Lachlan had hired one of the most sought-after bands in the world to play his Hogmanay party.
Shit, I didn’t even want to know what that cost him.
Before the band started, the guests were asked to come outside. As I watched everyone file toward the large main entrance in their coats, a warm hand clasped my elbow and I turned to find Robyn.
“Come on, you don’t want to miss this.”
“But I’m working,” I protested.
“Lachlan said everyone.”
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked loudly to be heard over the guests.
“Fire is a big part of Hogmanay celebrations. Every year, Lachlan hires fire dancers to put on a kickoff show on the driveway.”
Eyebrows raised, I let my sister drag me outside. Lachlan gestured her over to him, and I followed willingly until I realized he wasn’t alone.
Arro and Mac looked especially glamorous, Mac like Lachlan in his kilt, and Arro in a green gown that showed off a figure so elegant, she could be an advertisement for diamonds.
They weren’t the problem.
It was the other Scot in his kilt.
Thane.
“I thought he wasn’t coming,” I hissed in Robyn’s ear as she forced me along with her.
“Eredine hates Hogmanay, so she offered to babysit. Lachlan made him come.”
Wonderful.
As if he sensed my eyes on him, Thane turned from talking with Mac and looked directly at us. He stiffened as his gaze drifted down my body, taking in my staff uniform. I winced as he shot an accusatory look at his brother.
Obviously, Lachlan had failed to tell him I now worked at Ardnoch.
The flicker of orange light caught my attention just as gasps of delight filled the night air. Robyn’s hand closed around mine, refusing to let go, as we turned to watch the spectacle of the elegant fire dancers.
“Just ignore him and enjoy this.”
Thankfully, the procession of dancers down the long drive was hypnotizing as flames lit up the surrounding darkness. I made sounds of delight and amazement along with everyone else as fire-breathers shot massive fireballs into the air and fire dancers spun by them in aerial cartwheels while they twirled fans of fire in their hands.
Not long before it ended, one of my new colleagues, Andrew, approached to tell me Mr. Ramsay wanted all the staff back inside for serving food. That morning I’d rehearsed with the rest of the waitstaff because we wouldn’t enter the party with the trays of food and drink until the castle piper piped in a ceremonial haggis. The members wouldn’t be eating that haggis. They’d be eating fancy canapés with haggis wrapped in phyllo pastry drizzled in a whisky cream sauce.
While I envied them the food and drink and cheer, I was gladder than ever that I was working now that Thane was here. The guests would keep me busy, distracting me from looking for him every second.
I had to admit, as the bagpiper led the procession of the haggis, I got goose bumps. The pipes’ mournful rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” filled every inch of the reception hall. The servers holding the champagne moved through the crowd quietly. I was one of those servers, and having spotted the Adairs on the far side of the room near the entrance, I stuck to the opposite side. Once all my glasses were taken, I returned to an archway near the back of the hall.
When the piper finished, Lachlan strode up the main staircase and stopped on a step just below the band on the landing. The murmurs settled, and he gestured with his glass. “Thank you, honored guests,” his voice boomed around the room, his accent sounding more pronounced tonight, “for being here to celebrate Hogmanay at Ardnoch.”
A few cheers came from the members, and he grinned, waving his hand to settle them. A solemnity replaced his smile. “Not for many years has Ardnoch looked forward to a new beginning as it does tonight. The hardships of this year cannot be denied, and we’ll never forget them or my friend Greg McHugh.”
Greg, I knew, was the security guard killed by Fergus when Lucy was terrorizing Lachlan and Ardnoch.
At the emotion in Lachlan’s voice, tears stung my eyes.
“I cannot bring back Greg for his family, but I can thank him for protecting mine. It is a debt I can never repay …” He took a deep breath and continued, “Despite the loss and trauma of this year, as I stand here, I am nothing but grateful for my many blessings. To be surrounded by you all, friends who have shown me and Ardnoch such support.” His gaze drifted to Robyn. “To have Robyn by my side and her promise to stay at my side forever.”
Whistles rent the air, making him grin ruefully.
“To have my family here, safe and well,” he continued, “it’s all any of us can ask. And I wish nothing but the same for you, my friends. Tonight, we let go of yesterday and embrace new beginnings.” He raised his glass, and the guests followed suit. “May ye for’er be happy an’ yer enemies know it! Slàinte Mhath!” He pronounced the Scottish Gaelic for “cheers” as slanj-a-va.
“Slàinte Mhath!” the guests roared, and the band broke into the beginning chords of their biggest hit to date.
I watched Lachlan stop to shake hands with guests. All the while, his eyes were on Robyn. Just a few weeks ago, I’d imagined spending New Year’s Eve with Thane. Maybe sneaking away from everyone else to kiss at midnight. As I followed my new colleagues to collect fresh trays of drinks, I scoffed at the very idea. Perhaps in five years’ time, I’d be less bitter and at a Hogmanay much like this, I’d be able to clink my glass against his and wish him well.
I winced.
I did wish him well.
I would never wish Thane anything else.
But I wasn’t quite ready to wish it to his face.
36
Thane
“Brother, a word.” Thane didn’t care if he was being rude as he took Lachlan’s elbow and forcefully removed him from his conversation with the famous director, Merriam Burbanks.
“Excuse me,” Lachlan said before he was hauled away. “You can let go of me now.”
Thane released him, knowing his big brother would follow, as they moved swiftly through the crowd, their expressions warding off anyone who might approach to engage them in conversation. Thane searched through the famous faces to find Regan. She was in profile, flashing her pretty dimples at Roman fucking Bright, of all people. Even in the ridiculous livery Lachlan made his staff wear, she was appealing. And Bright seemed to think so as he stopped her from drifting away with her tray of champagne flutes. His lips were quirked in flirtation. The bastard was married, but Thane knew via Lachlan that the son of Hollywood legend Garret Bright was a well-known womanizer.
His gut twisted as he wrenched his gaze away, stormed from the party, and turned down the castle corridor toward Lachlan’s stage office. Once inside, he waited until his brother shut the door behind him.
“You said she wouldn’t be here.”
“I said she wouldn’t be a guest here.” Lachlan shrugged.
“You bastard. I can’t believe you hired her.”
Lachlan stared calmly at him. “Robyn is as good as my wife. Regan is her sister.”
“So you hired her? For how long? Until her visa expires?”
“No.”
Thane’s stomach dropped. “No?”