Highlander Most Wanted Read Online Free PDF Page B

Montgomery.”
    Many McHughs had stopped to listen to Genevieve’s careful explanation, and though they would never acknowledge her, she could see the relief in their eyes as they reasoned that her words made sense. Hope replaced the fear.
    There were a few who were more outspoken, and determined that Genevieve not be spared even a moment’s humiliation.
    “What does a whore know about the way a man thinks?” Claudia McHugh sneered.
    One of the McHugh men who stood close to Claudia chuckled. “She knows their thinking in one regard. ’Tis a well-known fact she spread her legs for Ian and whoever else was present.”
    Claudia and two other women snickered. “Aye, you have the right of it there. But whoring is all the lass knows. If Graeme Montgomery’s brothers want to be pleasured, the lass will spread her legs quick enough. For the Armstrongs, too, I wager.”
    “With a face like that, a lass has to compensate in other areas. If she’s good enough on her back, ’tis nomatter what her face looks like. A man can close his eyes.”
    More laughter rang out, and Genevieve died a little more. Inch by inch, they chipped away until soon there would be nothing left to salvage.
    Then a sound behind Genevieve made her turn, and the blood leeched from her face when she saw that Bowen Montgomery stood just a short distance away, flanked by his brother and the two Armstrong brothers as well.
    It was equally obvious that all four men had heard Claudia’s assessment, as well as the words of the McHugh man.
    Despair filled her heart and threatened to burst right out of her chest. She wanted to weep, but her tears had long since been spent, and they did no good. They never had.
    Never had she wished harder for the floor to open and swallow her whole. Never had she wished so hard that she had been murdered in the raiding party that had taken the rest of her escort.
    To the world, Genevieve McInnis was long dead, and now she wished with all her heart that it were true. Only then would she be able to escape the hell that was her daily existence.

C HAPTER 5
    Bowen’s nostrils flared and his lips twitched as he stared at Genevieve, watching as the life literally left her body, her eyes, her very soul.
    Never before had he seen death in the gaze of someone who wasn’t mortally wounded. But her eyes
were
wounded. The death blow was figurative rather than literal, but it had inflicted just as much damage.
    All the color fled her face. She was dangerously pale, and she swayed like a sapling in the wind.
    Tears filled her eyes, and he could see her biting into the inside of her cheek in an effort to call them back. Her hand went to her face, covering the scar, almost as if she sought to hide from the view and judgment of others.
    Here was a woman who despised being weak before others, and yet a line had been crossed that even she couldn’t pretend indifference to.
    Teague’s jaw twitched, and he glared a hole through the McHughs who’d been so loose with their tongues.
    Bowen waited, fully expecting Genevieve to defend herself, and perhaps he wanted to know what it was she would say. She didn’t strike him as a woman who had any issue with stating her mind. She’d certainly done so with him.
    Instead, she walked stiffly past him, her gait slow andpainful, as if it took everything she possessed just to remain standing. It was the shuffle of a much older woman, one wizened with age, the weight of an entire lifetime bearing down on her.
    Teague stared at the offending McHughs in disbelief. Brodie and Aiden both frowned, and then Brodie made a move toward Genevieve, but she glanced up, and when she saw Brodie take that step forward, she stiffened further and hurried at a faster pace out of the hall.
    Bowen shook his head, still unable to believe the overt animosity directed at a woman who should inspire pity in others. Not such hatred.
    The scar had been so vivid against skin so pale that, indeed, she’d looked more dead than