"Gavin finally clears his throat to fill the awkward silence. "Tavish, Lorne. Will you permit me to introduce--" The large man--Lorne--laughs, and it's a deep rumble in his chest. "Permit me. Well, la-di-da Lord-I-Have-an-Earldom." "Don't be an arsehole, Lorne," Tavish says. "There's a lady present, for god's sake, man." Then he looks at me. "I'm Tavish--uh, Mr. Gray." He smacks his companion in the stomach, who lets out a hearty oof. "And this impolite son of a bitch is Mr. Candish." "If you call me Mr. Candish," Lorne says, "I won't bother responding." "Well," Gavin says, "after that unseemly introduction . . ." He gestures to me. "This is Lady Aileana Kameron." He turns to Kiaran, rather reluctantly. "And you've already seen Kiaran, who is--" "Leaving," Kiaran interrupts briskly. "My threshold for human tolerance is now exceeded. Send the pixie for me in the event I get to stab something." With that, Kiaran turns on his heel and strides out of the room. Damn him."