Page 46 of Brigand

“Ned.” Transom’s warning had no effect.

Ewan leaned back in his chair and poured himself a drink,sipped it slowly. “What makes you think your sister is here?”

Ned opened his mouth to respond but Weston glared him intosilence and said, “Callum MacAllister.”

Annoyance curled through him. “Callum told you she was here?I may need to squash that little bug.”

The boy visibly bristled. “He didn’t tell us anything, thatfilthy cur. We found you all on our own.”

Ewan ignored this outburst. He poured a drink for Weston andTransom, though they had declined. “So tell me, Weston. What’s your part in allof this?”

His friend cleared his throat. “The name is not Weston,actually.”

“It’s not? How unsettling. Never say you lied to us allthose years ago.”

“I didn’t lie so much as pose as someone I was not.”

“Hardly a difference.” He took another drink. “So who areyou?”

“Also Edward Wyeth.” He glanced at the boy. “It’s a familyname.”

The bottle stilled. Ewan’s gaze flicked up. He bit histongue and his jaw clamped shut.

“Violet is my…cousin.”

Everything in him seized. Suspicion curled. Weston—Wyeth—wasViolet’s cousin… “I take it your father was not a bookseller.”

“He was not.”

“What was he?” Tension crackled.

“A duke.”

“Fuck.”

“Moncrieff, actually. He’s the one who arranged our escape.I’ve come to call in that favor, Ewan.”

“Fuck.”

“I will take Violet tonight. In return I’ll pay you themoney that is owed. You will leave Violet and Kaitlin alone.”

“Kaitlin?” Something in Edward’s tone when he said her name caughtEwan’s attention. His finely honed instincts flared to life. “Not Lady Kaitlin?What’s my betrothed to you?”

Edward bristled. “You will release her from this betrothaland never bother her again.”

Ewan grinned. Yes. There was something there. Somethingother than genteel concern over his cousin’s friend. “Your…passion isintriguing.”

“I must insist.”

“And if I refuse?”

Edward narrowed his eyes. “You used to be a man of honor.”

Ewan plucked at a splinter of wood on the table. “That was along time ago.” He took another sip of his drink and pondered this interestingrevelation. He fought to keep a smile from curling on his lips as apossibility, a sweet solution, unfolded in his mind. “I have need of a bride.Surely I should keep one of them.”

Ned shot to his feet. Edward pressed him back down. He fixedEwan with a resolute stare. “I will pay you double what is owed. One debt foreach woman.”

Ewan stilled. He drew his finger over the lip of the cup.“It is a substantial amount.”