Chapter 21 A Ray of Sun
A RAY OF SUN
Lachlan doesn’t visit me for the rest of the day. I’m slightly upset having gotten used to him appearing in my room.
Mostly, I enjoy the break. I can breathe better when he’s not around. I text Lorna for that tour of the castle. She shows me the bottom floor where there’s a ballroom, cigar room and bar, kitchen, staff rooms, and the orangery of course.
I meet Chef Henri, who is in fact French, complete with a curly mustache.
He shows me additional refrigerators with desserts and cheese and fruit snacks at the ready should I desire any.
The second floor has the gallery, formal dining, and gathering room, Lachlan’s study, and a beautiful, much statelier library than the enchanting one in the tower. It also has bedrooms.
She treats me to the service elevator, pretending she wants to use it for herself when we go to the third floor.
It’s mostly bedrooms, including the one Lachlan carried me to upon my arrival and where we had our first sexual interaction.
It was the only bedroom door that was open, which is how I recognized it.
These are all for guests, Lorna explained. Is there a reason why he didn’t take me to his bedroom or was it simply too many floors to climb?
We enter a gathering room that matches the size of the gallery directly below.
The grand staircase is visible from here, along with another informal dining room in the same place as the fancier one on the floor below.
Kat had come out of a bedroom on this floor, but I haven’t seen her since.
I also haven’t met the infamous Tessa and can’t help but wonder if she’s hiding from me.
Lorna doesn’t bother to show me the fourth floor, explaining it’s only more bedrooms in addition to mine and Lachlan’s. She also says Lachlan gave me permission to use his mother’s library whenever I want and that tomorrow I can ride if I desire.
My heart melts a little more for him. I hate that he’s being nice to me. I could handle his hot and cold temper and sexual advances because it only made me hate him more. But this behavior makes me like him, and that won’t do.
It doesn’t help that Lorna’s tour includes stories of Lachlan when he visited here as a child.
He didn’t come often, having grown up in London.
But he stayed here more frequently after the attempted kidnapping when he was seventeen and his mom grew even more paranoid.
I told her I knew about it, which had her eyes widening with surprise before she treated me to a fond smile, as if it meant something special that Lachlan confided in me.
According to her tales, Lachlan was a rambunctious child who absorbed everything thrown his way, from sports to books.
He was intelligent and always in search of more to do and learn.
When his father was killed, he grew withdrawn and focused.
His entire existence was about protecting his mother and her legacy.
He never harbored ill feelings toward his new stepfather or stepbrother.
He adored Rory and grew fiercely protective of him.
The once exuberant boy had become a business-driven man on a mission.
Instead of going to my room, I tell Lorna I’d like to read in the orangery.
She insists on bringing me soup and baps—rolls—for lunch, setting it up on a rollaway table near the cushioned wicker sofa I found tucked behind a row of lush shrubs and ferns.
Farther back, I spotted a pond with lily pads and a few palm trees.
The scent of citrus and foliage takes me back home.
I love how this room is dedicated to nature, complete with ivy growing on the stone walls.
Closing my eyes, I pretend I’m home, but it doesn’t bring me the comfort I expected. Instead, I picture roaring seas, breaking waves against rocks, a snow queen bedroom, and a tower library.
I eat my soup and read an eBook on my phone but find my thoughts drifting to Lachlan. I want to know more about him. How to go about that without seeing him though.
I got it! I lie sideways on the wicker sofa with my head on the arm pillow and cross my legs at the ankles, the soles of my boots at the edge of the cushion.
Emery: What other businesses do you own?
A moment later he replies.
Lachlan: Why?
Emery: I want to know.
I want to know you better.
Lachlan: I thought you were reading.
He’s keeping tabs on me like the control freak he is. I wonder if I could hide from him in this castle. What would he do then?
Emery: Never mind.
I pull up my book.
Lachlan: I’m a partner at 5 businesses. 3 in America. The distillery obviously, and one in London.
Three in America? My lips pull in with anger.
Emery: Sounds like you were shopping around for the best deal. What made you choose little ol’ me? Or was my dad the only man willing to sell you his company?
The words hit me like a wake-up slap to the face. Ding, ding, ding. You win a trip to Scotland, complete with a self-serving husband who settled for the only family that would bite.
I sit up, my boots smacking the cement floor with a thud. Holy crap, I’m right. And to think, for a moment I’d been content with my situation and with him.
