The sadness clinging to Lavina was intolerable. He had to rid her of it.
“Nothing,” she answered, wiping her tears away. “I’m just really grateful for everything ye’ve done. Nae just for me and Maisie, but for Amber and the whole clan. Takin’ out Micah couldnae have been an easy task.”
“It was the only way to keep me word to ye. He couldnae be allowed to live. If ye were to ask me to do it again, I would. Ye’re me family now, Lavina. Ye and Maisie. I swore I’d care for ye, and I have. Yer sister is free from Micah. As are ye.”
“There’s nothing I could do to repay ye for what ye’ve done,” she said.
“Ye can keep yer word,” Theo answered, fighting back the three words he knew she wanted to hear.
It wasn’t the time. He wouldn’t tell her, not until it came out in a flurry of emotion. Not when she was in tears and he was barely clinging to life.
Lavina bobbed her head and smiled at him. “I will do what I can, Me Laird.”
He smiled back, and his heart swelled to three times its size.
This was what he had been missing his whole life. And as Lavina rested on the edge of the bed beside him, he looked down at Amber.
This was his family to protect, and protect he had and would continue to for as long as he drew breath.
EPILOGUE
TWO WEEKS LATER…
“’Tis nae that much further,” Theo whispered in Lavina’s ear, sending delicious shivers through her.
His new game was doing more than exciting her; it was eliciting new sensations she wanted time to explore further.
“And just where are ye takin’ me? I feel as if we’ve walked all the way to Edinburgh,” Lavina teased, tugging on his hand.
“Well, now ye’ve done it. Might as well take it off; the whole thing is ruined. Ye found me out. I brought ye to the end of the country in a matter of minutes.”
Lavina slapped his hand, which was still planted firmly on her shoulder, guiding her to their final destination.
Her heart fluttered with anticipation.
She had heard rumors floating about the keep that Theo had made an adjustment to the renovations, one that was certain to please her. She chewed on her lower lip as ideas flashed through her mind as fast and as furiously as lightning bugs mating in the spring.
“I wasnae bein’ serious,” Theo huffed when she tried to remove the blindfold. She knew he wouldn’t let her, but the fact that she tried was certain to entice him. “Ye want me to give ye another surprise?”
“Aye,” she answered coyly.
“Then ye’ll stop bein’ a nuisance and let me enjoy this moment. ‘Tis nae every day that a man can give his wife the best gift ever,” Theo said, his voice laced with pride.
“And here I thought ye said this was for me,” Lavina muttered, just as he steered her slightly to the left.
She wished more than anything that she could see where they were going. But she couldn’t deny that it was that very uncertainty that made the moment so much fun.
“Alright. Now, before ye remove the blindfold, ye’ve got to promise me that ye’ll nae say anything bad,” Theo demanded. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Well, that’s nae very fair. What if it’s the most god-awful thing I’ve ever seen? I’m nae goin’ to tell ye it’s the best. That wouldnae be honest.”
“Fine, but ye have to promise to use it at least once a week,” Theo insisted, piquing her interest further.
If he was giving her clues as to what her surprise was, he wasn’t doing a very good job at it. Nothing he said gave her any hints or confirmation about what she was about to walk into.
“Alright, ye can remove the blindfold,” he said.
Hesitating for a moment, Lavina reached for the thin strip of fabric that had been a torture device since the moment Theo had put it on, and pulled it down. She blinked the darkness and spots from her vision.
