Connor nodded. “It was quite wise of ye to choose an audience without the strength to escape.”
“He isdevelopingstrength,” Violet argued. “He stole me marker.”
Connor’s gaze lowered to the blue cloth in John’s hand. His humor softened at the edges. He did not ask about it. She was grateful and unsettled in the same breath.
At that moment, John made another small sound, and Connor’s attention fixed on him. Violet tightened her hold on the baby and looked back down at the book, though the words had ceased to mean anything.
John blinked at him, then kicked once beneath the blanket as if Connor had failed some private inspection.
“He likes ye,” Violet observed.
Connor looked at the baby with suspicion. “He has poor judgment.”
“He is an infant.”
“That is what I said.”
That surprised a laugh out of her before she could guard it.
Connor’s gaze flicked back to her for a moment, and the laugh turned awkward in her throat. She quickly looked down at John and adjusted the blanket that did not need adjusting.
Connor crossed to the chair beside the window and sat.
That unsettled her more than if he had remained standing. Standing would have made him a laird entering a room to inspect it. Sitting made him part of the quiet. He rested one forearm on his knee and offered John a finger with solemn care, as if conducting a grave negotiation.
John seized it.
Violet stared before she could help herself.
Connor’s hands were large, blunt, and capable in ways she understood too well. She had seen them hold a sword. She hadfelt them on her waist, her sleeve, her hair. Yet with John, the strength softened. His fingers stayed still, allowing the baby to grip them easily. Even his shoulders relaxed by a fraction, though his face remained stern enough to frighten a lesser child.
John gurgled.
“Aye,” Connor murmured. “I ken. Women laugh when they should take warnings seriously.”
Violet narrowed her eyes. “I am right here.”
“I noticed.”
“Oh, I am sure ye did.”
Connor’s mouth twitched faintly. “He will be trouble.”
“He will becurious,” Violet corrected. “That is a good thing.”
“Curious lads climb walls, break windows, and test orders to see if the people around them will punish them for it.”
Violet shifted in her seat, managing to contain a small smile. “Well,meparents were thrilled with two curious daughters.”
Connor looked at her. “Were they?”
“Aye.”
“Then they were brave people.”
She shook her head. “Nay, they werelovingpeople.”
Connor shrugged. “I suppose that is something I was missing. Ye see, in me home, without a system, war erupted.”
