Page 8 of Healing the Highland Sinner (Tales of the Maxwell Lasses #7)

CHAPTER EIGHT

“ Y e are tae watch and listen,” Rosalind said. “But ye are tae keep a low profile and most of all, ye’re tae keep yer mouth shut. Understand?”

“Aye. Of course.”

“I mean it, Ellair. We’re goin’ tae be steppin’ intae a pit with some of the most dangerous vipers in all of Thurso. I cannae afford tae have ye drawin’ attention tae yerself or underminin’ me.”

“I hear ye. I get it.”

“Dae ye?”

“Aye. I dae.”

Rosalind stared at him for a moment longer then nodded. Without another word, she walked on, expecting Ellair to fall into step beside her. He did. They followed the twisting labyrinth of streets that made up Thurso’s harbor district, heading for a tavern hidden in plain sight among the shops that filled the area.

She was nervous about taking Ellair in with her. Not only because the men she was meeting didn’t know him, but because he’d proven that his tongue was as sharp as his blade. The man didn’t seem to know when to shut up. And the last thing she needed was for him to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and ignite a fight. She was going to be outnumbered. Yes, he’d bested five men on the docks, but those men were nothing compared to the snakes they were there to meet. They were as vicious as they were ruthless and one false step would end with a blade in her guts.

As they walked, she could feel Ellair staring at her. “What?” she snapped.

“If I’m nae tae speak or make meself known in any way, what exactly am I here tae dae?”

She scowled. “Ye’re here tae watch me back. If things go sideways, ye may need to step in. But that’s only if things go sideways.”

“And how will I ken if things are goin’ sideways?”

“Ye’ll ken,” she snapped. “And if they dae, ye need tae get me out. Understand?”

He nodded. “Aye. I understand.”

“I cannae stress how important this meetin’ is. And how important it is that naethin’ go wrong.” Her glare was as icy as her words.

They wound their way through the alleys and finally arrived at a plain wooden door set between a baker and potter’s shop. Rosalind looked up and down the alley and seeing nobody, rapped on the door once, then twice, then once more. The door creaked as it opened, revealing a large, imposing looking man who bristled with weapons. His eyes shifted to Ellair who stood behind her.

“He’s with me,” Rosalind said.

The man nodded and stepped aside, letting them by, then closed the door behind them. They walked down the short staircase that opened up into the common room of the tavern. Done up in red and black silks and velvet, the place always reminded Rosalind of the town’s most opulent and decadent brothels. The half-naked women dancing, giggling, and sitting on the laps of the men around the tables in common room did nothing to dispel that image.

She’d heard there was a hidden staircase somewhere in the tavern that led to a set of rooms where men, for a price, could take their pleasure with some of the hostesses. Rosalind had never availed herself of that service.

“Secret place, eh?” Ellair said.

“Very secret. And it’ll remain a secret or I’ll have yer tongue.”

He held his up to his chest, palms out. “Ye have me word.”

The interior of the Black Kraken, the secret tavern frequented by the leading figures in Thurso’s underworld as well as its most prominent merchants, was large but windowless, giving it the dimly lit, stuffy feeling of a subterranean cavern. Musicians played softly in the corner, the air was redolent with pipe smoke, thick as the whispered conversations that filled her ears.

The hushed voices tapered off when they walked further into the common room, which she was used to. As a woman, she was a novelty among the town’s crime lords. Those who knew of her, of course, since she tried to keep her sex hidden. Some accepted her. Some resented her. And many thought she was a figure ripe to be taken advantage of.

As a woman, most of the men in her line of business thought her weak but they knew whose work she had taken over and they’d feared her husband. This didn’t stop them from relentlessly scheming and plotting to bring her down.

She had proven herself to be capable and some didn’t take that very well. It was why she needed somebody to watch her back everywhere she went, a veritable army to protect her. The moment she let her guard slip was the moment she’d find a blade in her back. She spotted the men she was there to meet sitting at a table in the corner. She turned to Ellair.

“I’ll be over there,” she said. “Keep yer eyes open. And keep yer bleedin’ head down.”

He nodded.

