“Alright,” she says. “So just distract them so you can get out, then?”
“Aye.”
We come up with our plan.
A moment later, she’s outside my door. “Gentlemen, please help me,” she says. Some of them eye her curiously. She’s absolutely gorgeous, with her flaming red hair and wide eyes, framed with thick black lashes. She wears a little sundress that shows off her curves, and I swear she’s tugged the front down a little to get their attention.
But they don’t fall easily.
“You’re Lachlan’s lass,” one of them says.
“I am no one’s lass,” she says. And she’s right. He may protect her and like to tell her what to do as the men of the Clan are wont, but she’s still a minor and Lachlan hasn’t touched her.
“You will be,” one mutters, looking away. Fiona flushes a little.
“Well,” she says, flustered. “We shall see about that. Now, I’m afraid I saw something down the hall that needs your attention.”
Really, Fiona? That’s the best you can come up with? I groan.
Still, it works, and they follow her down the hall. Their backs are to me. Now’s my chance. I grab my bag and phone, head out the door, and run in the other direction, to the back set of stairs that leads to the kitchen.
I pause in the kitchen, out of breath, when I hear a few of the men talking. I flatten my back against the wall and peer around the corner. Keenan’s standing in the hallway with Nolan.
“Where’d he go?” he asks. “Bloody hell, I knew he was going to do this.”
My heart skips in my chest, as if I know before he says it who he’s talking about.
“How’d you know that?”
“Because of his fucking sense of loyalty,” he mutters. “Now that he knows he’s brought trouble here, he’ll want to right it himself.”
I close my eyes and listen, hardly daring to breathe.
“Fucking Carson,” Nolan mutters.
No no no no.
“Where do you think he’s gone?”
“Stone City, of course. He’ll want to confront them head on, won’t he?”
“But he can’t,” Nolan says. “Can’t take on those fucking pricks without backup, now, can he?”
“Suppose he can. We’ll have to go after him. But first, we need to ensure he is where we think he is.”
They retreat down the hall. What does this mean? What will Carson do? Will he really put his life on the line?
If he’s a spy...wouldn’t he go straight to Stone City?
I want to see where Carson’s gone, and I want to find the damn diary, and I will not let them keep me locked up here like a damsel in distress.
I walk into the kitchen, and a few of the staff see me and wave. It smells like freshly baked bread and roasting chicken. “Looks amazing,” I say, acting as nonchalant as I can. “Mind if I nick some?” There’s a plate of ginger biscuits on the center of the table, decorated with swirls of white icing.
“Aye, of course.” The head chef beams at me. I stay a moment longer and rave about how delicious the biscuits are, before I head out. I don’t want anyone to suspect I’m up to anything at all. Just sidling though the kitchen, nicking biscuits as I do from time to time, and not going out after Carson and trying to prevent Clan war. Ah, nothing like that at all.
I get to the garage with thankfully no one trailing me at all. Wherever the men of the Clan are, there’s none to be seen here. Getting past the guards at the gate should go as planned, if Fiona’s followed her plan.
My car’s on the very end, but I’m not quite ready to drive out yet. I need to scan the garden and front entrance to be sure I won’t be seen.
I walk out the little door in the garage that leads to the greenhouse, when I feel someone grab me from behind and tug me back into the garage. I try to scream, but there’s a hand over my mouth, and the arms around me are large, muscled, and powerful.
But then I recognize his scent and relax when his voice comes to my ear. “Easy, love. It’s just me. I could see you were heading this way.” Carson takes his hand off my mouth, spins me around to him, and kisses me, full on the lips.
I kiss him back, and when we pull away, I glare at him.
“You scared me half to death,” I hiss. “And why are we whispering?”
“Have to,” he whispers back. “I don’t want any of them to know where I’m going.”
My mind teems with questions.
“Wait, how did you know I was heading toward you?” I ask curiously.
“Tracking software,” he says. “I installed it on your phone.”
“Oh, that isn’t stalkerish at all,” I mutter.
He shrugs. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary for the Clan, you know that.”