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“Donna,” Isobel said.
For a second Callum thought it was a rhetorical question, but Isobel’s three sisters seemed to be waiting for an answer. “That’s why I’m here.”
“So you’re not here to sleep with Isobel, then?” Mairi said. “Just to clarify.”
A low growling noise came from Jack, and Isobel smacked her hand over her sister’s mouth. “Ignore her. Her mouth works independently from her brain.” Still holding her sister’s mouth, Isobel gestured to the angry-looking blonde. “That’s Agnes. The only sister I have who knows how to keep her mouth shut.” She looked back at Mairi. “Stop licking my hand! Are you going to stop talking or do I have to tape your trap shut?”
Mairi nodded and Isobel removed her hand. Which didn’t make any sense, because technically she’d agreed to both options. Callum decided that mental health issues ran in the family.
“How exactly do you plan on protecting my sister and her kids?” Agnes asked. “There are lots of rumours about you. We don’t know what’s true. Are you even able to protect them?”
“I take it back,” Isobel said to the ceiling. “None of my sisters know when to shut up.”
“I was an SAS soldier. I can handle myself in an altercation. Is that enough information for you?” He kept his eyes on Agnes, who wasn’t the least bit intimidated by him. It wasn’t a reaction he came across often, and he respected it.
“Are you involved in anything illegal?” Agnes said.
“Aggie,” Isobel almost wailed.
“No,” Callum told Agnes. “Unlike you four.”
Agnes cocked her head in acknowledgment. “Do you have any criminal convictions? Are you on any watch lists? Were you kicked out of the armed forces?”
“No.”
“Kill me know,” Isobel said as she sat on the steps beside her son. “You might as well. I’m going to die of humiliation anyway.”
“Oh, get a grip,” Mairi said, “she’s only asking what we all want to know. Although there is one more question I think is important.” She looked up at Callum. “Will you take responsibility for your kid, if Isobel is pregnant, or do you plan to run like every other rat bastard we know?”
“Out!” Isobel was on her feet and storming towards the door. She threw it open and waved her sisters towards it. “Out now. He answered your questions. You don’t have to worry. Now leave.”
When no one moved fast enough, Isobel came up behind them and started shoving her sisters towards the door. They complained and shouted more questions, but Isobel was ruthless. She slammed the door after them.
“No more chocolate cake for you!” someone shouted, but then Callum heard their footsteps echo down the path.
“Interesting family,” Callum said when Isobel turned back to him.
“Don’t start.” She strode past him and into the living room, Callum and Jack following her. “This is the couch.” She pointed at it, in case he was confused. “It isn’t very big, but you’ll have to make do. There are only two bedrooms in this house. I share one with Sophie, and Jack has the other.”
“I don’t share,” Jack snapped.
That wasn’t a surprise. “The couch is fine. I’ve slept on worse.” Callum put his bag on it. He didn’t plan to sleep anyway. He planned to stay up and keep watch. He glanced around the room—it was small, with only a couch, an armchair, a wooden coffee table and a chest of drawers with a TV on top of it. Heating was a cheap gas bottle heater, which couldn’t do much to warm the place during a Scottish winter. On the walls were photos of Isobel with her kids and her sisters. They were in mismatched frames, but in each and every one, they looked happy.
“I’ll get bedding.” Isobel gave them a worried look. “Be nice to each other while I’m gone.”
Jack and Callum stared at her until she left the room, muttering about men as she went. As soon as she was out of earshot, Callum turned to Jack.
“Let’s hear it.”
“You mess with my mother, I’ll mess with you.”
Callum was impressed. The boy stated his threat as though it were fact. There was no posturing. No emotional outrage. No inflection at all. Only confidence.
“How are you going to do that, exactly? I have a lot of years and a tonne of experience on you.”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll find a way.”
Callum nodded. He had no doubt that the boy would do exactly what he said he would. “Fair enough. I don’t intend to mess with your mum.”
