Page 11 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

She could see the evidence of what they were reporting. Adair still looked ill, but he no longer looked as if he were on the verge of death. For so long, she had wanted this, but now she was afraid to believe it.

“Aye,” Bella confirmed with a small nod. She crossed the room, heading for the door. “I will be just outside if ye need anythin’.”

Without looking away from her brother’s face, Aurora came up to the side of the bed. Taking in the plush pillows that surrounded his head, she realized that this was an entirely different chamber from the first he had been staying in. Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes away from him to examine her surroundings.

Where the first room he had been recovering in felt like a temporary lodging, this one felt permanent. The furniture was finer, the kind that had likely been in the castle for a decade. The hearth was larger, and the shelves seemed to be better stocked with a larger variety of books, linens, and things that could be considered personal effects.

“It willnae be too much longer before he regains his strength,” Hendry said quietly.

For reasons she was not sure of, those words granted her the permission she needed to feel relief. Tears flooded her eyes as she sank into a chair that had been placed beside his bed, likely for this very purpose. She took hold of her brother’s little hand and rested her forehead on the mattress as she thanked every higher power that would listen.

“I have already ensured that the boy has been given Anderson protection,” Hendry continued when she lifted her head and dried her eyes. “To the outside world, the rightful heir of Clan MacGonagal nae longer exists. From this day forward, the child will live under the Anderson name until it is safe for him to reclaim his own.”

Aurora swallowed hard, squeezing Adair’s hand softly. Letting herself voice the fear that had been nagging at her the entire morning. “Me name is in the official records of the Scottish Managers now. I am nae longer invisible as I was before.”

“The contract will be seen by nay one else,” Hendry reassured her. “It isnae public record. Nay even the Managers will be readin’ it all that closely. Their only concern was me marital status, nae the identity of the woman that I was marryin’.”

She wrinkled her nose, reluctant to believe him. If something was written down, it was never truly private. No one would be guarding her secret with the fervor that she thought it deserved. All it would take was someone with a bit of determination to uncover the document.

“So ye can confirm that nay one kens the truth?” she asked. “Me secret is protected?”

An unreadable expression settled over his features. His brow furrowed, and his frown deepened. Then, his soft voice did nothing to soften the sharp blow; he admitted, “Only the few men who must protect the secret have been told.”

The fear that had been simmering at a negligible level boiled over rapidly. No longer was her identity under her control. She did not have the first idea of who he had informed, nor how trustworthy they were. It felt almost as if all of her suffering had been for nothing.

“That was nae yer information to spread,” she hissed, keeping her voice quiet so she would not disturb her brother’s rest.

I cannae hide any longer.

“We are set to be wed,” Hendry reminded her, unmoved by the accusation. “And ye are both under me protection. To keep ye safe from yer uncle, it is important to have allies. I willnae let him touch yer brother. I willnae let ye see another member of yer family dead.”

Aurora nearly flinched at the bluntness of his declaration. While she felt that she had had no choice but to tell him the entire truth, she had not expected that he would be… considerate about it.

“Nay one will reach the boy so long as I draw breath,” Hendry continued, the conviction in his voice so genuine that she had no choice but to believe him. He paused, waiting for her to meet his gaze once more. “Ye shouldnae challenge me on this again.”

Keeping her mouth closed, she nodded. When she could not bear the intensity of the eye contact, she returned her gaze to Adair’s sleeping face. His eyelashes fluttered, but he did not wake.

She trusted that Hendry meant what he said. He had been nothing but a man of his word so far and had given her no reason to doubt his intentions. She was more worried about her uncle and what he might do to Clan Anderson if he discovered their whereabouts.

She and her brother were no strangers to fleeing villages before they stayed long enough to become recognizable. It had been so long since she had stood in one place for more than a few days, and she was not sure she remembered how to do it. Especially not with the threat of her uncle breathing down her neck.

* * *

“Ye still daenae believe me,” Hendry grunted when he saw the hesitation flash over her features.

Aurora made a soft, resigned noise, seemingly refusing to look at him. “Nay, I believe ye.” Her hand tightened around her brother’s hand for a moment before she let go. “I just ken that this could be the end of all three of us.”

When she stood, moving toward the window, he followed her. For reasons he could not quite explain, he needed her to accept that she and the boy were safe here. Of course, part of it was the mirror effect the child had on him, but there was something else there, something more compelling. Perhaps it was a point of pride.

“It willnae, Aurora,” he said, leaving only a few inches of space between them. “I promise ye that ye and yer brother will be safe here. He can grow up without lookin’ over his shoulder, and when he kens what he is doin’, when he is ready, he will claim his title.”

It was almost as if the lack of space between them left her with no choice but to obey. Her breath hitched, then she shook her head. Sliding back half a step, she asked, “What is expected of me, then? Now that this bargain has been struck?”

She cannae trust me yet. Nae matter how hard I push.

“We will marry, as we have already agreed,” he said, deciding that since she had been truthful with him, he would be truthful with her. “That decree must be fulfilled by standin’ before God and our clans. Then, on the night of our weddin’, I will come to ye.”

“Come to me?” she asked breathlessly, her pupils seeming to blow with a kind of interest that stirred something deep in Hendry’s gut.