Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Good girl indeed,” Lorcan said, his smile becoming wolfish.
If my face wasn’t already on fire, that would have done it. Clearing my throat, I asked, “Should I leave?”
“No, we have business to discuss,” Gulliver said.
After last night, I had no intention of ever doing business with Lorcan again. If it wouldn’t have raised so many questions, I’d drop his money right before him.
“Okay? What kind of business?”
Lorcan’s lips twitched at the wariness in my tone. He obviously found amusement in my discomfort. Few people evoked my annoyance, but Lorcan Devaney, despite the short time I’d known him, made it to the top of my list.
“The Killeens and Devaneys have a certain history.”
My gaze flitted to my uncle. His voice carried deep regret and more than a little reproach, as if I was personally responsible for whatever had gone on between our families.
“More than that,” Lorcan said. “And they could have been even closer if not for your mother’s flightiness.”
I frowned. “What does my mother have to do with anything?”
Lorcan smiled, but Uncle Gulliver looked ready to blow a gasket. “Why don’t you enlighten your niece, Gulliver?”
“Your mother was engaged to Lorcan’s uncle. It was a bond that was looked very kindly upon by the Irish community considering our families’ blood-lines.”
Mum didn’t have contact with her big family, except for a quirky aunt up in Belfast. She had never been very forthcoming as to why she’d broken off contact, but Imogen and I always assumed it had something to do with us being born out of wedlock when Mum was still a teenager.
“Mum was engaged to a Devaney?”
Gulliver sent me a warning look.
“Indeed,” Lorcan said. A dimple appeared in his right cheek as the corner of his mouth tipped up. “But she chose to get herself pregnant by one of our soldiers, hoping this would cause my uncle to break off the engagement.”
“But the Devaneys insisted on the bond. Your mother ran off, and when we eventually found her, she had not just given birth to your sister Imogen, she was also pregnant with you. That was too much. Simon was furious and so your mother fled back to Dublin.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “I still don’t understand why you’re telling me all this.”
“Your family has been indebted to us ever since. We graciously let your mother find a new life in Dublin, despite the shame she brought down on my uncle. We knew there would come a time when your family could make up for the breach of contract.”
I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.
“Lorcan informed me that he and his family have decided on the compensation they require to erase our debt.”
“Does this have something to do with Imogen?”
“Not quite,” Lorcan said with a predatory smile.
I glanced at Gulliver.
He cleared his throat. “Lorcan as agreed to accept your hand in marriage.”
I blinked then burst out laughing. Neither Gulliver nor Lorcan added any more clarification, and slowly my laughter died away as well. “You’re kidding, right?” I asked.
“Not at all,” Lorcan said.
Gulliver’s expression was imploring. “It’s a very gracious offer.”
“It’s not. It’s my life. I have absolutely no intention to marry right now, and certainly not—”
I didn’t get the chance to finish because Uncle Gulliver had jumped up from the bench, grabbed my elbow, and dragged me out into the hallway, murmuring “Excuse us,” in Lorcan’s direction. He closed the kitchen door before he faced me with a furious glare. “I warned you not to attract the attention of certain people. But you wouldn’t listen.”
“You introduced me to him in church!”
“But that’s not the only time you met him, right?”
I flushed, worried about what exactly Lorcan had told Gulliver. I was still trying to get the images from last night out of my head. “We met in Sodom.”
“Indeed, and meeting you twice was obviously enough for Lorcan to decide you’d be perfect as his wife.”
“I won’t marry,” I muttered. My body might not have hated Lorcan’s touch, but I didn’t want to be involved with a man like him. Mum had made the right choice running off, even if it now came to bite me in the ass.
“You really think that’s still your decision?”
“Of course it is! I’ll have to say yes for a marriage to be valid.”
“In our circles the bond before a priest is enough. There’s no need for a ceremony.”
I blinked. “But both parties have to agree.”
“You’ll say yes, Aislinn, won’t you?” Lorcan drawled.
Both Gulliver and I jumped. We hadn’t noticed Lorcan opening the door and standing in the doorway. His shoulders were so broad they almost brushed the doorframe, especially when he crossed his arms and made his biceps bulge.
“Let me have a word with your niece,” Lorcan said in a pleasant tone I didn’t buy for one second. His eyes weren’t kind at all. I wasn’t sure how much he’d heard, but it had obviously pissed him off. His voice sent another shiver down my back. I couldn’t explain why my body reacted so strongly to this man. I’d never felt such an attraction to anyone like this before.