Page 24 of My Notorious Highlander

"We took her back to my aunt's home where she awakened for a short time and told us who'd done this to her," he continued. "We also found a button from the bastard's doublet there in the wood with her, carved with the Keith crest. How I wish I'd come a day earlier so I could've stopped them," Torrin growled through clenched teeth. "I would've torn them limb from limb."

When she imagined the pain and terror his sister must have endured, tears filled Jessie's eyes. And to see his raw pain clawed at her own emotions.

"I am sorry. I didn't know," she whispered.

"Nay. How could you?" he asked in a calmer tone. "I didn't want to kill him. 'Twas what had to be done. The clan and my father expected it. Demanded it. As the future chief, I felt it was my responsibility. Sometimes the only law or justice in the Highlands is our own. If we'd taken it to the authorities, 'twould have been a dead woman's word against the Keith chief's son. Who do you think they would've believed?"

Jessie nodded, knowing that without a living witness to the crime, Lyall would've likely gotten away with the murder. But clans didn't allow such injustice. They took the law and revenge into their own hands. An eye for an eye.

"As I'm sure you recall, we had a skirmish," Torrin said. "He had a weapon and 'twas a fair fight. I'm not to blame for him being a bad swordsman."

Jessie wiped at her eyes. "You're right." Still, she couldn't fathom Lyall doing something so brutal as raping and killing a young woman. Jessie hadn't known him at all.

"Where were you?" Torrin asked.

"In the oak tree. I was fond of climbing trees."

His expression lightened. "How old were you then?"

Her face heated. "Sixteen." Too old to be climbing trees, but she loved them so much she did it anyway.

He gave a curious frown. "You didn't report us?"

"I didn't know who you were. I told them what you looked like but I didn't know which clan you were from."

"Well, we were careful to hide our identities and our trail. Will you report us now?"

"Nay." She knew the answer without thinking about it. "If Lyall truly did what you said, then he got no worse than he deserved."

Torrin's gaze lit on her again with penetrating realization. "That's why you've been terrified of me the entire time. You thought I murdered your innocent foster brother."

She nodded.

"What do you think now?" he asked.

"I'm not certain."

"Do you believe me?"

Jessie gazed deeply into his eyes as if looking into his soul, and Torrin loved the sensation of it. Her blue eyes were much softer now, and damned if he didn't want to grab her and kiss her. But he must not. He'd had no inkling that anyone, aside from his own clansmen, had been witness to what he felt was justice being served. Certainly, he couldn't have simply let his sister's murderer go unpunished and free to kill others. And it wasn't just the murder, but also the vicious rape and torturous beating he'd given her. No woman should ever be treated in such a way, certainly not his innocent young sister.

"How old was she?" Jessie asked.

"Allina was seventeen summers. Very beautiful. All the lads were smitten with her." His eyes burned and he shook his head. "She was incredibly kind, loving, and helpful to everyone. She didn't deserve such a horrid end. I'll never understand why." Even his abusive father would not lay a hand on her.

Jessie bit her lip. The tears glistening in her eyes struck him on a deep level. She was a compassionate person, and she understood how he felt. He'd never wanted to hold her as badly as he did right now. But he couldn't. 'Twas too soon. She must trust him first.

"I cannot fathom Fate, or why God would allow such suffering and injustice," he said.

"None of us do," she whispered. "But I can understand why you did it. I know if someone were to murder Aiden or Dirk, I'd want to kill them, too. I'm not saying I would but…"

He nodded. Though he often saw her as a warrior princess, he now knew she was too compassionate to kill anyone, unless forced to, and he loved that about her. "For men, 'tis often different, especially for those of us who have been in battles," he said. "Usually 'tis a case of kill or be killed, you ken? Those are the choices."

"Indeed."

"I hope you won't hold it against me any longer."

She shook her head, but he still saw the uncertainty in her eyes. 'Twould take time to build trust, especially after what she'd believed about him. He could be patient and prove he was truthful and honorable. And he would start with how he dealt with his new enemy.