ailean’s and Elle’s words and the threats in McKenzie’s. That man had either tried or had successfully taken advantage of her. He wanted to know how. He already knew why. Elle might be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. A man like McKenzie would think it was his right to have her. Blair’s fingers reached for his pistol. He should have shot him while he’d had the chance.

It bothered him to think of a man touching her. Had he forced himself on her? White-hot rage coursed through Blair at the thought.

The boys continued talking, one of them saying that Elle should find a husband who would take care of them both.

“She tried that already,” Ailean insisted. “It’s worse than starving. And no one would have her now besides. Not after he threatened everyone to leave her alone.”

A choking noise he didn’t even realize he’d made, interrupted the boys. Their wide eyes swung to him as if they’d forgotten he was there. “What did ye say? She tried to marry?”

Ailean shook his head. “She was engaged.” His voice was soft and his face had gone pale.

Had Ailean said no other man would have her now?

“If he’s gonna live here, he’ll find out anyway,” Shamus said. “Elle was engaged to the richest man in the village. But she broke it off six months ago and now no one dares to marry her. McKenzie has threatened every man he meets that she still belongs to him. But my da says, she should just go to another village and find a new man. It’d be easy for her being so comely. He says she’s being stubborn—”

Ailean lifted his hand in disagreement. “Ye stay out of it.”

“Why’d she break it off?” Blair asked his insides twisted into knots. He’d heard the hurt in their words and he was pretty certain he knew the answer. If the life she was living now had been the better alternative, what had that man done to her?

“That’s for her to share,” Ailean jutted his chin in the air. “But I won’t leave her wit ye. I’ll have to work off the debt and we’ll find another way to eat.”

He couldn’t help it. He rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It could be a pretty large debt by the time I fix the boat. Ye can both work it off if she even agrees to the plan. That way ye can keep an eye on yer sister.” He didn’t add that they’d be fed and housed, and most importantly, safe. The boy had pride and he wanted to appeal to that, rather than making him feel like he was getting a handout. Elle’s beautiful green eyes and her delicate features teased his thoughts. A few hours and he was already feeling protective. He wanted to smack his own forehead. Hadn’t he tried this before? But the offer was out now and he wouldn’t take it back. And though he knew this most likely a mistake, he couldn’t turn her out.

His cottage came into view and he sent the boys down to the water to see if the boat was

visible yet. The tide had been high. His plan was to wait until the tide was out, then attach ropes to the small sailboat, and use the rising tide to pull it back onto shore.