Terror pooled in her belly, leaving her feeling hollow as she turned to look at Arthur.
Her family, Ayla, and Amara had filed in behind him. Each one of them was wearing matching expressions of concern.
“I ken who he is,” Marissa said, her voice shaking and filled with terror. “I ken who tried to kill me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Who?” Arthur barked as he rushed forward, the word coming out much more forcefully than he had intended.
When he reached Marissa, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders. She was trembling like a leaf, her eyes wide with panic as they settled on him.
“He’s one of Eric’s men,” she explained.
“Are ye certain?” Freya asked, appearing at their side a moment later.
Marissa’s haunted eyes flicked to her sister as she gave her a shaky nod.
“It doesnae make sense,” Freya murmured. “Why would Eric want to kill ye? I thought he’d stopped tryin’ to pursue ye years ago?”
At the mention of a man pursuing her, Arthur pieced together who it was they were talking about.
“This Eric,” he began. “He was the one who stalked ye?”
Marissa turned her gaze back on him. A muscle ticked in her jaw as she nodded.
“Why would he send someone to kill ye if he kens ye were gettin’ married? Especially after he stopped pursuin’ ye?” Michael asked.
The question was directed at Marissa, but it wasn’t her who answered. Instead, it was Abigail’s voice, ringing loud and clear from the corridor behind them.
“Because he didnae stop pursuin’ her,” she said.
Footsteps echoed off the stone walls as she came to stand next to them. She was staring at Marissa, who seemed to be intent on not looking in her sister’s direction.
“Did he, Marissa?” Abigail pressed, her eyes flinty as she regarded her. “Do ye want to tell them now? To tell them how even when news spread about…” She paused for a moment, and a panicked look crossed Marissa’s face.
Does she ken about the farce? Does she ken that Marissa thought she’d made me up?
If she did, then Arthur could understand Marissa’s panic. They weren’t married yet. If the rest of her family found out, there was every possibility they would withdraw their support, which he knew would devastate her.
Thankfully, Abigail soldiered on, her gaze flickering pointedly to him.
“When news spread about yer courting,” she continued, “he didnae stop. He kept sendin’ ye letters and gifts, tellin’ ye that he would follow ye to the ends of the earth if that was what it took.”
“What do ye mean?” Freya asked, her voice waspish and filled with disbelief. “Ye told us that he’d stopped, that he had transferred his affections elsewhere.”
“I’m sorry that I lied,” Marissa stammered. “But things with Arthur were so new.”
Abigail snorted a laugh, confirming what Arthur had suspected—she knew about the farce. But Marissa ignored her entirely, continuing to address Freya.
“I didnae want to worry ye,” she explained. “So when his letters and gifts didnae cease after one year, I sent him one in return. I told him about the Laird I planned on marryin’. And I thought that would be enough. But the letters kept comin’.”
“Is that why ye always insisted that I be with ye when ye went to the market?” Cody asked, suddenly incredulous.
Marissa’s cheeks turned pink as she nodded. “I didnae want to go alone,” she mumbled, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “Some of his letters proved that he was watchin’ me. He would mention that he saw me at the market, that he saw me sendin’ letters. So, I kenned that if ye were with me, he wouldnae act.”
Freya’s eyebrows knitted together in concern, a hurt look flashing across her face.
“But why did ye nae tell us?” she asked. “Why did ye let us believe that he’d stopped or simply grown bored?”
