Chapter Thirty-Five

Alex

Since Cat is wearing Aidan's clothes, which are far too big for her, we make a quick stop at a discount clothing store on the way to the airport. It's the only place open at eight o'clock in the morning. She buys a pair of skintight trousers that she calls leggings. They look more like tights to me, but she insists they're real clothes suitable for public viewing. The oversize T-shirt she picks out hangs below her hips. I suspect she chose that shirt because I complained about her choice of so-called trousers.

We all shower on the jet, on our short trip to Nevada to pick up Henry and Imogen.

They're thrilled to see us, even though we tell them about the Reginald problem and the fires at my house and my old office. My parents love the idea of spending more time with me and Cat, but they know we're exhausted from the morning's events. They watch the on-board telly, using headsets to hear it so they won't disturb the rest of us.

We fall asleep on various pieces of furniture. Logan collapses on the sofa. Lachlan sits sideways on a chair, with his legs draped over the adjacent chair. Soon, he's snoring. Rory sits in a chair the proper way, but his head lolls to the side when he falls asleep. Aidan decides to lie on the floor.

Cat and I take the bedroom.

I wake up when the jet begins its descent toward landing, but I let Cat sleep until we've touched down.

A limousine is waiting for us on the tarmac.

Rory had made the call to arrange for a car while we were still in the air. He'd also warned the other MacTaggarts I was coming. Those Scots might dislike me, but I know they won't assault me given what's happened. They aren't bastards like me.

I'm in Scotland again. I've never spent more than four consecutive days in the country, and that had been on my first visit when Logan and Serena insisted I stay to celebrate their engagement with them. Their wedding had taken place in America.

Cat holds my hand as we exit the plane. She keeps holding it while we get into the limousine and during the entire trip to Rory's castle. When the car stops inside the castle walls, in the gravel drive, Cat lets go of my hand only long enough to get out of the car, then she reclaims it. I…don't mind. If I'm completely honest, which I admit is a rare thing for me, I would've wanted to hold her hand even if she hadn't initiated the contact.

My house is gone. Up in smoke, literally.

I still can't decide how to feel about that.

Henry and Imogen have been to Scotland before. They even honeymooned here, which I hadn't known.

"Why did you never mention that before?" I ask while we walk across the courtyard toward the house—the castle—where we'll all be staying. Though it's late according to UK time, the sun is still shining from low on the horizon.

"I don't know," my mother says. "It just never came up in conversation."

"But I introduced you to Cat, who is from Scotland."

"We were so happy to see you again that we didn't think about silly things like our honeymoon in Edinburgh."

Apparently, I still have a lot to learn about my parents.

Cat's brother Aidan comes up beside me. "If you need more clothes, you can always wear a kilt. It's very comfortable and lets everything swing free."

He makes a swinging motion in front of his groin.

"Thank you for the advice," I say, "but I'm afraid the pink kilt Cat gave me was destroyed in the fire."

"Oh, we've got plenty more." He winks. "Or maybe Cat will make you a lavender one this time."

I can tell he's trying to cheer me up, and that fact surprises me. One of Catriona's brothers wants to make me feel better. I glance up at the sky, sure the sun must have split in two. For any of her brothers to be nice to me seems like a sign of an impending apocalypse. I haven't tried very hard, or at all, to make peace with her brothers, so maybe Aidan's attempt to cheer me up has nothing to do with doomsday.

Cat squeezes my hand, making me look at her, and she smiles with genuine affection.

She's smiled at me that way a lot lately. It makes my chest feel like there's a large weight pressing down on it, but the sensation isn't bad. It ought to feel awful, but instead it makes me smile the same way at her.

Jamie and Gavin greet us at the door to the castle that masquerades as a house and a museum. Cat's youngest sister slapped me soundly the first time we met, but today she pulls me into a brief but firm hug. Once she lets me go, her husband shakes my hand and claps me on the shoulder. Fiona, Cat's older sister, also hugs me.

I suppose they feel sorry for me because my house burnt to the ground along with all my possessions. No need to play the pathetic, homeless urchin today. I've become a genuine one.

Catriona wants to show me around Dùndubhan and tell me about its history, but all I want to do is sleep. Since Cat yawns while she's suggesting the tour, I realize we both need a good night's rest. We fall asleep on a large canopy bed in a room inside a medieval castle.

When I wake up the next morning, I lie there staring up at the canopy while I consider the motives of Reginald Hewitt. He despises me, that much I know. But why has he gone on a vendetta to destroy me? He thinks I'm an irritating arse, but that hardly justifies his behavior.

Cat sighs the way she always does when she wakes up, the sound as delicate as a summer breeze. Maybe I haven't slept with her much since our reunion, but I remember every little thing she used to do when we lived together. She'll keep her eyes closed for a few minutes, though she's awake, and then she'll wriggle closer to me and drape half her body over mine. Since I'm lying on my back, that's what she'll do. If I were on my side, she would drape her leg over mine and cozy up to my chest. Once, I'd woken up on my stomach. Cat had laid her entire body on top of me that time.

Maybe I should roll over onto my stomach this morning.

