Revenge (Book 3 of Lost Highlander series) Read Free

in fights before, and never felt this bad from either thing.
    Quinn waved his hand. “Would ye like to fill him in on the illustrious history of our clans, or shall I?” he asked.
    Bella shrugged. “I’ve been in Edinburgh for the last year and more, I know not what ye heathens have been up to.”
    Quinn took a long drag from his canteen and settled back against a tree. “Ah, where to start? How many generations have our families been feuding?” he asked Bella.
    She snorted. “A fair few,” she said. “But ye’re not the only ones we scuffle with, so ye needn’t feel put upon as special.”
    “Aye, it does seem yer family has a grievance or two with some others besides us,” Quinn agreed, softening his words with a smile.
    She glanced away from him and edged slightly closer to Pietro as if Quinn’s gentle smile was more dangerous than harsh words or a raised hand. It saddened him that kindness seemed to confuse her, and it made him want to protect her more than ever. Someone had to be a presence in her life that she didn’t shy away from, that she could trust to be there for her always. As much as he wanted to clasp her hand or pull her close to him, he resisted.
    “What did it all start with?” Pietro asked.
    He knew of clan rivalries from history books and tales his grandparents told him. They generally had to do with boundary disputes or stolen livestock and just escalated throughout the years. The people of the Highlands could be a heated lot.
    “Who knows anymore,” Quinn said and Bella nodded in agreement. “But when word was sent to me that my brother had married one of the Glens, I had to get on my horse and see it for myself.”
    “I could barely believe it, either,” Bella said. “My father has threatened to sell me to one or another clan to form an alliance since I came of age. But no deal was ever good enough for him. He must have been well in his cups to have agreed to a union with the Fergusons. No offence to ye, but ye’re no’ exactly powerful or advantageous so far up as ye are.”
    “We do all right, lass, and prefer to keep to ourselves,” Quinn said mildly.
    “Except for when yer folk are raiding our cattle,” she said, flushing with indignant pride.
    Pietro cleared his throat and shifted his back against the rough bark of the tree he was leaning against. He longed to lie down and let the swaying treetops lull him into a hopefully pain free sleep, but something he was having a hard time keeping a handle on was at stake. And it seemed like someone was after them. He struggled to concentrate on the bickering pair in front of him.
    “All right, I can see your families don’t get along. Ye steal their cattle and your father is a megalomaniac that has been trying to marry ye off since ye were eighteen. I get it so far, but can ye try to stay on target? Remember my head’s already pounding.”
    “My father isna whatever ye just said,” Bella huffed. “And I’ve been on one bargaining table after another since I was fourteen. It’s a miracle I’ve lasted this long.”
    “Fourteen!” Pietro said, disgusted. Even taking into account the cultural time differences, that seemed plain wrong.
    “Were ye no’ betrothed to one of the Murrays a while back?” Quinn asked, scratching his stubbled jaw.
    “Aye,” Bella said with a shudder. “That was when my aunt saved me. She pretended an illness and I went to stay with her. Niall Murray didna want to wait for my return and married my third cousin instead. I had to stay away more than a year. My father was fairly distraught and threatened if I came back sooner I would pay dearly.”
    “Poor lass,” Pietro said, shocked that she told the story with nothing more than a slightly bored air. Apparently the story was just one of many attempts to marry her off for monetary or land gain.
    She gave him a searching look and when she seemed to decide he wasn’t pitying her, she edged even closer to him. Her proximity sent a soothing wave