Sin looks up from his computer when I stop in the doorway, and he motions for me to enter. “Come in.”
I enter the office and sit in the chair across from him. “Whatever this is about, it must be serious if you’re asking me to your office.”
“A bit of business, a bit of personal. Something that must be settled once and for all.”
Sounds serious. “All right. Let me have it.”
“Kieran’s brother Maddock came to see me today. He’s decided that it’s time for him to marry, but he isn’t interested in any of the women from within The Order. He has asked to take a Fellowship woman as his wife.”
“Is he suggesting a third treaty marriage?” I’m not a part of leadership and maybe that’s why I don’t see the point in another since we already have two in place.
“No treaty. It would be an ordinary marriage.”
“I’m honored that you’d want to discuss this with me, but shouldn’t you be deliberating this matter with the council instead?” I’m sure they could offer much more insight into the topic.
“I will, but I wanted to come to you first.” I know the words he’s going to say before they leave his mouth. “He has expressed interest in Lorna.”
Somehow, I fucking knew that was coming.
I want to punch something. Maddock Hendry. “No.”
“Leith…”
“He can’t have her.” Not when things are finally going in the right direction for us.
Maddock would be an advantageous match for Lorna. He’s in a leadership position within The Order. She would gain station by marrying him. I should be happy that she has a chance at an easier life, but I won’t give her up. Even if that makes me a selfish bastard, I can’t let him have her.
Sin’s fingers tap against his desk and he sighs. “I need you to understand the position that I’m in as leader. It is my responsibility to find a good mate for Lorna. I can’t keep turning away suitors because you don’t want anyone else to have her. That’s not fair to her; she’s been wanting a husband and family for a long time. And she deserves that.”
“I want to be her husband.”
“That’s going to be difficult to pull off when she won’t even stay in the same room with you.”
“Our relationship has been rocky. Nothing has gone our way these last few years, but things between us feel like they’re finally changing. I can convince her. I know that I can. I just need a little more time.”
“You’ve had years to make a marriage happen, but you’ve only managed to drive her further away. What has changed?”
Everything.
“It’s taken a year but she can finally have a normal conversation with me that doesn’t end in her running away. It’s a baby step, and we have a long way to go, but we’re making progress.”
“The Order is our alliance now. I can’t say no to Maddock Hendry without good reason.”
“Please, Sin. Find a way to buy a little time for me.”
“You are my best mate, and it pains me to say this, but I’m not certain that you are what is best for Lorna. So much has happened between the two of you. I’m not sure that your relationship can ever come back from the place that it has gone.”
My first instinct is to lash out at Sin. Remind him that Lorna and I were in love. I was ready to claim her and had every intention of doing so until he ruined it.
And then I remember a year ago when he tried to make things right between Lorna and me. I fucked that up—me—and I have no one to blame but myself.
“No one will ever love Lorna the way that I do. And I’m going to win her back.”
“I can’t reject Maddock’s request to see Lorna unless you’re able to give me a legitimate reason to do so.”
Legitimate reason: marriage.
Lorna Frazier Duncan. I want that more than I want my next breath, but she and I aren’t in that place yet. It’s going to take time to get there, and I can’t risk losing her because I push too hard, too fast. I have to romance her. Make her remember how good we were together.
Make her fall in love with me again.
“Come on, Sin. Don’t do this to me. You know how much I love her, but I can’t ask her to marry me right now. She isn’t ready.”
“Then make her ready.”
No one knows Lorna the way that I do. A marriage proposal after only one good interaction would come off as forced in her eyes. It would ruin everything that I’m working so hard to accomplish with her.
The troubled look on Sin’s face tells me what happens next. “You’re going to disregard my request for more time and make arrangements for her to see him?”
“I have to, Leith. You’ve given me no other choice.”
Fuck.
I can’t fucking win. “I’ve been fighting an uphill battle for her for so long and now this guy, without any kind of baggage at all, is going to step in and battle for her. How am I supposed to compete with that?”
“You have an ugly past with Lorna, but you also have a lot of great memories. You’ve known her your entire life. Don’t minimize the value of the history you have with her.”
Maddock is a stranger to her. Maybe that could play to my advantage.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear this tonight.” I suppose it’s exactly what I deserve for the way I’ve treated Lorna. I have no one to blame but myself.
“If you and Lorna belong together, it will work out despite all of the obstacles in your way. Same as with Bleu and me.”
At least no one is trying to kill Lorna.
“We belong together.”
“Then fight for her.”
“I am.” I’ll never stop fighting for Lorna. For us. For our future. For our family. “But I may need a wee bit of help with that from your wife.”
“Bleu is eager to help.”
Bleu’s a good friend. She’ll never know how grateful I am for her support of our relationship. A lot of people would have advised Lorna to turn her back on me and move on.
“I also need help from you.”
I don’t like asking for Sin’s help with Meyrick. I’d rather take care of the situation myself by beating the fucker to within an inch of his life, but The Fellowship would look down upon my taking matters into my own hands with the brotherhood’s number-one accountant.
