“It has been long, would ye nae say, wife?”
Her eyes narrowed at the word. “Call me that again, and I will slap the words out of yer mouth.”
Nathan, one of the guards, stepped forward with his hand raised to strike.
Alasdair lifted one finger and shot him a glare. “Nay. Unless ye want to lose yer arm.”
When the guard stilled and retreated, Alasdair turned back to her, a ghost of a grin tugging at his mouth. “Hard to believe that the sweet daughter of Captain Blackwood has this much spite in her.”
Her jaw clenched. “Aye, well, there are also consequences for mentioning me faither’s name.”
He turned his head slightly toward Nathan. “Quite lovely, would ye nae say?”
“Quite,” Nathan uttered, nothing but frustration behind his pale blue eyes.
Alasdair looked back at her, tilting his head just a little. “Is that a reason to greet me? Did ye nae miss me, Lily?”
She blinked, then smiled as wide as possible. “Ye must forgive me, Alasdair. Because I thought—nay,hoped—that ye were dead.”
That hit him in the gut, but he didn’t let it show. His eyes roamed down her body again, and this time, she noticed.
She crossed her arms fast, and her lips pressed into a thin line. “I daenae ken what this is, what ye’ve come here to do with yer henchmen, but I want nothing to do with it. And nothing to do with ye.”
“But I told ye I’d return.”
“Ye forgot to mention it would taketenyears.”
He shrugged. “I deserve that. But ye ken I was never truly gone. A part of ye must have ken deep down that I was simply traveling and would return.”
She scoffed. “I couldnae care less if I tried.”
Nathan stepped forward again. “Do ye want us to gag her, me Laird? She is quite the disrespectful one.”
Lily turned her gaze on him, sharp as a blade. “I am a recognized healer in this village,” she said, her voice just as cold. “Ye’ll treat me with respect.”
Alasdair’s lips twitched. She really had grown.
Then, something flickered in her eyes. Realization.
“Wait,” she asked, her voice low and firm, “why is he calling yeme Laird?”
He smiled. “Because I am a laird.”
She laughed. “Ye werenae even the third in command when ye worked under me faither. Ye ken well that Captain Blackwood never trusted ye with anything.”
“He did trust me enough to marry off his daughter to me.”
“That was a mistake on me part,” she snapped. “I didnae ken I was marrying a bastard.”
One of the younger guards stepped toward her, anger on his face. Alasdair raised a hand again, making him stop with just a glance.
“Is that so?” he said quietly, turning back to her.
“Aye. I was a child. I used to think that all pirates were handsome.”
His grin returned. “Did ye now?”
She gave a light laugh, bitter at the edges. “Still do, in fact. Pirates, I respect. At least they daenae pretend to be more than they are. Lairds, on the other hand? Ihatethem.”
