Read Online Claire Delacroix by The Bride Quest Series 3-Book Bundle - Free Book Online

could rant, Connor pushed the blade aside with one determined fingertip. He was not at all certain Gavin would permit the move, but breathed a silent sigh of relief the other man did.
    His cold eye must not be without effect, even in these days.
    Encouraged, Connor cleared his throat and spoke sternly, as though he addressed a wayward child. “You cannot expect me to abandon the chambers of a lifetime at your whim. Had you informed me sooner of your wishes, I would have removed my belongings earlier this day.”
    To Connor’s delight, Gavin did not seem to know what to say.
    “As ’tis, the hour is too late to stir the help.” Connor inclined his head slightly. “First thing on the morrow, Ishall prepare the chamber for you—” he gritted his teeth to utter the next words “—as befits Tullymullagh’s new lord.”
    As Connor had anticipated, those last words stole the last of the wind from Gavin’s sails. The man looked around the chamber greedily, then narrowed his eyes as he looked at Connor again.
    “I shall hold you to an accounting of the solar’s contents,” he growled. “By noon on the morrow.”
    Connor’s lips twisted wryly. “I would have expected no less.”
    “And your daughter, she must become a suitable lady of the estate for my son.” Gavin continued. “Burke shall have no impulsive creature by his side, but a woman who can be relied upon to see his home in order.”
    Connor bridled at the insinuation that his daughter was less than perfect, but Uther stepped forward. “We have already begun such tutelage,” he lied and Gavin grunted his approval.
    “Good. Then, we all understand each other.” Gavin’s eyes narrowed as he looked back to Connor. “I shall have your hide if that bed is moved, or that chest, or that inlay trunk or—”
    “I shall take only those belongings most personal,” Connor interrupted crisply. Uther looked positively lethal over the vulgarity of this transaction, but Connor gestured for the loyal steward to say naught.
    Indeed, Connor would ensure the one token of value was gone so completely as to not even be missed.
    “There will be no trick?” Gavin demanded with a suspicion that made Connor fear anew that his thoughts had been discerned. “You will not lock me in the hall below once more if I leave?”
    Connor’s lips thinned and he spoke with great precision. “I give you my word of honor.”
    Gavin snorted. “Words!” he sneered. He jabbed his sword through the air at the older man. “I shall take my rest on the floor directly below, that you or your wayward daughter cannot deceive me again. This chamber shall be mine by noon on the morrow, Connor
once
of Tullymullagh, make no mistake.”
    He leaned closer, brandishing the sword. “And do not push the limits of what you deem
personal
effects.”
    Connor held the man’s gaze stubbornly as Gavin shoved his blade back into his scabbard. Gavin turned and stalked to the doorway, pushing aside the scandalized steward.
    “Make no mistake yourself, Gavin Fitzgerald,” Connor uttered with quiet resolve. Gavin paused on the threshold to look back. “I shall always be
of
Tullymullagh. ’Tis in my blood, as ’tis not in your own.”
    The two men’s gazes held for a long charged moment. Perhaps something of Connor’s old indomitability shone in his eyes, for Gavin evidently thought better of arguing the point.
    Then mercifully, the man swore and was gone.
    “Barbarian,” Uther muttered under his breath.
    “Beyond doubt,” Connor agreed. The exchange had left him newly decisive, and the path before him lay clear. “Summon Brianna. I will not have her slumbering in any ways near that man. She has defied him—as have I—and I imagine this Gavin is not one to forget a slight.”
    ’Twas as good an excuse as any to see his daughter close at hand, though Connor did not truly believe that even Gavin would sully a prize destined for one of his sons.
    Uther, though, inhaled sharply at the very prospect,