“Lorna is working as a nanny for Wallace and Rona Meyrick. You can probably guess that I don’t like it worth a fuck. You and I both know what a dick he is to women. It’s only a matter of time before he does something to Lorna.”
“She no longer works for Wallace Meyrick.”
That’s news to me. Lorna was adamant a week ago about remaining in her position as the Meyrick nanny. That can only mean one thing. “What did he do to her?”
“Lorna asked me to not tell you, and I’ve done as she asked for a week, but you’re here now. I see no point in keeping it from you any longer because you’re going to take one look at her tonight and see that something happened.”
Fuck, I feel sick. “What did he do to her?” I repeat.
“Wallace assaulted Lorna on Friday night. He went into her room and tried to rape her.”
Tried. That means that he wasn’t successful. “Fuck! I knew I shouldn’t have taken her to his house. Is she okay?”
“She’s okay. Luckily, she had gotten up during the night with the baby and had brought him to her bed. That’s probably the only thing that kept Wallace from finishing what he had intended to do to her. Well, that and the defense skills that Bleu and Debra taught her. She did a great job of fighting him off.”
Thank God Bleu insisted on teaching self-defense to the women.
“Lorna came to you for help.” Not me. And after I asked her to go to Thane instead of Sin. But the real kick in the balls is that she asked Sin to keep this from me.
That stings.
“She didn’t come to me for help. She went to Dad and asked him to handle it quietly; she doesn’t want anyone to know what happened.”
Becaus
e she doesn’t want her virtue questioned. And she knows that there will be speculation once it’s known that Wallace was in her bedroom.
“I want to kill him for putting his hands on her.” If she were my wife, I would be granted the right to do with him as I wish.
“I hate what he did to her, but you can’t touch him.”
Actually, I can. “It would be worth facing penance.”
“Lorna doesn’t want that for you. That’s why she went to Dad and asked him to handle it quietly.”
“It’s already been handled?”
“Wallace faced penance four days ago.”
“Who was the punisher?”
“Sangster. He’s the only one I’d trust to give a beating that he’ll never forget. He’ll be recovering for a while.”
“Good.” Sangster is merciless. That crazy fucker gets off on inflicting pain.
“You said that I would see Lorna tonight?”
“Aye, she’s staying with us for a while.”
Because she no longer has a home. She gave up her flat for that live-in nanny job. “I need to see her.” Now. Sin can tell me that she’s all right, but it’s something I have to see for myself.
“No worries. You will.” Sin gets up from his desk. “I’m starving. Let’s go check on dinner.”
“One more thing before we go: have you told her about Maddock?”
Sin nods. “I had to, Leith.”
Fuck, I wish Sin had spoken to me first. I feel as though I’ve just fallen behind.
“What did she say?”
“She asked when she’d have to go.”
“She didn’t refuse.” Fuck.
“Only because Lorna is an obedient Fellowship woman who doesn’t question authority. She respects it.”
No truer words have ever been spoken.
“Did she seem unhappy about it?”
“Very.”
“Well, there’s that, I guess.”
“You haven’t lost her. You know what you have to do.”
I know exactly what I must do. I just don’t know if I have enough time to do it.
My strategy for winning Lorna’s heart just took a detour.
Chapter 4
Lorna Frazier
“Shite, shite, shite.”
I drop the hot dish on the countertop with a thud and dash for the kitchen sink, running cool water over the searing pain on my skin.
Bleu rushes over to me. “Are you all right?”
“That burned like mother but I’m okay.”
“You need to calm down. Take a cleansing breath. In and out,” Bleu says.
I do as she instructs, but it doesn’t help to calm my nerves. “I’m so stupid. I shouldn’t have cooked this.”
“Yes, you should have. This meal smells delicious.”
The taste is not what I’m talking about. “Leith is going to know that I’m cooking stovies especially for him.”
“How could he possibly know that?”
“This is Leith’s favorite meal. His mum’s recipe.”
Our mothers were best friends. I was the closest thing that Leith’s mum had to a daughter, and after my mum was killed, she took me under her wing and began teaching me how to cook. I love her like my own mother, and despite the problems that Leith and I have had, our differences have never affected my relationship with Jenny.
“Leith is going to love this.”
“It’s just so obvious that I’ve cooked his mum’s recipe for him. I feel silly.”
“You shouldn’t. This is a very thoughtful thing to do, and he’s going to love it.”
“Well, it’s too late to back out now. I don’t have time to cook anything else.” I’m fully committed whether I want to be or not.
Sin comes in and chases the babies, taking them to their seats while Bleu helps me prepare our plates. I don’t know how the two of them manage with three wee ones going in three different directions all at the same time. It must be maddening. But it’s a madness that I’d happily love to share with Leith one day.
I inhale deeply and exhale slowly through pursed lips, trying to calm my nerves.
