He reached out for her chin, lifting her face up until her gaze met his again. ‘My brother doesn’t have it. I didn’t give him the lodge.’
‘What?’ She blinked, not understanding. ‘I assumed you agreed to give it up.’
‘Didn’t Grant explain what happened?’ Lachlan asked. He tipped his head to the side.
‘No, he didn’t explain. We got into a bit of a discussion about you, and that was that.’
‘Do I want to know what you were discussing?’ No, he probably didn’t. Best not to go down that road.
‘Stop changing the subject. I want to know what this agreement was. One that wasn’t condoned by your ex-legal representative, I might add.’ She wrinkled her nose.
He grinned. ‘You’re very sexy when you’re angry.’
‘It always comes down to sex, doesn’t it?’
‘I can’t think of much else when you’re half naked in my bed.’
‘I think you’ll find it’s my bed,’ she pointed out. ‘This is my room, I’m paying for it.’
‘And I own it.’
‘On paper, which in this case means you’ve probably got a huge debt on it. And anyway, what makes you think I’m impressed by your properties?’
‘You were impressed by my lodge.’ He wiggled his eyebrows, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
‘So tell me how it’s still yours.’
Lachlan sat up, pulling her with him, until they were both resting against the headboard. ‘It’s not quite mine, but it’s not Duncan’s either.’
She let out a strangled groan. ‘Stop stringing it out. I’m on the edge of my seat here.’
He swallowed a chuckle. ‘Okay, so I saw my brother at the gala and we had a talk.’
She looked guilty at his mention of the gala. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there. How did your talk go?’
‘Surprisingly okay. There were no shots fired, no blood spilled, so I counted that as a win.’ He reached out and stroked her shoulder, her chest, the swell of her breast. ‘And then we met again the following week to discuss the case, just the two of us. No advisers, no lawyers, just two brothers.’
She stayed silent. As though she knew this was his story, and he needed to tell it.
‘And I told him about the lodge, about Alistair and the clan website. It seemed crazy that here we were, two American businessmen, fighting over a title and a castle in a country that isn’t ours.’
‘So what did you agree to do?’
He carried on as if he hadn’t heard her. ‘I’d always wondered why my father left it to me. He hadn’t shown any interest in me when he was alive. I asked Duncan about it, and he had no clue either, except that Dad always liked to fuck people over. I’m guessing he’s been laughing in his grave over this one. It was literally a no-win situation.’
Lucy sighed. ‘He sounds like a bastard.’
‘He was. Pure and simple. He was an asshole to Duncan’s mom, and he was an asshole to mine. He didn’t treat either of us much better. And from what I can tell he had no interest in Glencarraig or his title. He never went to the clan meetings, hardly went to the village. He was an absentee landlord, and the place has suffered be
cause of it. It needs investment and someone with a vision.’
Lucy blinked. ‘Wait a minute, you’re not thinking of moving there full time, are you?’
‘No.’
‘Then what? How are you going to avoid your dad’s mistakes if you’re the laird?’
‘Because I’m not the laird. Or I won’t be.’