The Willing Hostage
an excerpt

"Gerry!"
The man looked nothing like a Gerry.
Sakura stayed back on the front steps as her best friend ran to her brother, throwing herself at him with abandon the moment he stepped out of the cab. He put one arm around her, leaning his head over her shoulder, his eyes closed. Six years had passed since brother and sister had last seen each other and Sakura could only imagine what each was feeling now that they were reunited.
Jason squirmed in her arms, giving a mewling cry when he realized that it was not his mother holding him. The two-week-old boy was fair-haired and pale like his father, resembling neither Janey nor her brother, who were both dark-haired and dark-eyed. Though she had known Janey for nearly seven years she had never met the brother she had heard so much about. Janey was forever upset when he hadn't come to her wedding six years ago, which was the event that sparked their separation. The brother disapproved of her choice of husband but could not deny his nephew. Or at least that was what was in the email his solicitor had sent when Janey read it out loud to her the day after she and Jason got home from hospital.
Tears slid down Janey's cheeks as she turned, grasping her brother's arm tightly to lead him to her house. It was all new to him and she pointed out the landscaping and then the pretty brick of the house and all of the windows.
"It's nothing like Gillebhrighde but then what is?" she asked him as they approached the house. "Sakura! He's finally here--I hope I haven't built him up too much. I wouldn't want you to be disappointed when you finally met him. This is my brother, Laird Gerard MacLaren, fifteenth Viscount of Gillebhrighde. Doesn't that sound fancy? But you can call him Gerry!" Janey looked absolutely beatific clasping her brothers arm to her chest, staring up at him with a childish delight in her eyes, as if it was Christmas morning and she had discovered that every present under the tree was for her.
Sakura was hardly disappointed at the real-life version of Janey's fanciful descriptions.
Shocked, taken aback, repulsed...that more aptly described what she felt staring into his unforgiving eyes as they stared back at her. At some point in his life he had been in some sort of accident--what kind she couldn't guess, but it had left him heavily scarred. She had looked at the pictures of family vacations and his early military career that Janey had gone over countless times in the last few days but the young man in those photos had been very handsome, with boyish good looks and a smile that could charm even in a one-dimensional photograph. Sakura had expected a matured and perhaps even dashing sort of man to have taken the place of that boy in the pictures. A disfigured cripple was what stood before her, almost imperceptibly leaning on his sister for balance.
His knuckles were white as he gripped the head of his cane, staring at her so intently that she swore he was reading her mind. The thoughts were unfair to him, thinking him almost ugly when it was obvious he couldn't help the fact that he had been injured and the marks were there on his face for everyone to see.
The expensive tailored suit fit his frame well and despite his obvious handicaps he seemed in top physical condition, not letting his unsteady gait stop him from staying fit. She couldn't imagine that he smiled like he used to. The way his lips were pursed so tightly in disapproval of her was enough to make her shy away from him, taking the slightest step back without even realizing it. She clutched Jason a bit tighter and he fussed, little arms flailing wildly.
Remembering herself, she forced a bit of a smile and said with difficulty, "It's so good to finally meet you, Mr. MacLaren."
"Mister?" he repeated. "It's been a long time since I've heard that," he said with a trace of disgust.
"Do you prefer Lord MacLaren? Or Viscount?" she asked, hurrying to cover up her blunder. She had never met anyone who held a title and had no idea what the protocol was. Janey was considered a Lady, but she had never gone by that title. "Forgive me..." Sakura's voice faded away, knowing it was too late to receive his good opinion. Why she cared was another mystery. His gaze shifted from her face--which had grown quite rosy now--to the small body wriggling in her arms.
"So this is my heir apparent?" he asked, smiling a bit for his sister's sake, looking down at her next to him. She nodded and took her son from her friend's arms, not noticing Sakura's look of relief and quick excuse for leaving them. Sakura had never been more relieved to go back into the house, running up to her room. She swore to herself she wasn't really hiding, but she couldn't even convince herself of that lie.
"Don't you mean heir presumptive?" Janey asked him, smiling down at her son before offering him to her brother to hold. "He'll only be viscount if you don't have children and you must have in mind to marry some day! You can't be alone forever."
"Yes, Janey, I can and quite happily. What woman would have me anyway?" he asked absently, concentrating on the task of holding his nephew for the first time, his cane hooked over his arm. He stared down at the little face and big blue eyes staring back at him. "I'm surprised he hasn't started crying."
She scoffed and batted gently at his arm. "Why would he do such a thing? He knows he'll grow up to look just like you and be thankful to be so blessed!"
"Janey..."
Her smile faded when she saw the way he was looking at her and the tone he had used to say her name. "What, Gerry?"
"Unless you've suddenly become daft and blind, no one wishes to look like I do."
She was quick to cry, her emotions running wild this day. Swallowing hard to try to get rid of the lump in her throat, she rose on tiptoe as she held his face in her hands and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll always be bonnie and braw to me, brother." She didn't wait for him to respond, though he opened his mouth to do so, and held his arm to steady him as she continued with her tour, ignoring his attempts to say whatever it is he wanted to say. "And here's the front door...well, you can see that, can't you? It's nothing special. Come on, don't lag!"

