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“I still don’t know who Eamon is.”
“My baby brother. And your savior. Although now I’m really rethinking having listened to him.”
“I’d like to meet him,” I say. “Can he come for dinner?”
His response is an exasperated sigh.
“Does he like cookies?” I ask, keeping the subject off my prank. “Maybe I can send him something as a thank you.”
“No more kitchen for you. You’ll be on lockdown from here on out, chained to that bed of yours.”
Gaining free rein of the house was my best move in this whole game, baking in this glorious kitchen, curled up reading books on his cushy sofa, the gorgeous view of the sea just a turn of my head away—I can’t lose what little freedom I have!
“It was just a practical joke! You’ve been playing with me like a kid with a toy. I had to do something to stand up for myself.” Sheepishly, I nod toward the end of the hall. “I was only behind the shower curtain. Surely, we can come to some agreement.” I think quickly, something to appease him so I don’t lose access to his beautiful home. “What’s your favorite meal?—”
He holds up a massive palm to stop me.
“I’m too angry to talk right now.” His sea-colored eyes lock on mine, threats upon threats shining in his irises. “You have no idea the kind of men I almost called here to have a look for you. Or what they’d do to you when they found you.”
A shiver runs through me.
“Talk about something, anything, to calm me down.” He tears a piece of bread in half, shoving a massive amount into his mouth but somehow manages to chew politely. “Before I do something to you I might regret.”
Ice trips down my spine at his veiled threat. All the things he’s done to me up till now he hasn’t regretted. I’d hate for him to do something to me that he did. I think of the most mundane subject I can. Fiona pops in my mind, telling me to focus on something sexy.
Codfish.
“Well… do you have an issue with us at the research center trying to stop overfishing? Scotland used to have healthy populations of cod but due to fishermen netting the babies then letting them die instead of throwing them back, the population has been decimated.”
“You’re telling me that kids from around the world should be able to march onto this island, where my people have been living since the Vikings, do a bit of counting, then put laws on us to tell us how to live our lives? Put men out of jobs? Stop boys from providing for their mothers, feeding their siblings? Do you have any idea how those restrictions have impoverished our people? Next subject.”
“How’s the bread?” I ask.
“Delicious.” He nods. “Best I’ve had.”
A ping of feminine pride lights inside my chest. “Glad you like it.”
“The cookies were edible as well,” he adds.
“You should have taken some to your friends.”
He stares at me. “And just who would they have supposed had baked them? Me?”
The thought of him scraping cookies off a tray almost makes me smile till I remember how small my new life has become. “Oh yeah. I’m a secret.”
“A secret?” He grunts. “Secrets are easy to keep. You? Not so much. A troublemaker, more like.”
I change the subject, pushing for more information from this crime I’m the only witness to. “What did Clive have to do with the Kings, and what was in the research center you wanted destroyed?”
“You’re really not trying to help yourself, are you?” He grabs a second slice of bread.
He’s right. I seriously need someone to give me a lesson in self-preservation.
“Tell me about your family,” he says.
“What family?” I mutter the humiliating words before I can stop them from coming out.
I busy myself making us two cups of tea. I noticed this morning he takes his straight, so I leave the milk and sugar out of his. I push a hot mug across the table to him.
