Page 19 of His to Keep (Reluctant Vows #6)

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As Eilidh disappears into the house, I’m torn between a desire to go after her and a need to find out what the fuck is going on.

Damiano only had a minute to warn me that Eilidh’s brother was alive and about to land on our doorstep before Alexander arrived.

I didn’t have the chance to prepare my wife for the shock she was about to receive.

She looked so stricken when Alexander casually strolled up to her with Niamh Donnelly by his side.

The Scotswoman at least has the grace to grimace apologetically for crashing my wedding like this.

I’m about to go after Eilidh, to make sure she’s alright when Lorenzo appears from inside the house.

“Ah, Alexander.” His tone is nonchalant, like he somehow expected the other man to be here. “Now I see why the delightful Eilidh is so upset.” He holds up a hand to stop me as I move toward the house. “She expressed a wish to be left alone. I sent Rosalia to keep an eye on her. She will be fine.”

It’s his way of telling me to stay put, a command delivered with a sympathetic smile. Choosing to obey, I stand there as the air thickens with tension.

“Fuck!” I rake my fingers through my hair. “What a fucking mess!”

“I think everyone should come inside and sit down. There are clearly things to discuss.” Lorenzo being diplomatic is a rarity.

We all do as he suggests and move indoors.

While Niamh and Alexander sit side by side on the sofa, Lorenzo drops onto the leather armchair by the window.

Damiano goes to the drinks cabinet and pours Scotch for our unexpected guests while I hover by the open door, the slight breeze on my back doing nothing to cool my temper, which is close to bubbling over.

“Explain how you survived when the rest of your family was killed.” My tone is aggressive, but until I get answers I’m not playing nice.

Niamh is the one who speaks. “Sandy wasn’t in the room when the Drummonds murdered his brothers and sisters. He came back just as they were about to slit his father’s throat.”

Alexander rubs his forehead, a sign the situation still pains him.

“My father told me to run, to live, and I did. Some of Drummond’s men came after me.

I was shot in the shoulder. The layout of Drummond’s property was unfamiliar to me and in the dark I couldn’t see where I was going.

I stumbled over a sheer drop into the Spey. ”

“I had a man watching the Drummonds,” Niamh says. “He witnessed what happened to Sandy and we sent out a search party. By some miracle my men found him alive, but he was in bad shape. We got him medical care and gave him a place to stay.”

Again, Niamh calls Alexander by a diminutive form of his name. I take it as a sign of their closeness. She’s fond of him if the way she squeezes his arm in support is any indication.

“That was good of you,” I remark.

“His brother was special to me.” Niamh’s pale pink lips tremble and I get a sense of what special means. “His loss hit me hard, so I did what I could to protect someone he loved.”

I respect her decision to step in and take care of Alexander when he was vulnerable. It’s something I could see myself doing.

“Okay, so where have you been all this time?” I ask. “Why resurface now?”

“I had amnesia. For a long time, I didn’t remember my family or what happened that night.”

“And when you did remember? Why didn’t you look for Eilidh? Surely when her body didn’t turn up you wondered if she was still alive?”

“Of course I did, but there was nothing to suggest they spared her. Why would they? I mean, they killed my other sisters.”

It’s a valid point, but the bodies of his parents and other sisters were all found dumped in woodland somewhere in the north of England. When Eilidh wasn’t with them, I can’t believe he didn’t at least consider the possibility she was alive.

“So, when you did get intel that she was alive and being held by Jason fucking Henry, why didn’t you go in for her?”

“Because I wasn’t ready for a fight. I didn’t want to risk launching a mission and fucking up. If Eilidh got caught in the crossfire because I wasn’t prepared, I’d never have forgiven myself.”

“We came up with the idea of sending someone in to gather information about Jason’s setup,” Niamh says. “We knew plenty about the organization when Drummond headed it, but when Jason took over, he changed things. We couldn’t go in blind.”

“Right.” If my sister was being held by an enemy, my brothers and I would go in all guns blazing, but I understand Alexander choosing a more measured approach. I turn to Damiano. “Did you know all this? Were you aware Eilidh’s brother didn’t die that night?”

“Yes.” My cousin is characteristically unapologetic.

“I did too,” Lorenzo admits.

