Page 20 of Edinburgh Escape (Brotherhood Protectors International #5)

Rory glared at Callum. “Now that Lord Drummond is dead, all his bastard children are coming out of the woodwork for a piece of his estate.” He tipped his chin toward Maggie.

“She’s a case in point.” He turned toward his cousin.

“You’ve known me all my life. How long have you known that bitch?

An hour. Maybe two. She could’ve lied about her lineage.

How do you know she wasn’t lying about having the same father as you? ”

“DNA doesn’t lie,” Callum said. “Call her a bitch again, and you and I will have a problem.”

Ewan nodded. “She’s my sister, and this discussion is over.”

“The hell it is. You’d give an equal share of your father’s fortune to her, a product of your father’s affairs?

He cheated on your mother! You’re a fool.

And all I ask is enough to invest in a legitimate business.

She’ll take the money back with her to wherever the hell she’s from.

What happens if more illegitimate spawn show up with their hands out?

Will you squander your entire fortune on all of them?

Because, believe me, your father was a randy bastard who cheated on your mother every chance he got.

She was a fool to stay with him. His second wife is equally foolish.

What did he leave her? Not a damn thing.

She might as well have been his whore instead of his wife. ”

Ewan punched his cousin in the face.

Rory staggered backward, blood dripping from his nose.

“Shut up, Rory.” Ewan advanced on him, poking a finger into his chest. “You do not talk that way about my family. My father might have been a bastard, but he didn’t give money to relatives with gambling addictions.”

Rory pinched his bleeding nose. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His gaze went past Ewan to Callum, who edged closer. “I’m not addicted to gambling. I quit.”

“Not soon enough, was it?” Ewan planted a hand on Rory’s chest. “Who loaned you money so you could play?”

“Who said someone loaned me money?”

Ewan snorted. “And they want it back with interest, don’t they?” He shoved his cousin again. “How much, Rory?”

Rory raised his fists.

Callum stepped up beside Ewan.

“How much?” Ewan repeated.

Rory’s gaze shifted from Ewan to Callum and back. “None of your bloody business.”

“You made it my business when you walked into my home demanding money.” Ewan crossed his arms over his chest.

“Just twenty-five thousand euros.” Rory sneered. “A pittance compared to what you inherited.”

“The problem with paying off your debt is that you’ll just do it again. You went through your mother’s entire inheritance in less than two years.”

“The casinos cheated me out of my money.”

Ewan shook his head. “Yet you kept going back until you lost every last cent.”

“I did not.”

“I’ve been in contact with your brother, Robert.

I know everything. I wouldn’t invest in any business with you.

And I won’t pay your debt. Your mother let you live with her to help her in her old age, and how did you repay her?

Your brother put your mother in assisted living after you sold her house out from under her. ”

“She didn’t need a house that big,” Rory said. “I did her a favor by selling it.”

“And yet she didn’t see a cent from that sale. You spent it all in a casino. You have a lot of gall coming to me asking for money. You make me sick. Get out of my house.”

Rory stood straight, his chest puffed out. “You don’t know what I was up against then and now. These people played rough. They threatened to kill me.”

“Did you ever consider your mother would’ve been better off if they’d gone through with their threat?

” Ewan lifted his chin and stared down his nose at his cousin.

“Get off my property and don’t bother to come back.

And you can tell your people they won’t be getting any Drummond money.

You’ll have to find another way to pay your debt. ”

“You have to help me,” Rory said. “We’re family.”

“You aren’t part of my family.” Ewan nodded toward his butler. “Gregory.”

Immediately, Gregory stepped forward and grabbed Rory’s arms from behind.

Rory exploded in fury, jerked free of the butler’s hold, spun and landed a punch to Gregory’s midsection.

Callum dove for Rory, knocked him down and pinned him to the ground.

Maggie leaped from her chair, grabbed a candlestick holder from the table and ran toward the two men. Callum had Rory under control, but she stood over them, ready to use the candlestick holder if Rory managed to get loose.

Callum’s chest swelled at her fierce stance. The woman was tough and not afraid to join the fight.

“Let go of me!” Rory shouted. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.

If they don’t get what they want, they go after anyone else in the family.

They’ll come for you, Ewan. And Bryce. Even the girl.

They knew she was coming. They knew she stood to inherit a portion of the estate. They know everything.”

“Because you told them.” Ewan tipped his chin toward Callum. “Let him up.”