Now I’m ready to jump out of my skin. This shouldn’t bother me.
I’m not here for a happy marriage or love.
I signed my life over for my trust fund.
I shoot to my feet. Wait. I have my trust fund at my disposal.
I can go and do whatever I want. Sort of.
Maybe. If I could escape here, would I have to live in disguise until this feud between the MacReids is over?
And why do I feel like fleeing would upset Lachlan’s mother, like she’s a ghost in this castle aware of everything that takes place?
I’d upset Lorna too, which turns my stomach with regret.
She opened up to me about Lachlan today.
I’m certain she wouldn’t have unless she felt I was worthy.
My relationship with Lachlan and this place is becoming so confusing.
“Hello?” A man with a Scottish accent calls out. “Emery?”
Rory? “Back here!”
He rounds the shrubbery, his green eyes bright with an inner glow. He’s such a softer looking version of Lachlan. “I heard you were in here.”
“From Lachlan?” I cross my arms. He sends his brother to smooth things over. Coward.
“From Lorna.” It still could have been Lachlan who reached out to her first.
“Are you busy?”
That piques my interest. “Why?”
“I need to check on something at the distillery and thought you might like to see it.”
“Right now?”
He gives me half a grin. “Yeah.”
“Lachlan won’t care?”
He inches closer and lowers his voice. “It’ll be our secret.”
Excitement rushes my insides. “How?” I whisper.
“He’s busy with a meeting all afternoon. If we’re back before five, he’ll never know.”
Is this for real? “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
He laughs. “I’ve gotten into worse, trust me. And Lachlan is more bark than bite.”
“For you maybe.” I recall the way he feasted on my breasts to the point that my skin was marked.
“What do you say?” The mischievous glint in his eyes is contagious.
“What about the food?” I gesture to the table. “If Lorna comes to get it, she’ll wonder where I went.”
“I’ll have another staff member take it. She won’t know, but we have to go quickly.” He tips his head to the side where there’s a door.
My lips rub together with my nerves, then I blurt, “Okay.”
“Shhh.” Rory smiles and takes my hand. He guides me out the door.
Salty wind lashes my cheeks and sends my long hair in all directions. I catch it and hold the strands in one hand. No rain falls, but the overcast sky and bite of the breeze causes me to shiver.
We round the stone landing that encircles the castle and sprint up the side toward the front.
Rory opens the door to a black Range Rover parked near the entrance. “Get in, quick.”
I do and am thankful for the stillness. Two raincoats lie across the center console.
Rory climbs in, closing the door and sealing us in from the crazy weather.
“This is for you.” He hands me one of the jackets and starts the engine.
“Thanks.” Was this planned or do they always keep two in the car?
I stare up at the castle as we drive away, turning my neck like an owl, watching for Lachlan to run out and chase after us.
Soon we’re too far away for me to see the door to the castle. “This is crazy,” I murmur more so to myself, even as a smile breaks across my face.
“A little crazy never hurt anyone.” Rory’s accent is cheery and kind like him, versus Lachlan’s brooding, sexy English brogue.
The tree-lined entrance disappears when we turn left and cut down a long, deserted road with low hills of green on either side as far as the eye can see. Rain sprinkles from the overcast sky, speckling the front windshield.
“Do you want the heat on?” he asks and turns the music up a little. Something Scottish but alternative plays.
“I’m good.” I pull the jacket onto my lap. “Are you sure we won’t get in trouble?” Me more than him.
“One of Lachlan’s business partners called with an emergency. He’ll be busy for a while.”
Is that why he didn’t text me back? “I hope everything is okay?” Do I really?
“I’m sure it will be. Lachlan is brilliant at finding solutions.”
“And what are you brilliant at?” I ask. “Everyone is great at something.”
This makes Rory give me an appreciative smile. “I’m good at keeping the peace.”
“I agree.” I bounce in the seat as we race down the hilly road.
“I’m also great at maths,” he says with the UK s, “code cracking, and stirring up trouble.”
“Definitely trouble. What kind of codes do you crack?”
“Cryptograms and anything else I can get my hands on.”
We hit a bigger hill that sends me off the seat and into the air. I squeal with laughter.
“Sorry. I’m used to this. I can slow down if you want.”
“No. I like it. So how far away is the distillery?” My phone hasn’t vibrated in my pocket. It would if Lachlan knew I’d left.
“Twenty more minutes.”