Cat wriggles closer and drapes one arm and one leg over me, placing her head on my chest. Her hair tickles my skin, and I lift my head to push my nose into those silky locks and inhale the scent of them.

"Good morning, love," I say. "Care for a shag before breakfast?"

"I'd love to make love with you, Alex." She raises her head, aiming those beautiful blue eyes at me. "But we have too much to do. Better eat breakfast and get started."

"On what? We have no bloody idea where Reginald is." I clasp my hands at the small of her back, and though I shouldn't feel happy right now, I love the sensation of her breasts mounded against my chest and the warmth of her supple body pressed to mine. "We're to let the authorities handle the manhunt. Remember?"

"You don't want to lie around in bed while your arch-nemesis is out there."

"What would you suggest I do? I'm a grifter, not a bounty hunter."

She seals two fingers over my lips. "Donnae ever call yourself a grifter again. You're not like that anymore, not since you got away from your birth parents. You are a good man."

"Fine. I'm a sodding good man. Let's have a party to celebrate my law-abiding lifestyle." I sigh, but it sounds more like grumbling. "None of that helps us with our problem."

She smiles, her eyes twinkling. "You keep saying 'us' and 'we' and 'our.' You know what that means, don't you? We're a team."

My mouth hangs open, like I'm inviting every insect in Scotland to fly in there. Did I say those words? Us. Our. We. Yes, I did say that. I told my parents we're a couple, but I haven't included anyone else in my decisions for so long that I can't remember when I last did that.

"Yes, we are a team," I say. "For better or worse."

The second I speak those words, I realize I've recited part of the standard wedding vows. That is not what I meant. Not at all.

But the idea of marrying Cat doesn't disturb me.

"We need help," Cat says while drawing invisible, abstract patterns on my chest with her finger. "Luckily, the MacTaggarts can give us that help. We have every sort of expert you might possibly want or need. Logan is a covert operative, Evan designs surveillance and security devices, Rory is a solicitor, Aidan owns a construction company—"

"If we need your brother's construction expertise, then we're in worse trouble than I thought. Is he going to build us an underground bunker?"

She rolls her eyes at me but continues listing the skill set of every MacTaggart in creation. "Lachlan used to be a financial adviser, but he also has connections in government. So does Rory. And Gavin is an ex-Marine."

"But he's not a MacTaggart. You said your family can offer all the skills we need."

"Aye, and Gavin is my brother-in-law. That makes him a MacTaggart." She taps her finger on my chest. "May I go on? Or are you going to interrupt with another sarcastic comment?"

"Go on. But I reserve the right to heckle you."

She sits up, then swings one leg over me to straddle my hips and lays both hands on my chest. "Then there's Iain, who's an archaeologist like me. His wife, Rae, had a sheep ranch in Texas and now she and Iain have one at their home near Loch Fairbairn. She knows all about sheep, llamas, and horses. Oh, and they have chickens now too."

"Wonderful. We can hurl chickens at Reggie when he storms this castle. Or maybe we could have the sheep trample him while Iain excavates ancient bones that we can use to pummel Reginald."

"Rae went undercover to get Iain out of jail. And Keely stabbed the scunner who went after Evan."

"Hmm, yes. I'd almost forgotten about you MacTaggart women and your tendency toward violence. Even the Americans who are MacTaggarts by marriage have fiery tempers, but only you have that smoldering fire in your soul."

She kisses me. "Thank you, Alex. I'm glad you've gotten back to being your old self."

"I can't go back to the way I was. This is the new me, the bastard you like to punch."

"Only did that once. But you are becoming the old you again. Don't fight it, Alex, let it happen."

Should I do that? Not sure I can, but for her, I'll try. The old me had been a grifter too. It's something I can never cleanse from my nature because it's tattooed on my soul.

"Tell me more about the amazing MacTaggarts," I say. "I'm sure you have several thousand more cousins I haven't met."

"Not thousands." She slaps her palms on my chest, leaning into them. "My cousin Arran is an estate agent, which means he knows a lot of people since he's sold a lot of real estate. Then there's my cousin Callum, who's a fireman."

"Finally, someone who has a useful skill."

She seems to ignore my comment, tapping her chin while gazing at the headboard. "But I think my cousin Jack could be the most helpful to you. I'd rather not say why yet. You won't want to do it at first, but I'm sure Jack and I together can convince you to give it a go."

"Give what a go?"

She looks at me, her smile secretive and a touch smug. "You'll find out."

Cat slides off my body to hop off the bed.

"Where are you going?" I ask, pushing up on my elbows. "And where's the bloody toilet?"

"Down the hall," she says, tugging on the clothes she'd bought yesterday, the large T-shirt and skintight pseudo-trousers. "Follow me. We can have a shower first."

"Together?"

"Maybe."

"Only maybe?" I leap off the bed, rush to Cat, and sweep her up in my arms. "No, love. 'Definitely' is the correct answer."

She laughs while I carry her off to the bathroom.

Logan opens his bedroom door just as we pass by it. He smirks and covers his eyes with his hands. "Donnae need to see your erse first thing in the morning, Alex. Donnae ever need to see it, actually."

I carry Catriona into the bathroom and kick the door shut.