As she made her way to the table though, she couldn’t help but notice the amount of attention Ellair was drawing. The wide, admiring eyes of most of the hostesses were already on him, as were the narrowed, suspicious gazes of the seedier figures. Rosalind gritted her teeth and stifled her sigh of irritation. She should have expected it. Ellair was a strikingly handsome man who was sure to draw eyes in any room he walked into.

She made it to the table and sat down across from a jowly, rotund man with dark hair that was liberally sprinkled with gray and eyes as dark as in his porcine face. He was so heavy; she was half-surprised the chair he sat in hadn’t collapsed beneath his girth. She despised the man and could barely disguise her look of distaste.

The table was filled with half-empty plates of food and he was chewing on a chicken leg, his eyes fixed on her. Grease glistened on his cheeks and chin and the smacking sounds he made as he ate turned her stomach. She fought to keep her gorge down. He dropped the gnawed-on leg onto his plate and wiped his hands on a cloth stained with grease and filth.

“Ewan,” she said with a curt nod.

“Me lady Rosalind,” he replied. “Good tae see ye.”

“We’ve got business tae discuss,” she said.

“Aye. We dae,” he said, punctuating his words with a loud burp.

Rosalind frowned in distaste at his disgusting display. As long as she’d known Ewan, she should have been used to it by then, but every time he did something like that—which was every time they met—he never failed to turn her stomach.

“This is yer meetin’,” she said. “What is it ye want?”

“I think it’s time we renegotiate the way we dae things in Thurso,” he replied.

“Is that so?”

“Aye. ‘Tis so,” he replied. “I’m gettin’ tired of havin’ tae rely on ye tae bring in me goods. I can dae it on me own fer less. And with less hassle.”

“Less hassle?”

He offered her a slimy smile. “Given the problems ye’re havin’ right now, what with yer vessels bein’ seized and yer men taken by Laird Gunn, ye’re losin’ half the shipments ye’re bringin’ in. That’s half that never makes it tae port. That means there’s less fer all of us. And less fer all of us means less money in our purses.”

Rosalind waved him off. “Laird Gunn’s efforts are a minor inconvenience?—”

“The lightness of me purse lately is hardly a minor inconvenience.”

“This will pass,” she said. “Once Laird Gunn has somethin’ else he has tae focus on, like a rival laird lookin’ tae seize his lands, he’ll forget all about us. Again. ‘Tis the way things have always been. In times of peace, the lairds turn their eyes our way. Ye’ve been around long enough tae ken this.”

He scoffed. “I dinnae recall things ever bein’ as slim as they’ve been lately.”

Rosalind stared at him, her gaze colder than ice. “I dinnae see ye sufferin’, Ewan,” she said. “Ye seem tae be eatin’ well enough.”

The large man sputtered and huffed as he sat forward, his face flushed, dark eyes narrowed, and an expression of outrage on his face. He jabbed a stubby finger at Rosalind.

“Ye’d better watch yer mouth, lass.”

“Or?”

“Or ye may find yerself missin’ yer pretty little tongue,” he said. “Dinnae think I dinnae ken that Lair Gunn has taken some of yer best fighters. Ye’re weak, Rosalind. Vulnerable. And the vultures are startin’ tae circle. Yer best option tae keep some bit of yer power and influence on the docks is to align with me. I’ve got the men tae protect ye?—”

“Yer men? Ye’ve got boys. And they’re nae very good in a fight.”

He shrugged. “But I’ve got a lot of them. Twice as many as ye dae. Align with me. Together, we can lock down everythin’ on the docks and set our own terms on everybody.”

“I dinnae need tae align with ye, Ewan. I’ve already got the docks locked down.”

“For the moment. But yer influence is wanin’, Rosalind. Everybody kens it. Ye have kenned since yer husband died and ye had tae take his place, that it is only been a matter of time before somebody comes fer ye,” he said with a feigned casualness. “Who kens? I might even come fer ye meself.”

She felt his presence behind her even before Ewan’s eyes shifted, looking at something over her shoulder. The fact that Ellair was standing behind her annoyed her. The last thing she wanted was to look weak or that she needed a man to step in and fight her battles for her. It only emboldened men like Ewan.

