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“There is nothing to talk about, Ewan.”
“Alisdair!” Ewan came forward and braced both hands on the papers, making him look up. “Ye cannae possibly marry that lass.”
“I made me decision ken in front of the whole clan.”
“Tell me it’s a tactic to extract information without giving anything back. That ye will drag this along, take what ye need, and then throw her out.”
“Are ye askin’ me to be dishonest?”
“I am askin’ ye to be clever. What if she is lying? What if this is a plot to destroy us?”
“I will deal with it.”
“She is a Sinclair!”
“Nae for long,” Alisdair said firmly. “She will soon be a MacLeod.”
“Ye mean to give a snake our name?”
Alisdair rose slowly from his chair, his eyes narrowed. “Isla is me future wife. I willnae allow anyone to talk about her like that.”
Ewan clenched his jaw. “Ye intend to destroy us for some scoundrel who—”
Alisdair brought his palm down on the desk hard enough to rattle it, breathing hard through his nose, barely holding his temper in check. Something primal had woken inside him, some need to shield the radiant smile he had seen the day before. He would not tolerate anyone trying to take it from her.
“Ye willnae speak of her that way!”
“Ye are defendin’ her. Against me. Yer own braither.”
“She is under me protection. I willnae let anyone disrespect her while she is under me roof!” Alisdair boomed. “Nae even ye.”
Ewan glared at him. “She has bewitched ye. Has she already given herself to ye, trapped ye into marryin’ her?”
Hot blood rushed to Alisdair’s temples, and his fingers curled into a fist. Hearing someone talk about Isla that way made his whole body coil, ready to strike. Had it been anyone else but his own brother saying it, he wouldn’t have held back at all.
“If ye speak one more word like that about Isla,” he warned, “ye will face the consequences, and I willnae spare ye.”
“A Sinclair isnae beneath—”
“Ewan!” he growled in warning.
The two brothers stood with the desk between them, panting with barely restrained anger.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Duncan stepped inside. He took a good look at the two of them and closed the door behind him.
“The whole castle can hear ye,” he said.
Neither of them moved.
Alisdair lowered his chin, his eyes still narrowed on his brother, until Ewan looked away, though the hatred and anguish didn’t vanish from his face.
“What is the matter?” Duncan demanded.
“Me braither means to destroy us over… her,” Ewan bit out.
“Ewan,” Duncan spoke up before Alisdair could move. “Alisdair has made his decision. Ye’re obliged to abide by it.”
Ewan’s jaw tightened, and he looked away.
