Page 7 of A Highland Bride Disciplined (Scottish Daddies #2)

Because it was true.

For all their fire and sparring and pride, they didn’t truly know each other. Not really.

Kian drew a slow breath, then looked again at the child in her arms. Elise. She cooed up at Scarlett like she belonged there. Like she knew no other life.

He rubbed the back of his neck then lifted it to the sky. “Hand t’God. I’ve nay idea whose child this is. But it… she isnae mine. Of that I swear to ye.”

Scarlett only nodded once and rocked Elise gently on her shoulder.

“She was left with nothin’ but that note. A kitchen girl found her and brought her to the healer. Lord above kens how long she was out there before she was found. We’ve hired a wet nurse from the village.”

“Aye,” Kian said blankly. “Of course ye have.”

Scarlett turned her head toward him, her expression hardening. “Ye daenae want her here?”

“I want answers,” he said. “I want to ken who left a child at me doorstep. I want to ken what they expect of us. Of me .”

“We have the letter. She needs care. That’s that.”

“That bairn is nae ours to save, Scarlett!”

“She is here already! She is ours to save. As leaders of this clan.”

Kian shook his head, pacing now. “This isnae a stray hound, woman. It’s a child . A life. And we’ve nay claim to it.”

Scarlett clutched Elise tighter. “Then make one. Make a bloody claim. Act like the laird of this clan, Kian!”

Kian turned sharply.

She stared him down, baby in arms, like a Highland warrior at a battlefield’s edge.

And for the first time since he’d stepped through the gates that morning, Kian realized something unsettling.

He had gone to Edinburgh to sharpen himself, return stronger and keep her in check. And yet here he was, back under his own roof, already feeling the reins slip from his hands.

Every word this woman said and every flicker of fire in her eyes pried at his grip.

Scarlett’s words echoed louder than the fire crackling in the hearth. Kian stared at her, then at the baby resting against her shoulder like she’d always belonged there, and felt the ground shift beneath him.

He stepped back from the desk, voice cold. “ This isnae permanent.”

Scarlett arched a brow. “What would ye call it, then?”

“A mistake,” he snapped. “A mess dropped on our doorstep by someone too cowardly to face what they’d done.”

Scarlett’s jaw clenched. “That mess is breathin’. And smilin’. And has tiny fingers that grasp me sleeve like I’m her world. I’m able to care for her, and so are ye.”

“I daenae care if she sings the psalms, Scarlett,” Kian growled. “She is nae yers, she is nae mine, and I will nae raise her as if she were either.”

Scarlett took a steadying breath and then walked toward the door, and opened it. Kian watched as his wife calmly passed Elise gently to Effie, who had been lingering in the corridor, pale and wide-eyed. “Take her back to the nursery. Come back and wait here in the corridor.”

Effie blinked. “Aye, m’lady.” She took the child with surprising care and vanished through the door, closing it softly behind her.

Scarlett turned back to him, eyes blazing.

“Ye think I want this?” she hissed. “Ye think I asked to have a babe left for us? I’m nae some empty-headed girl playing house. But the moment I saw her, Elise , I kent I couldnae turn her away. And neither can ye. Nay matter what ye say.”

“I can , and I will ,” he bit out. “We’ll find who left her, and they’ll take her back.”

“And if they daenae? Cannae?”

“They will. I’ll search every village, kick in every door, shake answers out of every lying bastard from here to the border.”

“She’s ours now, Kian!”

“ That bairn is nae ours!” his voice had raised to a nearly deafening growl, and she matched his fury with precise defiance.

Scarlett stepped closer. Her shoulders squaring on him, but she spoke with a deadly calm. “I ken that yer afraid, husband. Hell, I’m afraid too. But this is the right thing to do, and I’ll stand in yer way every step of this quest, should ye choose to embark on it. Every. Single. Step.”

His mouth opened, and then closed.

“Ye are afraid,” she said again, quieter now. “Not of her. But of what she means.”

Kian stepped toward her, but she stood her ground. “Oh?”

“Ye cannae control this.”

He stared into the fire as if it could burn away the entire situation, but he knew it wouldn’t. He would have to do this all himself. He rolled his shoulders once, twice, but the weight wouldn’t lift. Through gritted teeth, his eyes met hers as he replied finally, “Watch me.”

“Someone trusted us. Someone saw ye and me, and thought we were good enough.”

Kian laughed, but it was humorless. “Good enough? I’m barely fit to be a husband, never mind a faither.”

“Then ye better learn quick.”

Her words split the room like lightning.

Kian crossed the room in two strides.

Scarlett’s chin raised and she stood a firm in place as the stone walls around them.

He stopped just short of her.

His voice dropped low. “Watch yer tongue, Scarlett.”

She stared up at him, eyes unblinking. “Or what? Ye’ll leave again for another eight months? Or will ye be a coward and strike me?”

He stepped in closer. “Ye forget yerself.”

“Nay. I remember every detail. Every day ye were gone. Every night I ruled this keep alone. Every letter unanswered. I’m the lady of this keep… this clan… and we’ve moved on wi’out ye. Ye have to earn it back, or take it from me by force.”

His hand twitched at his side, jaw tight. “And did ye think I was away for pleasure? I went because this clan needed more than pride to survive the winter.”

Scarlett stepped even closer, fire still trembling in her voice. “Ye left me to fight alone, Kian. Without a word. Without comfort. I wondered if ye were ever comin’ back.”

“I ken,” he bit out, softer but no less sharp. “Every night I lay awake wondering if the keep stood, or if I’d return to ashes.”

Her throat bobbed. She clutched Elise tighter, voice trembling, “I’ll nae raise her alone, Kian. I’ll nae let her go. And if that’s a war between us, then so be it.”

Kian’s resolve strained like a frayed rope. “I’ll find her parents.”

“And what if they daenae want her back?” Scarlett asked, chin high. “What if we’re the only ones left to give her a home?”

“I willnae be drawn into this.”

“Too late.”

Her words landed like a blow.

Kian looked away, jaw clenched so tight it ached. His pulse thundered in his ears.

He’d come back to discipline her. To remind her that this was his clan. He was the one with the power.

But Scarlett had turned his keep into a living place. Had stood between danger and a stranger. Had written him with numbers and facts, not hearts and pleas.

And now, she clung to the idea of this child like it was a shield and a vow all at once.

He should’ve seen this coming.

He should’ve known she wouldn’t let him ignore this.

Kian turned abruptly, stalking toward the door.

“Where are ye goin’?” Scarlett called after him.

“To do what I said I would,” he said without turning. “I’ll find out who she belongs to.”

“And what if she belongs here?”

He paused only for a moment.

Then he wrenched the door open and stepped into the corridor. He muttered a curse under his breath. But it wasn’t anger in his voice. It was something dangerously close to fear, and it drove him mad.