Fire Maidens Scotland (Billionaires & Bodyguards #6) - Anna Lowe Page 0,79

whispered.

* * *

That evening, Holly and Lachlan returned to Bard’s Rock and quietly scattered half of Trevor’s ashes over the island. Lachlan actually read a poem for the occasion — something Trevor hadn’t even asked for.

“You’re not going all unicorn on me, are you?” Holly teased.

Lachlan flashed a thin smile. “I hope not. It just feels right, somehow.”

Indeed it had, as did singing “Wild Mountain Thyme” and shedding a few more tears. Afterward, they headed back to the barracks, spent a second night there to be close to the others, and departed for Edinburgh the next morning.

Holly looked back at the island wistfully.

“Nothing holding you back from visiting again, you know,” Lachlan pointed out.

His words did little to cheer her, though. The attack on Gleninnis hadn’t been the only big news in Scotland. The shifter world had also been rocked by the sudden death of one of its oldest, most respected unicorns, and everyone was in an uproar. Had he died of natural causes, or had it been foul play?

Lachlan spent a long time on the phone on the drive, and when he finally hung up, his face was ashen.

“Penelope’s uncle Angus,” he whispered. “A suicide.”

Holly’s gut sank. “Why?”

Lachlan’s face had hardened, and he stared at the road. “Regret.”

He hadn’t seemed ready to share more just yet, so she had left it at that for the moment. Then she made her own phone call. And boy, what a conversation that had been.

“Hi, Mom. Do you have a minute? I need you to explain a few things to me.”

The understatement of the year, but she had to start somewhere.

Her parents had always been open about the fact that her biological father had died, and she’d never asked about the details, sensing something taboo about it all. Besides, she’d grown up with a wonderful dad — her stepfather. But now, she needed to know more about the man her family knew as Alan Addair.

Bit by bit, her mother shared it all. How she’d left the Rockies looking for adventure beyond her small country town. How she’d met a dashing young Highlander along the way — a man who’d swept her away with his smile, his accent, and his reckless sense of abandon.

“Definitely a rebel,” her mother sighed, growing morose. “With a nose for trouble. He tried — he really did. But he still stumbled into trouble.”

Holly went stiff as her mother related the rest. Her young lover had discovered a criminal plot and set out to stop them on his own.

“Neither of us knew how over our heads we were. They dealt in drugs. Human trafficking. They carried out hits…”

Holly just about hit the roof of the Austin when her mother whispered the name.

“Lombardi? Enzo Lombardi?”

Maybe destiny had been tidying up loose ends that went back far longer than she’d imagined.

“The man was a monster,” her mother went on in a shaky voice. “The way he looked me up and down… Alan told me to run for my life, and I did. I had no choice.”

Holly froze at that, remembering Enzo’s words. Have we met, my dear? You seem so familiar.

So that’s how Enzo knew she was a Fire Maiden. As the spitting image of her mother, Holly would have seemed familiar to Enzo. And if he knew Terence, he could have figured out Holly’s connection to Trevor and, therefore, her status as a Fire Maiden.

“Honey?” her mother asked after a long pause.

Holly gulped hard and explained.

Then it was her mother’s turn to burst out in shock. “Alan was Trevor’s son?”

When tears started streaming down Holly’s cheeks, Lachlan took her hand, and Mungo licked her ear.

“You didn’t know?”

“No. I knew your father as Alan. I thought meeting Trevor was chance, like he said, when he was touring American distilleries.”

Holly shook her head. “He was looking for you. Looking for us, I mean.”

They both trailed off into stunned silence, and eventually, Holly signed off, promising to call soon. The phone bill was going to be a doozy, and her mind was bursting as it was.

“Are you all right?” Lachlan asked.

Her hands shook. “The Lombardis killed my father — my biological father, I mean. My mother’s first love…”

Her chest ached, and her throat went dry. So much pain, so long ago. So much she’d lost without even knowing it.

Then she glanced at Lachlan and corrected herself. So much gained, in spite of it all.

She turned her face to the sky, aching inside. Would it give Terence — her father — any peace to know