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In a lower, coaxing timbre, Broderick continued, “Marry her tae me, and ye can go back tae that old life. Leave the estate tae me—tae her. I’ll oversee the lands, the contracts, even the debts.

I’ll ensure her safety, her reputation.” He softened his tone, the rough edges of his words gentling just enough to sound appealing.

“Ye can then rest easy knowing ye did right by her; that ye watched her marry a man strong enough tae shoulder the future.”

Tammus’s throat tightened, his Adam’s apple bobbing like a cork in rough waters. “And what does Davina think of this arrangement? ”

“She’ll agree,” Broderick said, his voice smooth yet laced with the desperate certainty of a man standing on the edge of fate. He tilted his head slightly, letting a cold edge seep through his honeyed tone. “No one will dare question her again. No’ with me right here at her side.”

A heavy silence stretched between them, thick and almost suffocating. Tammus’s gaze drifted toward the window, his eyes lost in a far-off yearning for the freedom of a life unburdened by his niece’s troubled affairs.

“You’ll keep her safe?” Tammus rasped, a strained whisper laden with hope and despair.

“With me life,” Broderick vowed firmly, his words echoing off the stone walls like a binding oath.

For a long, tense moment, Tammus looked away, his jaw working silently as resignation etched itself into the deep lines of his face. Finally, with a curt nod suffused with a heavy sadness, he spoke. “Then it is done.”

Without further ceremony, Tammus crossed the room with measured steps, maintaining a respectful distance, and opened the study door with a creak that seemed to announce change. “Lilias!” he called.

Shortly afterward, soft, measured footsteps echoed down the passage as Davina’s mother responded, “Aye, brother?”

“Go fetch Davina,” Tammus instructed simply, closing the door as he returned to the sanctum of the desk, his face carefully composed.

Broderick drifted toward the window, gazing out across the shadowed courtyard where the moon cast delicate patterns upon the ancient stones. Turning his back on the resigned figure of Davina’s uncle, he allowed a sly smile to curl his lips—a quiet promise of change and a future redefined.

∞∞ ∞

Davina paced the length of her bedchamber, her thumbnail caught between her teeth. The sky outside her window had already shifted from fiery pinks and oranges to a deep, dusky purple. Night fell, and with it came the knowledge that Broderick would inevitably arrive.

Amice and Nicabar had both said he was never around until sundown, and Davina had passed the information along to her uncle.

She wasn’t sure what Tammus intended to do with it—he hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about his plans—but it was clear he wanted to get to the bottom of what Broderick had done to scare Finlay away. And so did she.

Her pacing stopped as the door opened, and Lilias stepped inside, her expression neutral.

“Your uncle wishes to speak with you,” her mother said without preamble. “In the study with Mr. MacDougal.”

Davina exhaled slowly, steadying her racing thoughts.

Her stomach twisted as she swept past her mother and descended the stairs to the foyer, where she marched toward the study. Every step felt weighted, as though the walls themselves pressed in closer with the gravity of what awaited her.

Davina burst through the door. Her gaze immediately locked on Broderick, who stood near the window, his dark eyes narrowing as they met hers. The firelight from the hearth gilded his features, casting shadows that only deepened the predatory intensity in his gaze.

“Uncle,” she said curtly, ignoring the way Broderick’s piercing stare sent a ripple of heat down her spine. “I’d like to speak with Broderick in private.”

“Nay,” Tammus said without looking up, his quill scratching across parchment. “I’ve spent enough time on this nonsense. This is the agreement I had with Finlay, so there’s no need for a fresh draft. I’ll expedite it with the procurator.”

Davina’s jaw tightened. “Expedite it for whom?”

Tammus rolled up the document and slid it into a wooden box. “For Broderick.”

Her mouth fell open, but before she could protest, Tammus continued, “I’m going into the village to get the priest and finalize these documents. You’ll be wed tonight. I don’t care if I keep the vicar up until dawn to get this managed.”

Broderick stayed silent, the corner of his mouth twitching as though he found this whole ordeal amusing, the glint in his eyes a mixture of hunger and satisfaction.

Tammus stood, hefted the box under his arm, and pointed a finger at Davina. “Have the chapel prepared for the nuptials.”

“But—”

“No argument,” he barked. He stormed toward the door, pausing in the doorway to glance over his shoulder. “ Now you can speak to Broderick.”

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Davina and Broderick alone.

She spun to face him, hands planted firmly on her hips. “What the bloody hell is this about?”

