“Only scratched the surface, I imagine, though time will tell the rest.”
“I’m not a thug,” Oliver said lightly.
“Never said you were, not that it matters what I think. Didn’t Robert Cameron have you investigated before he hired you?”
Oliver didn’t particularly care to remember that meeting with his potential employer when Cameron had gone over a private investigator’s findings with Oliver sitting in front of him, but there were also things about his past he didn’t particularly care to remember. He would credit Cameron with skipping over his family situation at least, which he had appreciated. He looked at Patrick and nodded.
“If you think he wasn’t satisfied with that piece of nosiness, then you obviously don’t understand why he continues to allow you near anything he loves.”
“I’m loyal,” Oliver managed. “And discreet.”
“And you have a tolerable right hook.” Patrick touched the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. “My wife won’t appreciate this.”
Oliver would have smiled if he’d been able to breathe a bit better. “I’ll look for somewhere to hide.”
“I might hide with you,” Patrick said with a snort. “I was, if you can believe it, warned to be gentle with you.”
“By whom?” Oliver asked in surprise.
“Madelyn, of course. Over a leisurely and delicious breakfast this morning, my beloved wife said, and I quote: ‘Sunny and I are related to Oliver somewhere back in time, so we’ve decided to claim him as a little brother. Don’t hurt him.’”
Oliver did smile then. “She might be offended you didn’t listen to her.”
“She might well be.” He stretched, then winced. “I think you may have given me a single bruise, damn ye.”
“My apologies.”
“Don’t make me work so hard next time,” Patrick grumbled.
“Of course, my lord.”
He studied Oliver for a moment or two. “Want to talk about where you were last night?”
Oliver shivered in spite of himself. “I’m not sure where to begin.”
“The date?”
“Late 16th century,” Oliver said. “Or thereabouts.”
“Jamie will want all the particulars, of course, but I’m only interested in how you kept yourself alive. What did you tell them?”
“That I’d been robbed and abandoned by my friends,” Oliver said darkly, “but that I brought greetings from those in power in Edinburgh.”
Patrick laughed a little. “Clever, but have you everbeento Edinburgh?”
Oliver looked at him unflinchingly. “Boarding school, but didn’t you already know that?”
He shrugged. “Ferreting out those sorts of details is my brother-in-law Alex’s purview, not mine. All I know is Cameron trusts you and my brother has the same level of confidence in you or he never would have taken you on any of his insane gallops through time.”
“I appreciate that.”
Patrick slid him a look. “I’m still taking your measure before I claim you as kin.”
“I understand, my lord.”
Patrick rolled his eyes. “A younger brother. What the hell am I going to do with one ofthose?”
“Not slit the poor lad’s throatmight be something to consider.”
