Page 129 of Love Me Forever

“But his pride has been damaged, and that does not sit well with him. So what does he do?”

“He attempts to make you look like a fool.”

“Right, but how?”

“He diverts you to a bogus destination.”

“That is not enough for him,” Royce said and stopped pacing, though he ran his fingers roughly through his long hair. “He wants to humiliate me.”

“He does that to you by sending you to the wrong destination.”

“I might look foolish, but not humiliated.”

Ian shrugged. “How could he humiliate you? He has already abducted Brianna and leads you astray. Anyone would feel a fool. I did.”

“As do I,” Royce admitted, “a seasoned, legendary warrior like me unable to deal with one single man.”

“But you do, you go after him, track him, and find him—that is inevitable.”

“He leads me on a chase, the destination being my final humiliation.”

“Your keep?”

Royce shook his head. “It would be known the moment he set foot on Cameron land. There is no way he would slip past again.”

Ian rubbed his chin. “He wants to humiliate you. He wants enough time to pass so that Brianna will give birth, which means that he must make certain you are drawn away from his intended destination.”

“That means we are going in the wrong direction.”

“What if we are wrong and this is the correct direction?”

“That is solved easily enough,” Royce said. “I send men one way and I go another.”

“It means you go alone. You will need help.” Ian could see that Royce paid him no mind, but he was insistent. “I know how you feel about finding Brianna, but do not allow your anger to make foolish decisions. Arran will be heavily guarded. He is not stupid, and he probably hopes that you will be.”

Royce laughed. “You are as good as your wife in making someone see reason.”

“I learned well from her.”

“And I should have learned by now that you intend to remain beside me until your sister is found.”

“I am glad you finally realized that, though I still advise a group of men to go with us.”

“I agree, but give me your word that Arran will be left for me to deal with.”

Without hesitation Ian said, “You have my word.”

“Good, then in the morning we divide and change direction.”

“That is fine, but do we know what direction we go in?”

‘To know where Arran goes, one must think as Arran does.”

“Think like a madman? I have come to realize that Arran is not only devious but?—”

Royce finished. “Deranged. I have already reached that conclusion.”

“So where, then, does a deranged man take his wife to hide her from the man who loves her and whose child she carries?”