Part 2 (2/2)
”I will not undo anything,” she said in a low, breathy voice. ”We are married. We will stay that way. I am sorry, but there is nothing you can do about it.” He had the sudden impression of being held underwater, unable to breathe. His fingers tightened on her shoulders cruelly.
She did not look away, though her lips whitened. ”Let me go, Kincaid.”
”No.”
She struggled, kicking back against the wall. ”Let me go, now!”
”No. Not until you-”
The door to the room slammed open and Hamish stalked in. Red-haired and red-eyed, he looked like a
fiery angel seeking vengeance.
”b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l,” Jack muttered. He released Fiona and turned to stand before her. ”Hamish. What a pleasant surprise.” Hamish's red brows lowered as he glanced from Jack to Fiona, then back. ”What's goin' on here?” ”Nothing that concerns you,” Jack said. ”I am pledged to watch the mistress. If ye lift a hand to her again, I'll end yer miserable life.” ”Did you have anything to do with this d.a.m.ned marriage?” Jack felt his head, wincing when his fingers brushed a sore knot. ”I've a feeling you a.s.sisted her far more than was necessary.” ”I wish I'd given ye that k.n.o.b, but I didn't. Ye fell from yer horse and smacked yer head.” Hamish flexed his hand, the size of a large rock. ”Had it been me, ye wouldn't be awake now.” ”Hamish.” Fiona stepped around Jack. ”There was no need for you to intrude.” ”I heard ye call out.” ”I fell against the wall.” ”Balderc.o.c.k,” Jack said rudely. ”I pushed you.” Hamish's huge hands balled into fists. He started forward, but Jack was ready. He lifted a foot and sent the lone chair flying directly in the path of the big Scotsman. Hamish grabbed the chair and threw it to one side, where it smashed against the wall and splintered into a dozen pieces. Jack raised his fists and- Fiona shoved him back, the edge of the bed catching him behind the knees and sending him thudding to the mattress. The distant rumble of thunder echoed.
”That is enough!” Fiona snapped, her eyes sparkling with anger. ”Hamish, leave us! Kincaid and I must speak.”
”I'm not leavin' ye with the likes of Black Jack Kincaid!”
”If I need you, I will call,” Fiona said firmly.
The Scotsman didn't look convinced. ”I don't-”
”Hamish,” she said in a quiet tone. ”Go.”
Jack raised his brows, distracted from his own irritation by the strength of the rebuke in her voice.
Hamish must have heard it as well, for he flushed a deep red, then turned to the door. ”I will be in the hallway.” He paused to lock gazes with Jack. ”I can be back in here in a trice.”
Fiona nodded. ”That won't be necessary.”
The Scotsman grunted his disbelief but obediently left, closing the door behind him.
Fiona had changed, after all. There was some steel to her now, a determination he'd never seen before.
For some reason, that made him more uneasy than facing Hamish.
Still, Fiona MacLean was responsible for this mess. Jack did not deserve to be punished for the sins of his less-than-loving family. h.e.l.l, he didn't deserve any of this. Jaw tight, he turned to his enemy. ”Fiona, I will never accept this marriage.”
Fiona fought to hold on to her tenuous control. She'd known Jack would be angry, but nothing had prepared her for the rage burning in his gaze. Her shoulders still ached where he'd gripped them, and she s.h.i.+vered from the cold fury in his face. ”Jack, please. You must accept this.”
”Why?”
Slowly, she placed her hand upon her stomach. ”Because I have told everyone I am carrying your child.”
He stepped back. ”You didwhat ?”
”I sent word to both of our families that I was with child and that was why we'd married.”
He blinked.
”That's the only reason Father MacCanney agreed to wed us. He thought I was carrying your child.”
”You b.l.o.o.d.yb.i.t.c.h. ”
She winced. She deserved that, she supposed. ”Kincaid, I would not have involved you if I'd had any other choice. The feud-” ”The feud is nothing more than squabbles over boundary lines and livestock.”
”No, now it's different. Callum died. If something is not done, and quickly, neither of us will have a moment's peace for the rest of our lives. We'll be too busy tending graves to enjoy anything.”
Jack's expression darkened. He spun on his heel, took a quick step toward the wall, then halted. He turned back to fix a cold blue stare upon her. ”You really believe your brothers would do something rash.”
She thought of her brothers' expressions when she'd last seen them-the hatred and anger. ”Yes,” she said, her voice barely audible. ”They will seek vengeance. And they will succeed. Then their actions will be answered. If not by your father, then a cousin or an ally. You know how it is done.”
He nodded abruptly. ”Aye. I do know.” Jack raked a hand through his hair, wincing when he touched a tender spot over one ear. ”And so it will begin.” He crossed to the window. ”Does my father know of all this? Of your brothers' vow for vengeance?”
”I wrote to him and told him everything.”
He turned, his face in the shadows. ”You told him that you planned to capture me? To force me to marry?”
She bit her lip. ”Not that part, no.”
”Of course not.”
She sighed, her knees a little weak. It had been such a long week, filled with sadness and emotion. ”I told my brothers the same thing: that I was with child and you were the father.”
Jack leaned a shoulder against the bedpost and crossed his arms over his broad chest. ”Who is the father, Fiona? I should know, in case the b.a.s.t.a.r.d arrives to take retribution.”
Her cheeks burned. ”There is no child. I mean, not yet. I haven't been with anyone since you and I-”
She bit her lip. Blast it, she hadn't meant to tell him that.
His expression shuttered. ”I don't believe you.”
”It doesn't matter what you believe. What matters is that-” She crossed the few steps that separated them. ”Jack, you were right in what you said before: just getting married won't stop the feud.”
He scowled, his clear blue eyes locking with hers. ”Then what will?”
Lord, he was going to force her to say it. ”To end this feud once and for all, we must also have a child.
And soon.”
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