Page 53 of The Rogue’s Redemption

Her shoulders tingled with the compliment despite the words that came after it.

“You are in pain,” Gillian said, reaching out to touch her cheek. “I see it. I see the way you look at him.”

She attempted a smile. “I thought I’d hidden it well.”

Gillian’s sad smile made her feel even worse. “You forget, I’ve been sitting at meals with you for over twenty years.”

“Even when I was a baby?” she jested.

Gillian wrapped her arms around her. “Aye, even as a baby,” she whispered in her ear. “Mother and I would argue about it, in fact. I could not bear to put you down. Ever.”

She pulled back and looked into her sister’s eyes.

“I have a confession,” Gillian said.

Her very proper sister, a confession?

“I knew—” Gillian took her by the hand and led her away from the keep. They walked the length of the courtyard. “—about your training.”

Allie froze. “You—”

“I knew you left the keep before sunset most days, after the men had vacated the outer training yard. So I followed you one day. What I still don’t understand is why. And why did you keep it from me?”

She wasn’t sure she could explain, so she ignored the questions and asked one of her own. “When you found me with Reid . . . you seemed surprised.”

“To find you with him, aye.”

They walked up the same stairs Allie had been ascending that night, the one Reid had called her down. The night they’d pledged themselves to each other. The memory was almost too much to bear.

“I could not believe my sister had fallen in love with such a man,” she said as they reached the wall-walk.

Gillian said it so quietly, it took a moment for her words to pierce the thick fog that seemed to surround Allie’s brain. It was true, of course. Though Allie had never been in love before, Reid consumed her every thought. When she was with him, her body screamed and her mind muddled with the desire to feel him next to her. She wanted to know everything about him, be with him always.

“How did you know?”

They peered out into the darkness. Moonlight and light from a few nearby torches allowed them to see into the outer courtyard but not much beyond it.

“As I said, Allie. I know you perhaps as well as you know yourself. Which is why I am so surprised you’re attracted to such a man.”

“Gill, please understand—”

“I’m sorry. I cannot.”

When she looked at her sister, Allie’s chest felt as if someone were trampling it. “Please—”

“I will always, always do what is best for you. And I do not believe Reid Kerr is that.” Gillian paused, then added, “I would ask something of you.”

Allie already knew she would not like this.

Gillian heaved a sigh. “I know you will not heed my advice if I ask for you to forget him. All I am asking is that you do not do anything rash.”

“But I—”

“Please. Just do not give yourself to him, or marry him . . . a man you hardly know. Allow some time to pass first. Be sure of your feelings.”

Hope soared through her.

“And if I do give it time? You will accept him?”