Free Highland Song by Christine Young Page A

had been betrothed to."
     
    Slade turned back to look at Lainie, drawn by the changing emotions in her voice as well as her features.
     
    "All this might be true but what does it have to do with you and your nimble fingers? Why would you take such chances with your life?"
     
    She lowered her lashes in an attempt to avoid answering him. She wove a fine tale, and he guessed somewhere in the story the answers he sought would come to light. He just didn’t know how to get her to lower her guard and tell him. He knew, while Callie Whitcomb might be part of the story, Callie wasn’t all of it or the main part. Something Lainie didn't want to share with him caused the pain that showed in her eyes every time he pushed her for the truth.
     
    "Callie’s fiancé was Lord Huntington," Lainie said simply.
     
    "I’m supposed to draw conclusions from that?"
     
    Lainie nodded.
     
    "You’re going to have to tell me something else. I don’t know Lord Huntington. Even if I did, I wouldn’t know what all this has to do with you."
     
      "Nothing," she said simply, turning away from him as if to hide some deep, dark, emotional secret. "Absolutely nothing."
     
    "Wrong answer."
     
    She turned back and smiled sadly. "In some ways you are a very infuriating man. This is not your business. The only one who knows is my maid, and I left her at my ancestral home. I'm certainly not about to tell my darkest secrets to a dark-haired stranger who seems to have settled into my campsite uninvited."
     
    "Another vague statement," Slade said flatly. “You can hide from me forever. I will discover the truth.”
     
    "Why do you think I’m vague? My story is uninteresting and boring. You would fall asleep over the telling of it," Lainie said, nervously crossing her arms in front of her.
     
    "A spy who is bad at lying should find another profession," Slade said watching her closely.
     
    "That’s not what I meant," Lainie retorted. "Let the truth be told? Perhaps I should. I’m sure you wouldn’t believe a word I say."
     
    One of Slade’s black eyebrows rose. "Let me guess. You seduced Bertram, and when he wouldn’t make wedding plans, you tried to kill him. Now he wants revenge so he has planted evidence against you just to get you back to Edinburgh."
     
    Lainie’s smile was as small and cold as the highland locks in the middle of winter. Guilt was something Slade never let himself feel.
     
    "Of course you're right, Englishman. Although I am sure some of the evidence he holds over my head he has falsified."
     
    "Don’t bet on it, little fox. You stole sealed documents from me. We both know it. And now you are on your way to trial."
     
    "I'm not," she told him flatly.
     
    He didn't answer. It would do little good to argue with her. She would end up whereever he chose.
     
    Inhaling deeply, she tossed her head, sending her white-blond hair cascading over her shoulders.
     
    "I thought at first you were different from Jericho, but you’re not," she said. "You haven’t the least idea what it’s like to make your way in a world that is stronger, harder, and crueler than you could ever be."
     
    "You won’t sneak into my good graces by comparing me to the likes of Jericho Slater and his merry band of cutthroats. Jericho is a cruel, hard man and you should count your blessings that he didn't know who you were."
     
    "Mercenaries," Lainie corrected. "They operate with your English king's blessings," she paused, watching him. "I’m not trying to get into your good graces, Englishman."
     
    "You’d better start." The threat was as clear and cold as the crystal water slipping down the rocks. He didn't want to admit even to himself that he did not want her compliance. He was growing used to her spirit and he liked watching her eyes blaze and spit fire.
     
    Lainie’s chin rose a notch and her eyes burned blue fire, but she didn’t say what appeared to come to mind. Instead, she watched him with intensity and a passion he'd never seen