Page 241 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
“I have watched her stay when any other woman would have left. I have watched her try to understand ye when ye barely understand yerself.”
His jaw clenched.
Isobel’s eyes flashed. “She thanked ye for saving her life and went upstairs to pack. Do ye understand what sort of hurt it takes for a woman to do that?”
He did understand. That was the problem. He understood too well and still reached for the same rotten shelter.
“She will have a better life away from me.”
Isobel stared at him as if he had spoken in madness. “Ye truly believe that helps.”
“It is true.”
“Nay.” Her voice cut hard. “It is easier. That is all.”
He said nothing.
“She loves ye, ye idiot.”
The room went still.
The words hit him with such force that for one raw second, he could not breathe properly.
He had known it in fragments, in glances, in surrender, in the way Ava stayed. Hearing it from another mouth stripped all mercy from it.
Isobel saw the blow land and did not soften it.
“And ye clearly love her,” she continued. “Anyone with eyes can see it. Yet here ye stand, drinking and thinking that allowing her departure makes ye noble.”
That was it. He’d heard enough.
He moved before he had made the choice. He crossed the room, caught Isobel by the elbow, and dragged her toward the door. She jerked against him in protest.
“Unhand me.”
“I have heard enough.”
“Ye have heard the truth, which is why ye cannae bear it.”
He yanked the door open and pushed her into the passageway. She rounded on him, furious, steady, and far too right.
“Ye are far more stupid than I thought,” she spat.
“Thank ye for yer stunning contribution, Sister,” he responded and then shut the door in her face.
The sound cracked through the study, and silence followed immediately.
Ciaran stood with his hand still on the latch, breathing hard, the shame and anger and fear all knotted so tightly inside him that he could not separate one from the other.
On the other side of the door, Isobel’s footsteps retreated slowly. She did not bang on the panel or shout through it. For some reason, that made the silence even worse.
At that moment, it dawned on him that he had really stepped in it this time around.And there was no coming back from this.
CHAPTER 32
Ava was dressedbefore the maids came back with hot water the next morning.
She had been awake long before dawn, lying stiff in the narrow space between sleep and wakefulness until the first pale light reached the bed curtains. After that, she had risen at once. There had been no use in pretending she might change her mind between one breath and the next. The crying had been done in the dark. This morning, she needed to grow a bit steadier.
