It didn’t take long before the servants brought up two trays of food left over from the wedding feast. The meal was set on the round table before the hearth. Jack joined Adaira, and they sat in their rumpled wedding clothes before a dancing fire and finally ate their fill.

It was a quiet meal, but there was nothing strained about it. Adaira realized she and Jack could have moments together in silence that were just as comfortable as the ones filled with conversation. Or even arguments.

“I have a request,” Jack finally said, pushing his plate aside.

“Yes, Jack?”

He hesitated, staring into his wine, and she braced herself. She didn’t know why she was expecting him to let her down, to fail her in some way, but his hesitation kept her on her guard.

“I know we’re not sharing a bed,” he began, glancing at her. “And I wondered if you would grant me permission to spend the nights at my mum’s, so I may watch over her and Frae. Just until we solve the mystery of the missing lasses and justice is served. I am yours by day, but come night . . . I would like to stay with them.”

His request caught Adaira by surprise. She softened when she saw the worry lining his face. “Yes, of course. Do you want to go to them tonight?”

“No,” Jack said with a slight laugh. “I’m fairly certain my mum would skin me alive if I turned up to sleep in my old bed on my wedding night. She would no doubt think me a terrible lover to you, and then word would spread, and . . . no.”

Adaira smiled. “Ah, I see. Then would you like for me to send a guard to stay with them tonight?”

“I’ve thought about it, but no. Because if you grant such a thing for my sister, then you would need to grant it to every lass in the east. I don’t want any special favors because I’m bound to you.”

“I understand your reasoning,” Adaira said, “but if you change your mind, let me know. And you don’t need my permission to go stay at your mum’s.”

“Don’t I?” he countered, looking at her. “You’re my wife and my laird.”

“So I am,” she whispered. “How did this come to be?”

He smiled, as if he felt the same awe. “I haven’t the slightest inkling, Adaira.”

They fell silent again.

“There is something else I would like to ask you,” Jack said, breaking the quiet.

She knew what it was. She had been waiting for it, and she could hear it in his voice, a tremor of uncertainty.

Adaira exhaled a long breath, her gaze straying to the fire. “Ask me, and I will answer you, Jack.”

“Who is he?”

He being Callan Craig.