Highland Hellcat (2010) Read Free Page A

ye.”
    Shock held her silent for a moment.
    Her father chuckled softly. “Did ye think that I would nae know that he was teaching ye to hunt with the bow?”
    “I did think ye might be unaware of it.” She raised her chin again. “But I swear… I assure ye that I meant no deception, only that it seemed rather unimportant compared to the tasks ye must deal with each day.”
    Her father growled, startling her with how much anger there was in that sound. She’d witnessed him yelling at other men, but he had always maintained his control with her and her sisters. That was a Highlander’s way.
    “Aye, there are pressing matters that I must face, ones I have no liking for, but I know now which of me daughters is set on deceiving me tonight.” He pressed his lips into a hard line. “Did ye see her face?”
    Brina shook her head, staring straight back into her father’s eyes in spite of the rage she saw flickering there. “Nay, Father, I was too far away, and dusk fully fallen. She also wore a cloak with the hood raised over her head. It might nae be Deirdre.”
    There was a soft step near the doorway, and a figure appeared there, pausing in surprise just as Brina had. Kaie’s eyes widened, and she raised a hand to cover her lips, but her trembling fingers betrayed her.
    Their sire snorted. “Why so frightened, Daughter?”
    Kaie’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she clutched the door frame tightly with fingers that had turned white. Robert didn’t hold his temper in check tonight but let it fall on his second daughter.
    “I’ve no stomach for a coward, and even less when that person is me own daughter. Stand ye firm in the face of my displeasure and tell me where yer sister is gone, for I see the guilt on yer face. Make yer choice, Daughter, for I’ll nae be tolerating this behavior from me own children.”
    Brina had rarely seen her father so angry. He normally controlled his emotions and left one guessing as to his true opinion on matters. Once she had heard him telling her brothers to always mind their tongues, for as the sons of the laird, a hasty word might cause suffering when the other members of the clan followed those rashly spoken phrases.
    Kaie shivered visibly, her delicate frame still in the doorway. Their father snarled softly.
    “I told ye to step forward and face me, girl. Ye are born of Highlander stock, so stop shivering when ye should know full well that I am nae a man who is pleased when his word is broken. Yer sister is promised to Connor Lindsey, the banns cried years ago.” Her father turned and pointed at the empty beds. “So tell me why she is no’ sleeping in that bed and nae even beneath me own roof. Me men claim she is no’ to be found.”
    “I pleaded with her nae to go…”
    “Pleaded? Ye should have taken yerself to me, yer father, and told me of this sordid business! The Lindseys are nae a clan to be mocked, and I assure ye that Connor Lindsey will nae wear the horns of a cuckold gracefully! Are ye insane, girl? There might well be bloodshed over this insult to the entire Lindsey clan. I gave me word on the match, my solemn oath!”
    “I told her that! I warned her that she would be found out, but she fancies herself in love, and I believe it to be true, for she is insane with it, unable to resist going to him.” Kaie forced her quivering legs to carry her into the chamber. She drew in a stiff breath but managed to raise her chin in the face of their sire’s displeasure. It gained her a grudging look of acceptance from their father, but fury still danced in his eyes. He pointed at her with a finger that carried the authority of the laird of the Chattans.
    “Where is she?”
    “I do nae know! I swear it on Mother’s grave!”
    Their father opened his hand, and Brina gasped. She stepped in front of her sister so quickly, her father didn’t have time to realize her intention.
    He delivered a sharp slap to her, but even in his anger, he controlled his much greater