Page 42 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

Scarlett lingered in the doorway, arms folded, unsure of what this was meant to be.

Was this an interrogation? A peace offering?

He held one glass toward her. She took it slowly, her fingers brushing the rim just as his hand released it. He gestured for her to take a seat in the sofa behind her, and she did, and he leaned against the edge of the desk across from her.

“Tell me,” he started simply.

She blinked. “Tell ye what?”

“What happened. The day the bairn arrived. Tell me everything.”

Scarlett hesitated. Her fingers curled tighter around the glass. “Why?”

“Because I need to ken if we missed somethin’. If there’s a name we overlooked, or a mark on the babe’s wrappin’, or a whisper from a servant we ignored. Anythin’ that might lead us to who left her.”

Ah… so that was what he wanted. Still hunting. Still chasing shadows. Still thinking this was all temporary.

She took a sip of the whiskey. It burned her tongue, then her throat, and then pooled in her chest.

“She was found at the doorstep,” Scarlett said after a moment. “Mid mornin’, though the bairn was probably there around dawn. One of the kitchen girls was out fetchin’ water. Heard cryin’. She thought it was a cat at first.”

Kian said nothing, only watched her.

“She was bundled in a decent blanket. Wool. Nothin’ fancy, but clean. Warm. There was a note. Ye’ve read it.”

“I want to hear how it all unfolded. From ye.”

So she told him what happened, from her perspective, which ended up being very little. Scarlett kept her voice even, factual, like reciting the weather.

When she finished, Kian nodded once, then swirled the whiskey in his glass.

“She’s someone’s daughter,” he said. “We owe it to her, and them, to find out who she belongs to.”

Scarlett’s jaw tightened. “Even if they daenae want her?”

“We cannae just assume that.”

“Can we nae?” She stepped forward, setting her glass down on the desk with a soft thunk. “Kian, the note made it plain. They couldnae keep her. Theywouldnaekeep her. That’s nae confusion or panic speakin’. That’s a choice. A painful one, aye, but still a choice.”

“Or desperation,” he countered. “Poverty. Fear. Maybe they’re young. Maybe they’ve got nothin’. If it’s coin they need, I can help. I’ve done worse things with clan gold.”

“And if ye give her back, and they’re nay more ready for her than they were six days ago?” Scarlett asked coldly. “What then? What if she ends up in a worse place? What if she’s —?”

Her voice caught. She looked away.

Kian exhaled through his nose. “Then we’ll deal with it. But we have to try.Thatis the right thing to do.”

She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because that part of her was already too deeply invested to speak with reason.

Kian’s voice was gentler this time. “I ken she’s grown on ye.”

“She’s more than grown,” Scarlett snapped. “She’s nestled herself into every bloody crevice of me heart, like a weed with petals. And I daenae want to pull her out just because it might make some faceless person feel better about their mistake.”

He looked at her then. Really looked at her. And something shifted in his face. His mouth parted slightly, like he’d thought to speak and lost the words.

Then, quietly, he said, “Ye’reafraid.”

Scarlett bristled. “I am nae.”