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“God, no. Otherwise, he would have waited until I left the house and then snuck after me, just to prove he isn’t too old.”
“How did you manage to convince him to stay put?” Braden asked.
“Donella made it clear that she needed him to help guard the house in case the thugs tried to come after us, too.”
“Well done, Donella,” Braden said with a smile.
“Having once been kidnapped herself,” Logan dryly noted, “my wife has a nose for these sorts of things.”
“Donella was kidnapped?” Samantha exclaimed. “How awful.”
“We got her back, and everything was fine,” Braden said. “Just like we’ll get Felicity back, and she’ll be fine, too.”
“Still, I’m so sorry to bring such danger to your family’s doorstep. It’s dreadful.”
Logan patted her knee. “Samantha, you and Felicity are part of our family, too. Besides, we have a great deal of experience managing dangerous situations. We’ll come right again, never fear.”
Samantha let out a suspicious little sniffle. “You’re all so wonderful. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky.”
Braden ducked down and kissed her cheek, knocking her hat slightly askew. “I’m the lucky one. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come into my life.”
She rubbed the tip of her nose, before giving another little endearing sniff. “You would have been taking care of people, as you always do.”
“And cutting up gruesome objects and then endlessly relating the details,” Logan said, obviously trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“Not to mention giving lectures on disgusting ailments,” Kade added. “Really, Samantha, the Kendricks owe you a tremendous debt for taking the old boy off our hands.”
“Now if only we could find someone to take Kade off our hands,” Logan quipped. “If I have to listen to Handel’sMessiahone more time, I might throw myself out a window.”
“Philistine,” Kade replied. “People empty their pockets to hear me play.”
Logan elbowed him. “Especially the ladies, eh? I bet they’d payquitea lot for a private concert.”
“Donella’s right,” Kade replied. “You are a Highland barbarian.”
“Why do you think she married me?”
When Samantha huffed out a watery laugh, Braden bit back a smile. His poor wife had been vibrating with anxiety, but his brothers’ ridiculous banter had lightened the tension.
When the carriage slowed, Braden glanced out the window.
“We’re here.” He glanced at Samantha. “Ready, love?”
“I am.”
They climbed out in front of an old but impressive-looking mansion. Unlike most of the business class, Haxton still resided in Old Town, near the palace. The house had several potential exits that their prey could use to escape, so they sent their groom around the back, while the coachman was to keep watch out front.
Logan drew out his pistol. “Haxton might have guards.”
Braden waggled a hand. “Maybe, but—”
The boom of a gun from inside the house startled them. Recovering, Braden ran up the front steps, Samantha close on his heels.
When a second shot echoed from inside, Braden drew out his pistol. “Samantha, I think you should stay out here until—”
She stopped him by pulling her blade from its sheath, its steel glinting in the light from the streetlamps. “You were saying?”
He snorted. “All right, but stay behind me.”
