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E vander embraced his sister-in-law and nephew tightly. Now that they were here, he finally felt like he was with family.

Sure enough, he had been out of his previous castle for so long that everywhere seemed strange to him. But now that they were both here, he could begin to feel properly at home.

“How was the journey?” he asked, breaking the hug to examine them.

He looked at Tommy’s arm, examining the burn from the fire, while Shona launched into a speech about how awful the journey was and how they wouldn’t feel this tired if they had walked instead.

The burn was healing rather nicely, and Evander tried all he could to push down the memories that threatened to surface just at the sight of the injury.

He could feel the images teasing the edges of his mind, determined to rise to the surface while the cold morning air gently ruffled the hair on the back of his neck.

It was hard for him to forget the fire. Sometimes he could see it, the flames rising to the sky or even the smoke. He could still see the nameless man he had pursued into the woods and had gotten nothing from, despite how hard he had tried.

“We saw a rabbit as well,” Tommy announced as Shona ended her speech with a But it is all right, since we are here anyway.

Evander narrowed his eyes. “A rabbit, huh?”

“Aye,” Shona confirmed. “And this one willnae let us keep moving. Kept badgering the footman, the rascal. He wanted to stop and chase the rabbit.”

“Chase the rabbit?” Evander scoffed, his eyebrows raised at the excited little boy. “Since when are ye a dog, lad?”

“’Twas quite a big rabbit, Uncle,” Tommy explained, the enthusiasm in his voice so thick that Evander could cut it with a knife.

“Aye, I bet it was,” he responded, a smile on his face.

He watched Shona stare up at the castle, her eyes examining the towers that seemed to disappear into the high morning fog. He turned to look as well, his eyes landing on the smoke that drifted up from the chimneys.

“I must commend ye, Evander. This is quite the place. How did ye find it?”

“I overtook it. From a lady.”

“From a lady?” Shona asked, her eyes narrowing in further confusion. Evander waved her off almost immediately, not ready to tell the story. At least not yet.

“Now is nae the time to bore ye with me stories.”

“Come in. Ye must be famished already. I have asked the maids to prepare some food for ye.”

Shona nodded and made to walk back to the carriage when he stopped her.

“Yer trunks will be carried to yer rooms. Ye dinnae need to worry about that.”

Shona nodded again, and they all—one after the other, with the footman and the other servants trailing behind them—made their way to the castle. Evander could see the curiosity in Shona’s eyes and the wonder in Tommy’s as they walked.

“The passageway is even more impressive. Ye have done well,” Shona noted.

Evander only smirked and directed them to the dining hall, where a spread of food waited for them. His eyes skimmed over the table, taking in the smoked venison, toast, and coffee.

“I am certain there are tablets and some fruits here somewhere. I will ask them to fetch some for Tommy.”

A voice, like an alarm ringing in the back of his head, cut through the air, making him freeze.

“I wasnae aware that we had guests,” Keira remarked as Shona and Tommy pulled out their chairs.

They all turned in the direction of her voice and came face to face with her. Evander’s lips slowly parted in surprise.

She was wearing a deep green dress that reflected the early morning light. As she walked closer, she looked ethereal, like an angel walking on water.

What is she wearing?

“Oh,” Evander murmured, a fresh wave of despair washing over him.

Whatever this was, it was not going to end well. He could easily tell from the look on her face as she moved closer to them.

“Who is she?” Shona whispered to him, right before Keira stopped right in front of them.

Och, ye have nay clue.

“Shona, I would like ye to meet Keira Elliott, Lady Blythe.”

Lady Blythe? Certainly, there were other ways he could’ve properly introduced Keira. That was not all he had, was it?

“Lady Blythe? Ye took a castle that still had a leader?” Shona sputtered, her confused eyes darting between Keira and Evander.

“Aye, that he did,” Keira confirmed.

Evander narrowed his eyes at her. She was doing this intentionally, and from the look on her face, she was greatly enjoying it.

“Please, I would like to welcome ye to Blythe Castle. Any family of Evander’s is a family of mine,” Keira added.

Evander went still. What was she saying?

“Keira, this is Shona, and that is her son, Tommy. Shona is the Lady of Clan Kincaid.”

Something about the way he said that seemed to echo through the dining hall for longer than necessary.

Keira stiffened. So she was right, after all. He did have a wife. A breathtakingly gorgeous one at that— and a son.

“It is an honor to meet ye, Lady Kincaid.”

“Nay. Please, call me Shona,” Shona offered, practically waving her off.

She remained motionless and continued to watch, wondering what was proper and how exactly she was supposed to deal with whatever this was.

“She’s quite humble, this one,” Evander remarked, flashing Keira a smirk.

“That is a quite handsome lad,” she commented, once she found her voice, turning to Tommy.

“Ah, well, he takes after his faither.” Shona smiled.

As if her words had opened the portal to some clarification, Keira began to see it.

Tommy had some of Evander’s features. His dark brown hair, his brown eyes, the way their noses both crinkled when they smiled.

Oh God.

Had she been a fool this entire time? Why would Evander kiss her if he already had a wife and son? Why would he do that to her?

She felt terrible, as if she had been ambushed and deliberately placed between a rock and a hard place. Her eyes darted to Evander, who had a slight grin on his face.

Shona and Tommy took their seats, and Keira watched as the maids began to serve them the food.

“I suppose the Laird already showed ye to yer rooms.”

“They should eat first; there is time for all of that,” Evander interjected.

Aye. There is time for all of that later in the day. But nae now, and certainly nae yet.

Her eyes darted to one of the maids serving the food anyway. She must not show weakness. Not now, and certainly not in front of him. For some reason, he didn’t seem to care that he had done something so incredibly sacrilegious.

“Ye.” She signaled to the maid, who jerked her head up almost immediately. “Show them to the guest rooms when they are ready. And help them unpack their trunks as well.”

The maid nodded fervently and returned to serving the food.

Keira cleared her throat. She was not going to wait any second longer to clear this up. She was going to do it now, once and for all.

She studied Evander for a while, her anger boiling beneath her skin. If she stayed in the dining hall for a second longer, forcing a smile at his wife and son, she may not be able to recover.

“May I talk to ye in the study, please?”

Evander looked up at her, a confused frown marring his face. “Uh… now?”

“Aye. Now.”

His eyes searched hers for a few seconds before he shrugged.

Keira turned on her heel and walked out of the dining hall, hearing his footsteps barely a few yards behind her.