Alex took a step toward him. “But you suspected, didn’t you? And turned a blind eye because it suited your needs.”

“You don’t know her at all if you think I had anything to do with it—Joan has her own mind.”

He was undoubtedly right about that.

“But you helped her,” Alex countered. “You taught her how to defend herself and wield that knife.”

“Because I knew she would do it anyway, and I wanted her to be prepared. I was trying to protect her, damn it.”

Alex didn’t want to hear MacRuairi’s bloody excuses. Alex looked at his former compatriot, at the man whose respect he’d fought so hard to earn. Though why the hell he’d wanted it so badly, he didn’t know. MacRuairi was the antithesis of everything Alex believed in. But at times Alex had thought he’d seen more. He thought he’d glimpsed the man who a great hero like Bella MacDuff could see something in. “How could you, Viper? After what they did to Bella, how could you let Joan put herself in such danger? Do you want to see her in a cage, too?”

There was no mistaking the flinch this time—moonlight or not. MacRuairi lowered his blade completely, perhaps not even realizing it. “I told you I didn’t have a choice. I’ve argued against it since I found out, but she and Bruce would not be gainsaid. But she’s good—the best. Joan can take care of herself. She’s escaped detection for a long time.”

“Until now,” Alex pointed out.

MacRuairi’s eyes narrowed. “I warned her to stay away from you. I knew when you were spotted together in the village there would be trouble. What did you do? Trick her? Use your Sir Galahad routine to lure her in so you could betray her as well?” Another possibility appeared to occur to him and the knife lifted again. “If you touched her, I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

“It’s a little late to play the concerned father, don’t you think? And I have no intention of betraying her, I love her, you bloody arse, and she loves me.”

Looking completely poleaxed by Alex’s claim, MacRuairi didn’t say anything for a moment. But then his mouth turned in a slow sneer. “Are you so sure about that? Joan has been playacting a long time.”

Alex wasn’t sure about anything, but he wouldn’t let the other man see it. “Do you think she would agree to marry me if she didn’t?”

MacRuairi hesitated, contemplating the question. “She might if she didn’t think she had any other choice. If you were threatening her with something. Is that it? Did you threaten to uncover her to force her to marry you?”