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Jonet giggled. She sat next to Matthew, to the left of her father.
Matthew felt a prickle of nerves, even though this was better for him. This way, he could say the truth to the entire family at once. “Are ye sure ye are well enough?” he asked Rinalda.
“I should be the one askin’ ye that. I wasnae the one shot in the side.” She lifted a brow.
“Believe me, Ma,” Jonet spoke up. She had already begun eating, just like her father. Rinalda noticed that as well and smiled. “I have been tryin’ to convince him nae to do this for some time now, but he’s too stubborn.”
“Sounds like someone else I ken,” the Laird smiled.
Rinalda tilted her head to the side, dark hair spilling over her shoulder. “Oh, it’s always nice to see ye be honest with yerself, dear.”
“I wasnae talkin’ about me,” the Laird grumbled, and they all laughed.
Jonet sighed once the laughter died down and glanced at
Matthew. She looked brighter, and happier. That dark cloud that had been following her since the moment he met her was no longer present. Matthew feared that his confession would only serve to bring it back.
“Matthew?” Jonet tilted her head. “Ye said ye had somethin’ ye needed to speak with me about? I assume that’s why ye were so insistent on bein’ here.”
“Aye, there is.” The nervousness increased. He was so used to lying, to conning his way through life. To think that he had come here to begin his new life away from all those lies, his first step would have to be admitting what he had done. “There is somethin’ I must confess.”
Those words brought the room into focus. Everyone seemed to slow their eating, their attention solely on him. They were curious, he knew, but he could sense a twinge of worry from Jonet. No doubt, the solemn way he had spoken had not made things any better.
He twisted in his seat, wanting to face them all. He wished suddenly that Dougal were here as well because he had also been a victim of Matthew’s lies. Matthew had come here to seduce the pitiful Laird’s daughter, to marry her, but he had not realized that, in doing that, he would have to make her family love him as well.
“Aye and I daenae how to begin.”
The anxiousness from Jonet grew higher. She stopped eating and faced him fully.
Matthew looked at her. He took in her beautiful brown eyes, the black hair that blanketed her sun-kissed cheeks. The lovely shape of her lips, ones he had come to know as well as his own. Love exploded within him at the sight of her and with it came mindnumbing fear that he would lose the best thing that had ever happened to him in a second.
“All that I have told ye is a lie.” He spoke to them all, but he kept his gaze on her, watching as her eyes grew round as her brows dipped into a frown. “I am nae a wealthy merchant. I am an orphan who made me livin’ connin’ others of out their money and stealin’ from rich men who were foolish enough to give to me.”
Shock flooded those brown eyes. Matthew, afraid of what he might see next, looked away from her. At the Laird and his wife who were just as surprised.
“I wanted to put that life aside,” he went on. “I was tired of continuously bein’ on the run and always havin’ to look over me shoulder. So, when I heard of the Laird’s daughter, who nay one wanted to marry because of her curse, I thought that that was me chance.”
“Oh, dear,” Rinalda whispered. Matthew hardly heard her. His blood was rushing through his veins, every muscle in his body tensing.
“I thought that if I could get the Laird’s daughter to marry me then I wouldnae have to worry about anythin’. I would have the Lairdship to meself, the easy life that I had always wanted. I thought it would be a simple matter too, because I had expected a woman who was desperate to marry anyone who would ask for her hand.”
He swallowed past the lump in his throat and braced himself before he looked at Jonet again. Her eyes were expressionless. He took her hand in his. “I dinnae expect to find the most beautiful, the most spirited, the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met. I realized soon enough that the plan I had come up with wouldnae work, and nae because ye were so against the thought of marryin’. I kent soon enough that I wouldnae be able to stop meself from fallin’ in love with ye. I dinnae care about the Lairdship anymore. I only cared about ye, about protectin’ ye, and I promise, Jonet, that all the promises I’ve made ye were nae lie. They came from the heart.”
Silence descended over them. Jonet only stared at him, blinking rapidly. Matthew could not tell if she was in shock or if she were fighting back tears.
The most surpring thing happened. Her lips twitched, as if she was actually holding back a smile. Matthew frowned, worried that she might be preparing to rip him to shreds. Not that he would not deserve it.
“I must say,” she murmured, looking down at their hands. “I dinnae expect ye to say any of that.”
Matthew held his breath. When she looked back up at him, he searched her eyes, hoping to see what she was thinking.
“I daenae care about all of that,” she smiled.
He did not dare to believe it. “Ye daenae?”
“I ken I should be upset that ye lied to me. But how can I when ye’re sitting here with a terrible wound in yer side after ye put yerself in harm’s way for me? After everythin’ ye’ve done to prove that ye love me, then it wouldnae make much sense for me not to believe yer words.” She placed her hand on his cheeks, smiling tenderly at him. “I love ye, Matthew. And I ken ye love me too. Yer intentions when we just met may have been deplorable but—”
Matthew’s heart thudded. “What is it?”
