Tempest Heart - Paula Quinn Page 0,61
father.”
“Tristan MacPherson?” he asked, sincerely surprised. “Paid to kill your father?”
“Aye,” she answered. “I do not know who the governor is but Tristan told me about him, so I believe he exists.”
His eyes opened wider, though one was wider than the other because of the scarred skin on his face. “Tristan told you? When and why would he tell you anything?”
He was very serious when it came to Tristan. It made her want to smile. Even her monster was afraid of him. She was glad she had information he wanted. It gave her a bit of power. And just how afraid of Tristan was he? Should she use it to her advantage?
“He told me many things.”
His eyes lit up and one corner of his mouth quirk upward. “Tell them to me.”
“When you tell me who wants us all dead. Tell me and I will ask Tristan to spare you.”
He laughed. “You would never do that…even if you could.”
He was correct. She would not plead for his life. She wouldn’t argue with him.
“Tell me why you burned down my house and why you killed my mother, and now seek to kill my father.”
He grew serious. His gazed softened on her. “I wish I could tell you everything, but I do not think your gentle heart could take it.”
“Neill, tell me the truth and do not be a coward today.”
His lips quirked up at one side. “Hmm, very well, then. Shall I start at the beginning?”
She blinked and nodded her head while he smiled at her.
“Your mother, Christina, was at first betrothed to Richard Callanach, not Thomas. It seems Christina’s father, a very prestigious nobleman, owed large amounts of money to Richard and paid him with his daughter’s hand in marriage. Well, she ran off with Thomas and let him plant you inside her. It infuriated Richard, not because he loved her, but because she was his. He finally enlisted me to burn down your manor house. He had intended on Thomas and Christina dying, but you were supposed to be sleeping in the servants’ quarters with Estrid’s daughter, Jonetta.”
Rose’s heart sank to her knees. After the fire, Estrid had been sent away without her daughter and was never seen again.
Was it a coincidence that it was Jonetta in the carriage who died and was burned with Rose’s mother? And if it wasn’t, what did it mean?
“I heard you screaming, and I realized you were inside,” Neill continued. “I went in and was nearly caught up in flames, but I found you and carried you out. I watched over you many times after that. But then your mother did the unthinkable. She whored herself—”
“No! Cease! I will not have you defile my mother’s good name.”
“Fine, but I warned you that you could not take this.”
He remained quiet while they rode on. Rose thought about what he told her. She thought she might cry, but something occurred to her. “Why did you do my uncle’s bidding? My father was good to you.”
“That is all for now. Save your mettle for when the captain awakens. He is going to need you.”
Rose was glad. It was all too much to take in. Her head was pounding. Her mind needed an hour’s rest.
Dear God, where was her father? Had Tristan found him and killed—no, he wouldn’t. He promised he wouldn’t.
“Do not fret,” Neill consoled her. “I left six of my men behind to find the earl and bring him to us, and then we can end this.”
“You mean by killing him?”
“We shall see.”
She remembered asking Tristan to please not kill her father. She wouldn’t do the same with Neill. She knew it wouldn’t matter what she said or did. “You are not here to kill my father for the same reason Tristan was sent to do it.”
“You speak of him with familiarity,” her captor remarked. “What are you to him? Lover?”
Rose gave him a stinging glare.
“And why was Tristan paid to kill him?”
“Because the man behind the coin thinks my father killed his wife and daughter—when in fact ’twas you who did it. So, tell me, Neill, why does my uncle want him dead still?”
“He does not. I do.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rose was screaming. No. He was dreaming. He had dreamed the same sound earlier, but he had not been able to wake up.
Tristan tried to open his eyes this time. Her screaming stopped. He tried to remember what had happened. He’d fallen from the tree. He’d hit other branches on the way down, which was why he