Page 77 of Defy the Highlander

She didn’t give up easily.

“I suppose you are correct,” she said. “It is men’s business, but I am interested in men’s business. Don’t you think that ladies should be curious about a man’s business?”

“Not if it doesna concern her, m’lady.”

“The safety of Hawkhill concerns me, Brody.” When he didn’t respond, she tried another tactic. “We shall share a morning meal together and you may tell me of your great plans for the manse.”

“I would prefer ye show me where I am tae sleep,” he said. “I have some organizing tae do before I assume my duties.”

Lady Currie liked that idea even better. She could take him straight to his bedchamber, which happened to be next to hers, and surely she could loosen his harsh stance from there.

It was time to show the man who was in command.

“Of course,” she said. “Come with me.”

She led him into the manse itself, the big gray-stoned edifice with three floors. She completely bypassed Laird Currie’s solar, even though they walked right past it, and headed up the spiral stairs to the next level.

This was where her chamber took up one entire side of the manse. There were four other chambers on this level and she took Brody to the chamber next to hers, throwing open the old oak doors to reveal a sparsely furnished room. There was a messy bed, a table, and little more. It was where Colly slept, but she was going to relocate the old woman starting today.

“I will have this cleaned immediately,” she told him. “I will have fresh straw brought in for your bed and a fire started in the hearth. Is there anything else you require?”

Brody walked into the chamber, looking around and realizing that someone else already lived here, but clearly, Lady Currie didn’t see that as a problem. He turned to her.

“I would rather sleep with the men,” he said. “Sleeping in the house isna a good location for the man in charge of the safety of Hawkhill. I will sleep with the soldiers. It is where I belong.”

He started to walk out but she quickly shut the doors, preventing him from leaving. “You will sleep where I tell you to sleep,” she said in a low voice, standing in front of the doors to block him. “I am in command now, Brody, and you will do what I tell you to do. You will sleep here.”

Brody had a feeling this entire morning had been coming to this.

After a tormented ride to Hawkhill, trying not to look at Lilia as she sat across the carriage from him, he’d been forced to keep company with Lady Currie since his arrival. The woman had gripped him tightly through every move they made, from their arrival into the bailey until this very moment. She was clingy and possessive, and Brody was losing patience by the second.

But he had something he had to do before he told the woman off.

Those sixty pounds sterling were in a trunk that Clegg had provided him, a trunk that also contained his skimpy belongings and was now sitting in the foyer of the manse. Sixty pounds sterling that he fully intended to deliver back to Laird Currie this very day.

He wasn’t going to spend one more moment here than necessary.

“M’lady, do other soldiers sleep in the house?” he asked.

She frowned. “Of course not.”

“Then why me?” he said. “Ye purchased my contract from Clegg and told him it was because ye wanted a seasoned warrior tae protect Hawkhill. If ye want me tae do my job, then I must be near the gatehouse. I must be where my duties are focused.”

Lady Currie’s smile was gone. “I want you in the house with me,” she said. “Is that so hard to understand?”

“I understand,” Brody said. “But just because I chose not tae bring my wife tae this place doesna mean I’m ripe for the picking. I am here tae assume control of yer soldiers and nothing more. Nothing more.”

Lady Currie’s pleasant demeanor snapped. “It was wise of you to leave your wife back at The Cal,” she said. “It would not have been enjoyable for her here, Brody. She would not have been able to sleep in the same chamber with you, in any case.”

“I left her behind for that very reason. I suspected ye would view her as yer competition when, in truth, there is no competition.”

Lady Currie’s jaw hardened. “You are sworn to me now,” she growled. “You must do as I say, and I say I want you in this chamber. Is that clear?”

“Who paid for my contract?”

“I did, you fool!”

“Where did ye get the money?”