“Fuck! And neither of you thought it was important to tell me this before I agreed to marry Eilidh, before I risked my own neck going in and saving her from Henry?”

Damiano raises an eyebrow, a silent warning about my disrespectful tone of voice. He may be the boss around here, but fuck him if he thinks I’m going to mind my manners with all this shit coming to light.

“Would it have changed your decision to help if we did?” Lorenzo asks.

“Of course not.”

He spreads his palms. “Then there was no need to tell you.”

“If you’d known,” Damiano says, “you might have let something slip to Eilidh and then Alexander would have been forced to come out into the open before he was ready.”

“So what if I let it slip to Eilidh? Who was she going to tell?” Even as I ask the question, a humiliating answer comes to me.

“You didn’t trust me to pull it off. You didn’t think I’d get her out of the UK safely.

Did you imagine Henry’s men would recapture her and she’d tell them he was still alive? ”

“Don’t take offense,” Lorenzo says in a placating tone. “You’re young and untested. We didn’t know your capabilities.”

“We couldn’t risk you making a mistake and people finding out about Alexander,” Damiano adds. “You have fucked up in the past.”

I clench my fists, irritated by my cousins’ assessment of me. Is Damiano actually holding the fact I was caught off guard and shot against me?

“Did Antonio know?” I don’t need an answer because the look that passes between my cousins tells me he did.

Though I’ve always known he thinks me less capable than my other brothers, it hurts to have proof of it.

“You underestimated me,” I shake my head in disgust. “But worse than that, you underestimated her. That woman, my wife, is the strongest person I’ve ever met.

Even if I’d failed to keep her out of Jason Henry’s hands, she would never have betrayed your secret. ”

Alexander sighs. “If you want to blame someone for the decision to leave you in the dark, the responsibility lies with me. It wasn’t just because I feared word of my survival would be leaked.

I wasn’t certain I’d survive going up against the Drummond organization.

I didn’t want my sister to have to mourn me twice. ”

Now that I understand. “You wanted to protect her.”

Alexander nods. “She’s my baby sister.”

“So why reveal yourself now? Are you ready to go up against the Drummond organization?”

If he is, I want in. I told Eilidh I’d exact revenge for her, and I meant it. I want every man who was involved in her imprisonment to suffer a slow, painful death.

“Yes. Now that Eilidh’s safe and I’ve secured an important asset, I’m prepared to strike.”

I furrow my brow. “Important asset?”

“Cara Drummond,” Niamh replies, her mouth twisted in distaste.

“Ah, of course. The heiress to the Drummond fortune.”

Whoever marries Cara can lay claim to Stewart Drummond’s throne. If Alexander wants to prevent Jason Henry from taking everything, he has to take the girl for himself.

“Yes,” Alexander replies tightly.

“You know, my wife sees her as a kindred spirit, another unfortunate used by the wicked men in her life. She’s very concerned for Cara’s welfare.”

“She needn’t be.” Alexander’s jaw clenches. “She’s mine to worry about.”

Interesting. His declaration betrays more than a business interest in the woman.

“And Eilidh is mine.”

Alexander nods. I’m relieved he hasn’t come here because he decided to interfere in my relationship with Eilidh. I’d have fought him, of course, but I doubt my wife would like that.

“Tell us,” Niamh says. “How is Eilidh?”

Sighing, I cross the room and take a seat on the sofa opposite Niamh and Alexander. “Like I said, she’s strong. She’s got a caring side, but she’s also sassy and stubborn. She challenges me at every turn.”

“But?” Niamh is perceptive enough to realize there’s a downside.

“But I think she’s in survival mode and has been for a very long time. When it finally sinks in for her that she’s safe, I don’t know what will happen.”

Niamh nods. “You fear she’s been suppressing her rage and grief, and it will all come out.”

“Yeah.” That is exactly what I’m afraid of. I can kill and maim for my wife, but I’m not sure I can vanquish her inner demons.

“Are you man enough to see her through it?” Alexander turns on a big brother voice I’m not sure he’s entitled to use considering his long absence from Eilidh’s life. “Can you catch her when she falls?”

“Yes, I can.” My firm response leaves absolutely no room for doubt. I push to my feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my wife. I suggest you give her some time to adjust. If she wants to speak to you, I’ll call.”

Leaving Damiano to show our guests out, I head upstairs to see Eilidh.