A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,139

again. So now that the crisis was averted, and he knew he wasn’t leaving her a widow, his energy was sapped.

“Do ye wish to lie down, bear?” Laurel asked softly. Laurel noticed Aggie smiled at them, then slipped from the chamber to give them privacy.

“Aye. Will ye stay?”

“I’m nae going anywhere,” Laurel spluttered, aghast that he thought she might leave his side.

“Dominic? Graham?”

“I dinna ken,” Laurel shrugged as she helped Brodie struggle to his feet once more. He staggered his first couple steps, but he grew steadier as he approached the door. As they left the solar and turned toward their chamber, an unholy roar rose from the Great Hall below. Brodie and Laurel went to peer down over the railing, stunned to find Colina in Graham’s arms as Dominic surged forward with his sword drawn.

Forty

“Cease!” Brodie bellowed, uncertain how he summoned the strength to speak, let alone yell. He looked at Laurel, who stood wide-eyed as she watched the scene below. Brodie gritted his teeth as he took Laurel’s hand. He muttered, “We have to go down.”

“I ken.” Laurel sounded as eager as Brodie felt. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Brodie moving slower than usual, he approached the trio. Colina remained in Graham’s embrace while Dominic held them at sword point. Graham appeared unrepentant, and Colina’s expression was pure arrogance.

“Shite,” Laurel hissed. “They’re having an affair.”

Brodie gawked at Laurel, disbelieving what he heard. His second barely tolerated Colina and was more open about his disdain than Brodie ever had been. And he was certain that despite Colina’s standoffishness, she loved Dominic. Though he’d begun to doubt that of late. What he overhead on the landing and then deducing what Colina likely did to his mother, made Brodie second guess his sister’s-by-marriage intentions.

Laurel stepped beside Dominic and pressed down on his blade. She looked at the devastated man and knew her suspicions were correct. Graham wasn’t protecting Colina merely because she was a woman. “Dom, not until we know everything,” Laurel whispered.

“I already ken all I need to know,” Dominic snapped. “They’re lovers and tried to kill my brother.”

“But why? What motivated them? It’s not love. Not really,” Laurel countered. She pressed harder on Dominic’s sword, and he relented. She stared at Graham, thinking about how loyal he’d always seemed to Brodie, how he’d protected her. She struggled to reason why he would betray Brodie in such a hideous way. She couldn’t fathom why he’d tried to kill Brodie.

“Laurie, he’s our brother,” Brodie rasped as he watched Laurel. He guessed her mind was alive with various explanations, but he already knew. “He’s our aulder brother.”

Laurel looked at Brodie and understood what he meant. She closed her eyes before turning back to Graham and Colina. “You were talking aboot Graham that day.”

“Finally figured it out,” Colina sneered.

“Why poison, Graham? That’s a woman’s weapon?” Laurel asked, but her mouth fell open as she looked back at Colina. “You found out I discovered the wine. You assumed I would be the one who needed a drink. You meant the water for me. Did you know, Graham? Did you know the water was poisoned, and you let your brother drink it, anyway?”

“Nay, I didn’t ken.”

“So, despite protecting me while we traveled, you want me dead.” Laurel’s mind jumped from idea to idea as she tried to piece together what was said and left unsaid.

“Is that true?” Brodie demanded. Graham looked at Brodie, anger simmering beneath the surface.

“I didn’t ken the water was poisoned, but I wasn’t sorry you drank it. He loved my mother. I should have been the one to inherit. Not the son of a woman he despised. A son he thought was weak.”

Brodie inhaled, his chest expanding to its full breadth as his hands fisted beside him. It was only the restraining hand Laurel placed on his arm that kept him from launching himself at his former best friend and older—albeit illegitimate—brother. Laurel stepped in front of him, shaking her head.

“You both assumed the love Brodie and Dominic feel toward Graham, and Dominic’s love for Colina would keep them blind. You didn’t anticipate me. You must have been terribly upset, Colina, when Brodie rode into the bailey with a wife, when you worked so hard to ensure his bride died,” Laurel gloated. “Does no one recall Colina’s clan? She was a MacLean. Brodie told me how Dominic and Colina fell in love at a gathering, and their marriage brokered a truce. But do you ken who else is