Broderick didn’t answer right away. Instead, he crossed the room with that maddening dimple in his cheek, peering out the window. She saw the tension in his shoulders, the taut line of his jaw as he watched Tammus disappear toward the gate.

Only when Tammus vanished from sight did Broderick turn back to her. His dark green eyes pinned her in place, keen and unrelenting.

“Why did you scare Finlay away?” she demanded, her voice rising with fury and disbelief. “He was my last chance at marrying a decent man.”

His brow furrowed, lips twisting into a frown. “I’ll try not tae take that personally.”

“You told me marriage didn’t suit you,” she snapped, her frustration spilling over.

“It doesnae,” he said, his voice deep and steady, like rolling thunder beneath his words. “But I’m givin’ ye what ye want.”

Her brows knitted tight in confusion. “What?”

“Ye wanted the estate under a man’s name so ye could run it yerself.” His gaze held hers fast, making her pulse trip beneath her ribs. “I’m volunteering tae do that for ye.”

She stuck a finger in her ear and jiggled it, as if that might clear her senses. “Come again?”

Broderick smirked, a slow curl of his lips that heated her skin and stoked her irritation in equal measure. “Ye heard me.”

Her stomach flipped a tight somersault. She stared at him, her thoughts racing to piece together his meaning. “You frightened Finlay away because…that was our deal?”

He shrugged, the motion maddeningly nonchalant. “Partly. But I also knew yer uncle wasnae goin’ tae let ye put yer estate in his name. So, I decided that since I already knew yer plan, I’d help ye make it happen. Honestly, I dinnae trust anyone else. Not even Finlay.”

Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “This was all about getting your stupid payment?”

His grin deepened, his eyes smoldering into something darker, more dangerous, as he stalked closer.

The air between them thickened, heavy as storm clouds on the verge of breaking.

Her breath caught when his voice dropped to a near growl, rough and low enough to make her pulse stumble.

“Oh, ye’re still goin’ tae pay me, Blossom. We did indeed have a deal.”

His eyes raked over her slowly, lingering shamelessly on the swell of her breasts before meeting her gaze again. Heat licked across her skin, sparking beneath the surface.

“When I’m in town, ye belong tae me. Every inch of ye. I want ye in my bed. And ye dinnae leave it until I’m satisfied. That’s the price of yer freedom.”

Her chest tightened as she took a wary step back, her thigh brushing the edge of the chair.

His piercing gaze pinned her in place—possessive, predatory.

A shiver coursed through her body, settling hot and insistent in her core.

She forced herself to lift her chin, defiance tightening her spine, glaring at him as though she weren’t on the verge of trembling. “And your money?”

“Ten percent,” he said flatly, as though it were trivial. “The rest…well, I’d say I’m claimin’ it in other ways.”

Her heart pounded like a war drum. He was offering her exactly what she’d wanted—but at a price she wasn’t sure she could afford. Her traitorous body responded to the hunger in his gaze, heat coiling low in her belly, but she shoved the sensation away, locking it behind the fortress of her will.

“And what if I don’t agree to your…terms?” Her voice trembled, despite the steel she tried to lace through it.

Broderick shrugged again, infuriatingly casual, as though her resistance amused him. “I’m sure MacLeod will be thrilled tae have ye under his thumb.”

The name landed like a blow, stealing her breath and churning her stomach. Her fingers curled tighter around the back of the chair, knuckles pale as the memory of MacLeod’s smug face flashed before her mind’s eye .

She wanted to scream. To hurl something at him, to defy the trap he’d laid so carefully around her.

But the fire in his eyes promised a different kind of battle—one she wasn’t sure she could win.

Broderick stepped closer, looming over her. “Or ye can choose me.” His voice soft but no less commanding. “At least this way, ye get tae keep what’s yers.” His gaze dropped to her lips. “Choose wisely, Blossom.”

Davina’s jaw tightened, and she forced herself to meet his gaze, even as her hands trembled. “You’re a bastard.”

The deep rumble of his chuckle moved through her, and her nipples tightened in response. “Aye. But I’m the bastard ye need.”

Her chest heaved with each breath, a battle waging inside her between anger and fear, while something even more perilous simmered deep within her under his intense, predatory stare, like a panther that had trapped its prey.

She wanted to fight him. To claw her way out of this trap he’d set for her. But deep down, she knew the truth.

There was no other choice. Broderick would be her husband.