“Stop worrying and enjoy this time with him,” Bleu whispers as we’re carrying the dinner plates to the dining room.
I smile when my eyes meet Leith’s. It’s like an automatic physical response that I couldn’t stop if I tried. “Hi.”
He sits taller in his chair. “How are you?”
“I’m all right.” Much better now that I’m seeing you again.
Leith’s smile fades, and I know it’s because he’s noticed what remains of the bruise on my face. I tried to cover it with makeup, but no amount of concealer is going to hide what Wallace did to my face when he punched me.
I sit beside Leith and lower my head, hoping that my hair will fall forward and hide the ugly mark on my face. And I think that it does, but it’s too late.
Leith reaches over and places his hand beneath my chin, forcing my face to turn in his direction. “What the hell is that?”
I reach up and cover my cheek. “It’s just a bruise, Leith. I’m okay.”
He bites his lower lip and his nostrils flare while he shakes his head. “That… mother… fucker.” He mutters something else beneath his breath, but I can’t make it out. And I don’t want to.
“Calm down, Leith.” Sin’s voice has a hard edge to it. “Wallace got what was coming to him plus some. You can take comfort in that.”
“It’s impossible to take comfort in anything while her face looks like that.”
I lower my head, forcing my curtain of hair to cover my cheek again. This mark isn’t what I want him to see when he looks at me.
“Has Jamie looked at that?”
“Yes. It looks worse than it really is. The discoloration will be gone in another week or so.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have taken you somewhere safe. Instead, I delivered you to that bastard’s house.”
“He was drunk. There was no way to predict what he’d do. He could have just as easily come home and passed out. You had no way of knowing.”
“I should have protected you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
I don’t want this to overshadow our time together tonight. “Can we not talk about it right now?”
“Lorna worked hard to prepare dinner. How about we enjoy it while it’s hot and this can be a conversation to be continued after dinner between the two of you in private?” Thank you, Bleu.
Leith looks at his plate and clears his throat. “You made Mum’s stovies?”
“I did.”
“You know how?” His voice has softened. The anger that was there only a few seconds ago is gone.
“Jenny’s been teaching me to cook.” And giving me words of advice.
Lorna, I know that you and Leith are going through a bit of a rough patch, but it will pass. You are destined to be his wife. I truly believe it with all of my heart. And that means you have no choice but to learn how to cook your husband’s favorite meal.
“This is my first time to cook it on my own.” I’m so nervous about what he’s going to think.
Leith takes a bite and closes his eyes, nodding. “Mmm… so good. Tastes just like Mum’s.”
My body relaxes a bit after hearing his approval. “I’m happy you think so. I know how much you love her version.”
Leith looks at me before taking a second bite. “This was unexpected… and very appreciated. Thank you.”
“I was happy to do it.” And I want to do it more. A lot more.
I’m thrilled as I watch Leith devour every bite on his plate. I may even mentally pat myself on the back when he asks for a second portion. And I may even gloat a little on the inside when he leans back in his chair and rubs his stomach.
“I enjoyed that so much. It was amazing.”
“Jenny has taught me how to cook a lot of things.” You don’t know it, but she’s been grooming me for a while to become your wife.
“When d
id she teach you all of this?”
“We have a lesson every week or two.” It’s been hell trying to dodge Leith at her house.
“You see her that often?”
“I don’t go more than three days without visiting.” Jenny would be very upset with me if I didn’t go see her.
A crease forms across Leith’s brow. “I had no idea.”
Is he upset that I’ve been visiting Jenny without his knowledge? “Is something wrong?”
“No. I think it’s nice that you see her so often. I just… I wish that I had been there.”
“Me too.” You don’t know how much.
Leith turns and looks me directly in the eye. “Would you take a walk with me?”
Bleu flicks her wrist over the mess on the table. “You cooked. I’ll clean. That’s how it works around here. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?” I feel bad about leaving her with a mess when I know she needs to bathe babies and get them down for bed.
But I want to take this walk with Leith. I want to hear everything he has to say to me.
“One of the beauties of stovies is that it’s an easy cleanup. I can have these dishes cleared and the kitchen cleaned in no time.” Bleu winks at me. “Go on. Get out of here.”
“All right then.” I turn around as I’m leaving the dining room and mouth, “Thank you.”
Leith gestures for me to walk out of the door ahead of him, but he makes a point to step around me, placing himself on my right side. “You don’t have to do that anymore. We have an alliance with The Order in case you’ve forgotten.”
“There are always other dangers lurking out there. I can better protect you if you’re to my left.” Even if unnecessary, his gallantry is still swoon-worthy. Because that’s what a Fellowship man is taught to do for his woman.
“I hope that I don’t need protecting.”
“Unfortunately, you needed protection before tonight and I wasn’t there to give it.” He reaches over and pushes my hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “You’ve hidden behind that too much tonight.”
“Only because I can see how angry you become when you look at the bruise on my face.”
Complete Sin Box Set Page 116
