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Davina grabbed fistfuls of her skirts and hauled the hem to her hips.

Black-and-blue handprints marred her thighs. Ringed bruises circled her ankles like shackles above her shoes.

She let the fabric fall and yanked off her gloves, revealing bloodied bandages wrapped tight around her palms.

“Would you like to see my blood imbedded in the wooden floor of my chamber where I got these?” Her hands trembled as she peeled back the bandages to show him the splinters and scratches. Her voice rang through the room, silencing everyone. “He couldn’t keep his filthy hands to himself!”

Lilias gasped, her tears falling faster. Tammus’s face darkened, his mouth twisting into a snarl. “And that,” he snapped, “is why a woman cannot live without the protection of a man!”

Davina saw red. “So, you’re saying he had arightto put his hands on me because no man was here to stop him? Are you saying this was my fault?”

“Enough!” Tammus roared.

Her chest heaved as she fought to rein in her fury. “You’re right,” she said coldly. “I forced Liam into this. I forged the certificate. I’ll take full responsibility. If sending me to the gallows saves this household, then so be it. But you’ll promise me—none of them will suffer for my mistakes.”

Liam blanched and all judgement fled in favor of his gaping mouth.

“God’s blood, woman. Don’t be so dramatic.” Tammus’s shoulders slouched, and he waved her off. “I’m not sending anyone to the bloody gallows.”

Tammus tossed the crumpled marriage certificate to the desk and sat in the chair, weary as if he’d just spent the day plowing a field. Shaking his head, he rubbed his temples. “Listen to me, and listen well, girl. This ends now. This household is under my care. You’ll repay me for the mess you’ve made, and I’ll deal with MacLeod.”

Davina’s hope flickered. “Then… I’ll still manage the business while you—”

“Are ye mad?” Tammus pounded his fist on the desk. “Women cannae run businesses! They cannae own property! They cannae sign contracts! You’re nay a man, Davina! Ye ken? That is your lot in life! Every other woman has fallen in line with accepting her God-chosen fate but you. Good God,woman!”

Davina clenched her jaw and clasped her hands behind her back so tight, her palms stung, but she held her uncle’s rancorous gaze.

“You’ll marry, is what you’ll do. I’ll line up—”

“If you will just review the books of accounting!” she argued, acidic panic rising in her throat. “Everything is in order and I’m the one—”

Tammus rounded the desk and struck her again.

This time Liam wasn’t there to catch her.

The floor slammed into her like a fist. Her head rang. Blood smeared the stone, fresh from her lip split open anew. Panic fractured into something deeper—something molten and furious in her soul.

Lilias sobbed from the corner, her face buried in her hands, unmoving. Liam’s glare cut into her from across the room, eyes filled with judgment that sliced deeper than any razor.

Bootsteps stopped beside her.

Tammus crouched, his heels lifting from the floor, voice dropping to a quiet threat. “I’m only gonnae say this once, lass.”

Each word landed with the weight of a verdict.

“I’m giving you the chance to choose from the suitors I’ll be lining up. But if I hear one morefuckingword about doin’ a man’s job,I’llpick your suitor—and you won’t have a bloody say in it. Do you ken, lass?”

She stared at the stone, blood seeping into the cracks beside her. Her pulse thudded in her ears.

Part of her wanted to spit in his face. Dare him to send her to the gallows and be done with it. But another part—the part that remembered she had a daughter she’d be leaving behind—held her back. Cailin needed her.

And what of the man she thought—hoped—was Cailin’s father? She closed her eyes—soft lips, firelight, and a man who looked at her like she was the only woman in the world. The heat in his gaze. The hunger. The way hesawher.

Would she ever find that again?

Could she trust a man not to break her?

Could she gamble her future on another cage…or a chance at freedom?