Callum held Rory down for a moment longer. “Try to hurt anyone, and I won’t go that easy on you next time.” He got to his feet and reached for Rory’s arm. Ewan grabbed his other arm. Between the two men, they hauled Rory to his feet.

Maggie stepped back, giving the men room.

When Callum released his hold, Ewan spun his cousin around. “Never hit one of my people, ever again.”

Rory’s shoulders sagged, and he shook his head. “They’ll kill me.”

“That’s your problem,” Ewan said.

“Yeah, but now it’s yours as well,” Rory said.

“Then you better start talking,” Ewan said.

“Who are these people?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t know.” Rory pushed a hand through his hair.

“When I ran out of money at the casino in Edinburgh, a man loaned me more and said that when I made it back, I could make good on my loan. I was playing craps and was winning...until I wasn’t.

I lost everything and the money the man had loaned me.

I didn’t see the man who’d loaned me the money as I left the casino, but I had a personal visit from some of his collectors.

They came to my flat and threatened to remove parts of my body if I didn’t pay my debt.

When I said I had no way of coming up with that much money immediately, they told me to get it from my family.

” Rory met Ewan’s gaze. “They specifically mentioned you. They knew your father had recently passed and that you had inherited his estate.”

“They expect me to pay your debt?” Ewan snorted. “Bloody hell.”

“Did you notify the police?” Maggie asked.

“They said it would do me no good to go to the police,” Rory said. “They have members of their organization embedded with the police.”

“You don’t have the name of the organization?” Callum asked.

“No,” Rory said. “Although the man who loaned me the money had a slight Russian accent, and their collectors spoke to each other in what sounded like Russian.”

“Brilliant,” Ewan said. “You have our family at the mercy of the Russian mob?”

“I think so.” Rory shook his head. “The only way to get them to leave all of us alone is to pay them.”

Ewan shook his head. “And what happens when you take money from gangsters again to gamble it away. You’ve placed our family at risk through your actions. I don’t trust that you won’t do it again. For now, you have to leave.”

“But I need that money, or they’ll kill me and come after you.”

“Then you had better leave the country and get as far away as you can,” Ewan said. “I don’t want you anywhere near me or my family.”

“But—” Rory started.

“Enough,” Ewan said. “You’re not staying here.”

“What about the money?”

“You’re not getting any from me or anyone else in this family.” Ewan turned the man toward the door. “Leave on your own, or I’ll throw you out myself.”

Rory squared his shoulders. “I’m leaving. But mark my words, even if they kill me, none of you will be safe until they have their money.”

“We’ll handle it,” Ewan said. “And before you go, apologize to Fiona and Gregory.”

Rory drew in a breath and said, “Fiona, please, accept my apologies.”

Fiona nodded. “Apology accepted.”

Rory turned to Gregory.

Gregory stood as straight as he had when he’d welcomed Maggie to Drummond Manor, his face a solid mask.

“Gregory, I’m sorry I hit you.”

The butler gave Rory a hint of a nod, turned on his heel and led the man out of the dining room to the front entrance.

Ewan’s gaze followed them. When he turned to Callum, he held out his hand. “Thank you.”

Callum gripped Ewan’s. “Sounds like you have a bigger problem than an unwanted guest.”

Ewan nodded, his gaze going to Maggie. “I wonder if the man at the train station and the four intruders in Edinburgh were part of the collection committee Rory spoke of.”

Callum’s lips pressed into a line. “If so, they could come looking for any one of your family.”

“Should you have sent Rory away?” Maggie asked.

Ewan’s brow descended. “He should never have taken money from a stranger and then gambled it away. He put my family in danger. The bastard can rot in hell for all I care.”

Callum’s gaze shifted to Maggie and the candlestick holder she held like a weapon. His lips curved into a smile. “Glad to see you had my back.”

Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. “I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.” She set the candlestick holder on the dining table and returned to Callum’s side.

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her close. “Tough as well as beautiful.” He brushed his lips across hers in a brief kiss, then straightened and addressed Ewan. “What do you have in the way of security on the estate?”

Ewan shook his head. “If Rory is to be believed, not enough. My father had cameras installed at the gate and the entrances of the manor, but that might not be enough to stop an army of Russian mobsters.”

“I have a friend who might have connections to look into this mobster organization and find out what exactly you’re up against,” Callum said.