Page 91 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

The fact was that hewasa monster. Twice he had killed for Skye, striking down men in front of her without a second thought. She had flinched back in fear one of those times.

How could she love him?

He was not capable of giving her love. If things were different, perhaps he could give her the love she deserved, but it was not possible. Not now.

Stephen fell into step with him. “When yer maither discovers what ye have done, she will be cross with ye.”

“I will deal with me maither.”

“And Lily?”

“She is young,” Dougal reminded him. “Children bounce back from much worse.”

“Aye, Lily is a tough lassie, but do ye really want to break her heart, when ye can prevent it simply by?—”

“Stephen,” Dougal warned, “ye are me friend, so I will give ye one last warning. I willnae speak on this subject anymore. If ye want to speak to me, it will be about the peace treaty we need to finalize and nothing more.”

“Fine.” Stephen’s shoulders dropped in resignation. For what it’s worth, I trust ye ken what ye’re doing, even if I daenae understand it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Dougal tried to imagine how his mother would react. She was not going to be pleased with his decision to send Skye away. She had made more than one comment about him letting her stay after the month was over. She was convinced they would fall in love and he would come to his senses.

But he was going to do nothing of the sort. He couldn’t allow Skye to stay because he could not give her what she wanted. All he could do was send her back with her sister. In time, she would forget him. Perhaps they could remain friends. Lily would hate to never see Skye again.

But that was neither here nor there. For now, Dougal had to send her away for both of their sakes. It didn’t matter if she cried or pleaded with him to let her stay.

Dougal stood at the window long after the music had faded behind him, watching his own reflection waver in the dark glass, half a man and half a shadow, same as he’d been for seven years.

He had already sent for Skye. He wasn’t certain, even now, what he would say once she arrived.

The knock sounded softer than he had expected. He had to strain his ears to hear it. It seemed Skye was also apprehensive, unsure of what she would find when she walked through the door.

Something twisted in the pit of his stomach, something resembling guilt. He rarely felt guilt. He had felt it only a handful of times, and tonight was one of them.

He was going to break Skye’s heart under the guise of doing what was best for her. She would protest, telling him that she knew what was best, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. Not at all.

“Ye asked to see me.”

He didn’t turn at first. He couldn’t, if he was being honest with himself, not until he had schooled his features into something that wouldn’t give away how badly his chest had tightened at the mere sound of her voice.

“Aye.” His voice came out rougher than he had intended. “I’ve been thinking since I rode home tonight. About the month. About what’s meant to come after it.”

Skye relaxed for only a moment until she saw the expression on the visible part of his face. She suspected already, which was not a surprise. The lass had always been perceptive. Perhaps too perceptive, which was how she had managed to get so close to him despite his best efforts to keep her at a distance.

“What about it?” she asked.

She had stayed near the door. He could hear it in her voice, low and cautious, unwilling to close the distance between them until she understood what she was walking into.

Smart lass.

She’d always been smarter than he gave her credit for.

“I think ye should return home sooner than we agreed on. Tomorrow, perhaps, with yer sister, before the roads turn worse with the season,” he said, finally turning around.

Skye tensed, just as he had expected. She blinked rapidly, but there were no tears in her eyes. He didn’t know how he would handle it if she started to cry. A woman's tears always had a way of wrapping around his heart and squeezing it.

“Why?” Her voice was thin, uncertain in a way that cut him more than he cared to admit. “I thought now that everything’s resolved with Angus, with… It makes no sense. Why do ye want me to leave, when everything has been resolved and Lily is safe and sound?”