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“He’s embarrassed, ye ken.” Angus reached over and patted his knee. “Ye’ve been under a strain, lately, what with the plotting and such. It’s nae wonder yer a mite off yer game.”
“I am not off my game,” Graeme growled.
“That bump on your forehead states otherwise,” Royal said.
“As for you,” Graeme said, rounding on his brother, “did you and Grant lose your bloody minds? How in God’s name could you allow Sabrina to walk into that rolling disaster? What if something had happened? The king would have seen us all hang, as would her father.”
Royal held up his hands. “Grant and I tried to talk her out of it.”
“Happens the lass didna give us much of a choice,” Angus added. “Plus, she was the one with the blunt, laddie.”
“The lass is well able to speak for herself,” Sabrina said. “And it’s true that I did not give them a choice. It was clear from Old Bill’s note.... And really, I am so tired of calling him Old Bill—”
“Since you’re never going to see him again, it doesn’t matter what you call the bastard,” Graeme interrupted.
“Now, children,” Royal said. “No fighting in the carriage.”
“Oh, sod off,” Graeme snapped.
Sabrina bristled like a hedgehog, which he found rather adorable.
“Everyone was doing their best under trying circumstances,” she said in a frosty tone. “Bill had threatened tokillyou, and I was the only one with enough money on hand to provide a ransom.”
“Och, he wasn’t going to kill me.”
She lifted a challenging eyebrow. “Do you wish we’d taken that chance?”
“When it comes to you, yes,” Graeme snapped. “My brothers and my grandfather know how to take care of themselves. You, however, have no experience in dealing with the criminal underworld, despite your demented insistence otherwise. You have put yourself in danger, time and again. It’s got to stop, Sabrina, before things truly go wrong.”
Rather than accepting his entirely justified reprimand, Sabrina leaned across the gap, her eyes glittering with blue fire. She wagged a finger at him, mere inches from his nose.
“You are not my father, sir, so you may keep your lectures to yourself. In fact, I suggest you keep your interfering opinions to yourself from now on. Furthermore—”
Graeme clamped his hands around her slender shoulders and dragged her closer, until they were all but nose to nose. “Do you not understand, you daft lass? You could have been killed. Killed. Can you even begin to comprehend what that would mean to me? Toanyonewho loves you?”
Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes actually crossed as she tried to focus on him. For a long moment, they stared at each other, both panting as if they’d raced up the hill to Heriot Row on foot.
Royal broke the charged silence. “There’s no need to roar, Graeme. You all but blew the ribbons out of the poor girl’s hair.”
“And ye’d best put her back down on the seat,” Angus said. “Unless ye’ll be puttin’ her on yer lap, instead.”
Graeme blinked, and Sabrina flushed a fiery red that was visible even in the dim light of the carriage lamps. Since hehadpractically yanked her onto his lap, he carefully eased her back onto the opposite bench, smoothing the folds of her opera cloak down over her arms.
“Sorry,” he muttered, feeling like ten times a moron.
“It’s fine,” she replied in a breathless tone. “It’s been an upsetting evening for all of us. You’re a little . . .”
“Fashed?” Royal dryly finished.
Graeme cut him another dirty look but refrained from rising to the bait.
“It was distressing for all of us, ye ken. But ye have to admit her ladyship did well.” Angus beamed at Sabrina. “Yer a born negotiator, lassie. Ye had Old Bill on the ropes, ye did.”
Graeme made a concerted effort to remain calm—not easy, since his family was driving him crazy. “Yes, but you also lost a considerable sum of money and your earrings. I’m truly sorry for that.”
Although obviously still rattled, Sabrina gave him a shy little smile. It made him long to pull her onto his lap and kiss her into melting submission. Thank God he wasn’t alone with her, because he probably wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation.
“The money is nothing,” she said, “and the earrings were not particularly special. Certainly not compared to securing your safety.”