Ewan sat back, his face draining of color and he took a long swallow of his wine. Rosalind took the opportunity to glance up at Ellair. His face was harder than stone, his icy blue eyes fixed on Ewan. He stood with the casual grace of a seasoned fighter, hand on the hilt of his blade, silently letting the man know he was ready to fight at the blink of an eye. As much of a donkey as he was, Rosalind couldn’t deny the man had a presence.

The effect of having somebody like Ellair at her back was immediate. The chair beneath him groaned ominously as he sat back, lowering his gaze, the angry expression on his face melting into something less hostile. He cleared his throat and looked up at her again.

“The tides are changin’, Rosalind,” he said. “Ye need tae learn tae change with them or ye’ll be swallowed up. Somebody will seize that which ye control.”

“Is that a threat?” she asked.

“’Tis a prediction. ‘Tis all,” he replied with a shrug.

Rosalind got to her feet and planted her palms on the table then leaned forward, her green eyes boring into him. She glanced over her shoulder again, Ellair hadn’t moved an inch.

“Ye should watch yer tongue. Or ye may just lose it,” she hissed. “There will be nay changes. Ye will still pay yer duties tae me, as ye are daein’ right now. Dae it nae or defy me in any way and watch what happens.

“There will come a time when ye dinnae have a man watchin’ yer back. And when ye’re caught out, all alone?—”

“Ye arenae goin’ tae want tae finish that sentence,” Ellair said low and menacingly. “Ye’d dae well tae mind yer tongue. Ye dinnae talk tae the lady like that. Ye give her some respect.”

The porcine man looked down at the table, unable to meet their eyes. He wasn’t a man used threats or being talked back to. He was a man used to having his orders followed. And although Rosalind was irritated with Ellair for stepping in when she’d asked him not to, she couldn’t help but be thankful to him for putting the man in his place.

“Let’s go.”

She led Ellair out of the Kraken and back through the warren of streets that led back to her house. Her strides were purposeful, angry, but Ellair kept up with her step for step. When they were far enough away from the tavern that nobody could hear her, she turned to Ellair, her face red, her expression tight.

“I told ye tae stay out of it all,” she hissed. “What in the bleedin’ hell was that back there?”

“I was havin’ yer back.”

“I told ye tae stay out of it all.”

“Aye,” he replied, “ye also said tae step in if things went sideways. It looked like things were about tae go sideways. That man?—”

“Is nay threat tae me. The man can barely walk up a flight of steps without gettin’ winded. What danger did ye think he really posed tae me?”

He shrugged. “One thing I’ve learned in all me years fightin’ is that ye never underestimate anybody. The one ye dae is the one who buries a blade in yer guts.”

She walked on in silence, unable to refute his words. It was an oversight and probably poor judgement on her behalf to discount the threat Ewan posed to her. That was exactly why she had men like Ciar and now Ellair watching her back. She didn’t have the skill to fight, nor the wits to measure threats against her. What made her better than men like Ewan was that she knew herself well enough to know what she didn’t know. And to not be too stupid or proud to not hire the people who could do what she couldn’t. Like fighting.

What she couldn’t deny was the effect Ellair had had on the people in the Kraken. Perhaps it was because he was a new face, or the fact that his mere presence seemed to be a whispered promise of violence, but he had far a more demonstrable impact on the villains and scum who infested the Kraken more than even Ciar did. His presence kept them in line. And for that, she was glad.

But the last thing she was going to do was inflate his already bloated ego by praising him for it. Or telling him at all, for that matter. She needed to keep him humble, which was proving to be a Herculean task all in itself.

“Since Ciar will likely need time tae heal, ye’ll be comin’ with me tomorrow,” she said.

“Where are we goin’ then?”

“If ye’re goin’ tae work for me, ye need to learn yer place. And askin’ questions isnae yer place,” she said.

He flashed her a wide grin and tipped her a wink. “I’ve always loved a strong woman. Bein’ ordered about is kind of arousin’, if ye ask me.”

Rosalind rolled her eyes and had struggled to keep the smile off her lips. She had no desire to encourage him further.