"I have an announcement to make."
Everyone turned their attention to the viscount as he got to his feet where he sat at the head of the table, lifting his wine glass in his hand. He looked at each of them one at a time and then said very seriously but not without a bit of drama, "I've decided it's time that I married."
Janey gasped in delight and asked who the girl was. Her husband glared at his brother-in-law for making the speech so dramatic.
And Sakura could still remember the way his hands had felt around her throat and could barely look at him.
"You know her very well, sister. My fianceé is your lovely companion...Miss Bovet. Shall we have a toast?" He took a long drink of the wine, staring at the young woman as he did so.
"What? This is so unexpected! When did this happen? Why didn't you let on?" The questions tumbled out of Janey's mouth, not stopping for answers and all at once getting up and going to her friend to hug her. She kissed the girl's pale cheek and once again hugged her tightly. "This is wonderful! I couldn't be happier! Just think of it, we're going to be sisters!"
Janey's husband continued to glower at the other man, wondering exactly what his game was. Then he cast an uneasy glance in his wife's direction. "You look a bit stunned, Sakura. You were aware of this, weren't you?" Michael sniped.
"Michael!" Janey admonished. She laughed at him and told her best friend, "Don't mind him! He just thinks of you like a sister and doesn't want to lose you. Nor I! But you'll be in good hands with Gerry. I just can't believe this!"
"I can't believe it either," Michael bit out, clearly furious. He glared at Sakura, his mouth tight, eyebrows raised.
"Something bothering you, Forbes?"
Michael's head jerked around and he met the challenging gaze of his brother-in-law. "In fact, yes." He stood up to feel a bit more commanding and stated, "By Sakura's noted lack of reaction, I have a feeling this is not an agreement that was a mutual decision--if a decision at all! I know how you love to bully people into agreeing with you and it galls you that your sister married me, but I will not let you take advantage of Sakura. She belongs with us, in our home, for as long as she wants and I will not let you take her against her will!"
Janey's eyes widened in surprise at her husband's vehemence. Then she looked at her brother and saw him flush with anger and wondered exactly what was going to happen if they came to blows. For a moment she thought that Gerry would be at a disadvantage and then quickly realized he would kill Michael if he had half the chance. She was briefly distracted when she realized that her friend was trembling and still had yet to say a word about any of it. "Sakura?" she whispered, bringing their faces close so she could look straight into her eyes. "Is everything all right?"
Tears glistened in her eyes before she stood up, pushing Janey gently out of her way. Everyone now turned their attention to her and waited for whatever it was she was going to say. She refused to look at Michael and focused on the man at the head of the table--a position he had taken from his sister's husband with little trouble when he arrived at their home over a week ago.
Sakura Bovet hadn't met the viscount before that time and now he was announcing to the dinner party that they were going to be married. "It's true...I'm going to marry him, Michael. He didn't bully me. He asked me and I accepted his proposal. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon and are going to be married within the month. For the time being he will return to Gillebhrighde and I'll stay in Stromness. I hope you'll be my matron-of-honor, Janey."
Her friend was crying and laughing at the same time, her hands clasped together in excitement. "Of course! I wouldn't dream of missing it! But how can we plan a wedding in such a short time? Do you have to leave so soon? It must have been love at first sight--you were so good at keeping it secret. But how could anyone resist having my brother as their husband? And you will make such a wonderful wife." Janey sounded nearly hysterical. It was a mess of hormones from just having a baby and seeing her brother after so long and realizing her best friend was going to be leaving her. It was all too much and Sakura could only put her arms around her and pet her hair. "I really am happy! I'm just so emotional and I can't seem to stop crying!"
Sakura smiled weakly, saying she understood while her eyes settled on the man now seated once again at the end of the table. He was staring at her very intently, his mouth drawn in a tight line. She was more than terrified of him and had been since the moment she had met him only a week ago. During that time she had found out just how vigilant and watchful he was. He hated her and that was all that she knew of Gerard MacLaren. She didn't know when his birthday was, didn't know his occupation, if he had a middle name. There was no engagement, but he was taking her away tomorrow. There was no ultimatum, she didn't have a choice if she wanted to actually go. She loved Janey far too much. In a way she was relieved that the situation was now out of her hands. She had never had any control over it and in only a few moments of confrontation MacLaren had taken care of everything. But he still hated her and wouldn't listen a word of her side of the story.
The other dinner guests--all business friends of Michael's and a couple that lived in the house next door--were also smiling but it was stupid to think they didn't feel the tension in the room. The way Michael was fingering his wine glass, his jaw clenched tightly, the way Janey was crying and most of all the hatred that radiated from MacLaren.
"I think that dinner is over," he stated bluntly, standing up and taking his cane. "If you all will excuse me, I have things to take care of before my bride-to-be and I depart. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Good evening." He turned and left the room, not a care in the world of the pain in Sakura's eyes or the rage in Michael's.
Janey's husband looked to Sakura and shook his head as she watched his mouth form the word bitch. She looked away quickly and closed her eyes, willing the world to disappear for just a few moments.