Chapter 12 #2
We head up to the main house, when I suddenly remember my fears. Where the hell is my mobile, and has anybody found it? Goddamn Mac and his seduction that he’s completely made me forget about it.
"Did you ask anyone at the house if they found my mobile?"
“Aye, shot Leith a text before we showered, but he hasn’t responded.”
Why would he ask Leith? Leith’s clan captain, and more preoccupied than anyone else.
“Did you ask anyone else yet?”
He shakes his head. “No, sorry. But don't worry, Bryn, we’ll find it."
I sigh. “We will.”
I’m sure we will. But by the time we do, who will have already had a chance to look at it? If his father gets his hands on my mobile…
I'm preoccupied as we walk up to the main house, and just as we reach the door, a large white SUV pulls into the driveway.
Oh no. It's Fran. She's here to try on the dress, and I'll have to be professional and on point, but I'm so worried about my mobile.
“It’s Fran,” I say on a groan to Mac. “I won’t have time to look for my mobile.”
“Ah, don’t you worry a bit about it, lassie. I’ll have a look with the boys while you girls are doing the dress thing.”
I smile at him. “Thanks very much, Mac. You're too good to me."
He sobers, as if he feels guilty about something. And for the first time in a while, I wonder if he’s hiding something as well. Is he? Why would he look like that if he wasn’t?
I try to appease my conscience. I tell myself that of course he has things he's hiding, he's a member of the mafia. There's no getting away from the fact that he is. So why does it bother me so?
I'm not telling him the full truth. Why would I expect him to tell me?
How many lies have we told?
“I’ll come to see you in a bit." He kisses my cheek. "I'll do my best to find your mobile, and I’ll tell you what I find. But we’ll find it, darlin’, don’t you worry.”
I nod, biting my lip. “Okay. Thank you.”
We enter the house by the side door, and the staff is busy cooking dinner. They've cleaned up from breakfast, and hardly anybody looks our way, except that one girl I found spying on me a few days ago. When she sees me looking at her, she quickly turns away.
There’s something up her sleeve, I know it.
“Oh, Bryn!” Paisley’s standing by the stove, pulling out a tray of biscuits as we enter. “There y’are. Got something for you!”
“Hey there, Paisley. By any chance have you seen my mobile?”
She shakes her head. “So sorry, I haven’t. But I’ll be sure to ask around.”
“Thanks for that.” My stomach plummets. I don’t have a good feeling about this. “Fran’s come for the fitting, Paisley. Are you and the girls joining us?”
“Aye, of course! We’re actually going up to Mum’s room today. There’s loads more room up there for all of us. More room than anywhere else.”
My belly swoops with nerves, because if we're going to Flora’s room, that means that we're not too far from her husband. And if there's anyone I don't want to see right now, it's him.
“Aye,” I say, brushing off my fear. “That’ll be perfect.”
But it won’t. It won’t be perfect at all.
Mac leans in and kisses my cheek, his fingers lingering on the back of my neck just a moment longer than’s proper. I shiver. He orchestrates my body with such utter perfection, I can’t hide how I feel. He whispers in my ear. “I’m off to find your mobile. Now you behave yourself, understand me?”
I smile shyly. “Yes, sir,” I whisper in his ear, loving the way I feel when I submit to him like this. “And if I don’t, I will happily remove my knickers, and bend over your lap so you can spank me properly.”
My heartbeat accelerates at the very thought, and I love the way his eyes darken.
“Aye,” he whispers. “I will.”
“Oh for the love of God and Jesus and damn near everyone, can you two get a room already?” Islan asks, as she comes in the doorway.
“Have done,” Mac says, his eyes twinkling. “You think we’re playing checkers in my house?”
“Oh ewww,” Islan says, blocking her ears. “Lalalalalala!”
Mac chuckles and winks at me. I can only shake my head at him and sigh.
“The bride’s here!” Islan says. “You ready?”
"Be up in a minute," Paisley says. "Just have to make sure the biscuits don't burn."
“See you in a few, then,” Islan says. “And listen, Paisley, might be nice if you brought a few of them biscuits up to sample, mind.”
She laughs. “Wasn't it you this morning that said she was afraid of not fitting in her bridesmaid’s dress, she's gone that carb-heavy lately? Or is that another one of my sisters? Oh, that's right. Other than my sister-in-law Cairstina, I have no other sisters, so it must've been you."
“One biscuit will hardly make my zippers burst,” Islan says with a grin. “Right, Bryn? And if it does, Bryn can let it out.”
“Oh, now, girls, I know better than to get in the middle of this.”
