Page 21 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander (Falling for Highland Villains #5)

CHAPTER 21

“That is Gavin Lloyd,” Brodrick explained.

Ava narrowed her eyes at him when he did not elaborate.

“He’s Davina’s braither.”

“Oh,” Ava murmured as his revelation sank in.

“Aye,” Brodrick sighed. “I suppose an invite was sent to him as well.”

“I suppose there’s bad blood between you two?” Ava asked.

Brodrick nodded. “He never stopped blamin’ me for Davina’s death. He thinks I had something to do with it. Certainly, I have managed to avoid him over the past few years, but sometimes ye organize a cèilidh and have to face people ye dinnae want to face.”

Ava nodded. “Good luck. It does sound like you’ll need a lot of it.”

Brodrick executed a brief bow and turned around, making his way out the door and towards the Great Hall. He adjusted his tartan once he stepped out of the room, taking a few minutes to take some deep, steadying breaths. He was going to need all the energy he could gather if he was to deal with Gavin Lloyd.

* * *

For most of the next day, Ava did not see Brodrick. He was either too busy studying war plans or discussing with his men. It did make sense that as the cèilidh reached its peak, he would be busy with other things, so she did not bother trying to get his attention. She had more things to focus on anyway. Like in this instant, as Flora and the maids were showing her the dress that had been designed for her.

“I still do not think it is the best idea to attend.”

“’Tis just dinner. Ye have done dinner before, have ye nae?” Flora asked.

Ava shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Plus, Margaret will want ye there. Ye dinnae want to disappoint the wee girl now, do ye?”

Ava swallowed, feeling cornered. “I do not.”

The dress before her was a bright green piece embroidered with gold thread and adorned with intricate lace around the bodice. It looked extraordinarily breathtaking, particularly in the sun.

“So, how was it?” Flora’s voice pierced through her thoughts, shaking her out of the reverie that staring at the dress had momentarily sucked her into.

“I’m sorry?”

“The dance with me braither. How was it?”

“Oh…” Ava trailed off as she felt heat crawl up her cheeks.

The dance.

For a brief moment, she could vividly see it in her mind’s eye. Her hands pinned against the wall. Brodrick kissing her passionately and grinding his manhood against her. The feel of his fingers inside her?—

“Ava!” Flora called again, jerking her out of the memory, thank heavens.

“Uh. Yes. The dance went quite well.”

Ava could feel Flora’s gaze on her. Has she caught on? Was she about to say something that would prove that?—

“’Tis just dinner, Ava. Nay one’s goin’ to kill ye at the table.”

“It’s just dinner,” Ava whispered to herself as she rose from her side of the bed and walked over to the dresser.

She took off her dress, and the maids began to put the new one on her.

She watched them work, transforming one minute after the other into a breathtaking woman. The dress brought out the green flecks in her eyes. She loved it, and she wished she could wear it forever and ever. Even as a string of pearls was placed around her neck, she couldn’t take her eyes off the dress.

“You have outdone yourself with this one, Flora,” she said once the maids finished readying her.

Flora laughed in gratitude.

* * *

Dinners like this were usually long and tiring affairs. Brodrick remained seated at the head of the large table in the dining hall, entertaining his guests. If he was being more accurate, he was only tolerating them and letting Flora do all the talking.

He chewed his wild berries ever so slowly as the conversation around him droned on and on. Men on both sides of the table discussed with each other everything from the year’s harvest, to the hunt, to the need for housing equipment, and the more they spoke, the harder it was to resist the urge to get up and leave. He was about to fully give in to the temptation when he saw her appear.

Ava stepped into the dining hall, one hand placed over the other. She looked spectacular in green, and at that moment, the world seemed to completely stop. Brodrick couldn’t tell if he was imagining it, but the men all ceased talking at once. Even Laird MacMungo, who sat a few chairs down from him.

“Good Lord,” he heard someone say.

He turned in the direction of the voice. It was one of his council members, Blake Mason, a grey-haired man in his late fifties.

Good Lord is damn right.

The murmurs began to grow again as Ava moved closer to the table, the confusion in her eyes plain. She walked past the chairs around the table until she found an empty one… right next to Laird MacMungo. Brodrick wanted to reach for her. He wanted to grab her, kiss her in front of everyone, and leave the dining hall with her.

It took him an embarrassingly long moment to realize that Margaret had come in with her and stuck closely to her side.

Ava tried to get Margaret to go sit at the other side of the table, but the girl refused. Brodrick noticed the tense look on his daughter’s face. There was something—or someone—at the table that scared her.

And he couldn’t wait to find out.

The lairds sitting around the table continued to profusely compliment Ava and her dress. Laird MacMungo rose from his chair and moved a few seats down, allowing Margaret to take his place beside Ava.

Ava’s eyes flicked to him, a shy smile on her face. He returned her smile—the first he had given in quite a long time.

“The lost princess of the castle returns.” Blake Mason was the first to speak, acknowledging Margaret’s presence. “To the princess.” He raised his cup.

Every other person at the table followed suit, all raising their cups as well.

“She looks just like her maither,” Laird MacMungo remarked, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Ye must be the governess who found her. We have heard quite a lot about ye,” another councilman commented, his gaze fixed on Ava.

Ava nodded. “That is true.”

“Well, we have ye to thank for bringin’ her back home safe to us,” Blake Mason said.

“It is nothing.”

“They did say ye found her on the Scottish border,” another laird spoke up. “Ye look like a respectable Englishwoman. Why were ye at the border instead of in England, married like every other Englishwoman?”

Brodrick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He could see the discomfort on Ava’s face. His grip tightened on his fork.

“Ye dinnae need to answer that.” He said to her, his voice low but clear. Ava gave him a grateful nod and almost immediately, the conversation changed and moved away from her.

“Child,” Laird MacMungo said, looking at Margaret. “Do ye remember where she found ye?”

“Aye. It might help us trace whoever took her in the first place,” Blake Mason pressed, turning to look at Margaret.

Margaret leaned closer to Ava, reached for the folds of her skirt, and suddenly buried her face in them.

Ava exchanged confused glances with Brodrick.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him that his daughter looked extremely terrified. Was it the sight of all the lairds at the table? Were the questions too much for her? Was it something else? Something he was yet to understand? Something only Margaret could explain to him?

Ava cleared her throat and looked up at the other lairds, who were still waiting for an answer.

“Why don’t we just let her enjoy the dinner and the cèilidh? We do not have to bother a little girl with questions like this, do we?”

“But it is important for us to ken—” Laird MacMungo started, and Brodrick decided he’d had it.

“Since dinner is over,” he cut him off, “why don’t we all gather in the Great Hall and dance? ‘Tis a celebration, after all.”

Heavy silence swept across the table, almost immediately followed by brief murmurs.

“Now,” Brodrick added, doing his possible best to hide the impatience in his voice.

The murmurs grew louder, and soon all the guests rose from their chairs and, almost in a single file, made their way to the Great Hall, where the music and more chatter could be heard.

Ava threw a grateful glance at Brodrick, who only gave her a sharp nod in return. He rose as well and headed to the Great Hall, his thoughts drifting to the brief dance lesson he had given Ava the previous day. He wondered for a moment if she could hold her own today.

Well, they were about to find out.