I go with Islan up the stairs, my apprehension growing as we near Flora and Bram’s bedroom. Will he be there? And where the fuck is my mobile?
I almost find myself at ease, just being around the girls again.
There's a camaraderie that I enjoy, maybe even something that comes just from being women who share a similar heritage or family class structure. They know what it’s like to fit within the old-fashioned, hierarchical structure of the Clan. At least, this is what I tell myself.
Do either of them have to fear being wed to someone they don't have an interest in? Does Bram Cowen threaten them like my own father does me? Does Leith?
I can’t imagine Leith would, if I’m honest. He seems protective more than anything.
But do I really know any of them?
“Ah, here she is,” I hear Fran say when I enter the room.
Fran’s a curvy, bonnie lass with a mane of wavy brown hair, a button nose, and a mischievous little mouth. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes dance when she sees us.
“Hello, there! Who’s ready for the big day?” I ask. It’s taking everything I have to focus on being professional and at ease, and not stricken with worry.
Thankfully, only the girls and Flora are here. Bram’s nowhere to be seen.
“It’s a big day,” I say with a smile. “Ready for your final fitting?”
“Of course,” Fran says with a grin. “I can’t bloody wait. And fancy seeing you here, Bryn, of all places. Friends with my friends, are you?”
“We’ve only just met her ourselves,” Islan says. “And she’ll be bringing Mac to the wedding.” She rolls her eyes.
Fran grins. “Lovely! I love Mac! And Fergus will be pleased he’s there as well.”
“Leith sure is,” Paisley says, rolling her eyes. “Did we tell you he’s making us bring bodyguards with us? Honest to God!”
Fran rolls her eyes. “As if the wedding will be a dangerous place or something?”
Islan sighs. “Or something.”
The dress was brought up this morning by staff, and hangs on a hook near Flora’s large ensuite bath.
“I can’t wait to see it, Bryn,” Fran says. “I imagined how it would look but without those final tucks you made, I couldn’t exactly picture it.”
“Go on, then,” I say with a smile. “Let’s see it.”
Right there in front of us, she strips straight away, tossing her clothes to Paisley.
“Hold them for me, will you? Bridesmaid duty!”
Paisley smirks, loosely folding the clothes as they come sailing over to her.
Fran steps into the gown, and I help her bring it up.
“Now, then,” I say gently. “You’ll have to have the proper undergarments. A nice, lacy pair of knickers. A push-up bra. Some garters. Are you prepared?"
“Oh, aye,” she says. “Fergus picked them out himself.”
Islan rolls her eyes and Paisley pretends to gag herself, but I only laugh.
“Excellent.” I brush her hair off her shoulder, to finish zipping, when we hear voices.
“Knock, knock.”
Mac and Tate come in the room. "Found your mobile, Bryn.
One of the staff said it was at the kitchen table after dinner last night.
They didn't know whose it was, so they asked around, and couldn't find the owner.
It was still in the kitchen this morning, no one's touched it. " He hands it to me with a smile.
“You boys shouldn’t be in here,” Paisley scolds. “If you’d come in ten seconds earlier, you would've seen Fran in her knickers!"
For some reason, that makes Tate glare at her, and his eyes quickly swivel to Fran. Were they more than friends at one time?
“Ah, thank goodness, the fit’s perfect," I said to her. "How do you feel?"
“I feel like a princess!” she says with a grin. "I literally feel as if Cinderella's godmother herself waved a magic wand and made my dress appear. I half expect a pumpkin to turn into a carriage, and a pair of glass slippers to appear on my feet.”
Tate folds his arms across his chest and leans against the dressing table. “Are you seriously walking into a church dressed like that?”
Fran looks at him in surprise, blinking. “What business is it of yours?"
Even Mac looks a bit surprised at him. “She looks fine, brother.”
“Looks like her tits’ll fall straight outta that dress,” Tate says, scowling, before he turns on his heel and stalks away.
Fran sits down heavily, and her face falls.
“What a prick!” Islan says, her eyes flashing.
Paisley looks stunned. “He’s never like that. What on earth?” She glares at Mac as if he’s the one responsible. “He’s usually the nice brother!”
Mac rolls his eyes, then looks at me in surprise. Neither one of us knows what to make of it.
Fran only shakes her head. "Not sure many of you know this, but your brother and I had a very brief dating experience last summer.
Very brief. It was before I met Fergus, and it never went anything beyond a cup of coffee.
I just… I can't really explain what happened.” She bites her lip.
“But he hasn't really been very friendly since.”
“Reealllly,” Mac says, not even bothering to hide his surprise. "And when exactly was this?"