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“Yeah, Lil and I played rock, paper, scissors, and I lost,” Cillian said.
“Well, I’m sorry that you got saddled with having to keep an eye on me,” Declan mumbled.
“You know, since you’re spending so much time at the bar, you should join the Royal Bastards,” Lilliana said. “You’d fit right in with the rest of the guys at the club.”
“She’s right,” Cillian agreed. “Plus, as Lil pointed out, you’re there a lot anyway. You’d like getting to know the rest of the guys. They’ve become family to both Lil and me since I joined, and she started the Royal Harlots.”
“You’re going to have to tell me the story about how you coaxed the rest of the women in the Harlots to vote you in as President,” Declan said.
“Um sure,” Lil said. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, for starters, how much did you have to pay them to let you boss them around?” he teased.
“Ha, ha,” Lil drawled. “I started the club and I guess they decided that I should put my money where my mouth was. I think that’s how the American expression goes. They nominated me and voted me in as the Harlot’s President. You know, I’ve told Danger that she should join the Harlots. She’d fit right in with the rest of the women.”
“What did she say when you asked her?” Declan asked. The idea of them both living happily in Huntsville played through his head and he wondered if he could actually be as happy as Lil and Cillian were with their families.
“She said that she’d think about it but that she really couldn’t make any decisions about her future until she knew that her brother was safe,” Lil said. He understood what she meant. Danger seemed to be living hour by hour while they waited for word on Anthony. Every time he brought up a future with Danger, she’d shut him down, telling him that she couldn’t think about anything but getting her brother back.
“This is our Uber,” Cillian said, nodding to the car that had just pulled up in front of the hotel. “We can get something to eat at the train station, otherwise, we’ll miss our train.”
Declan followed his brother and sister out of the hotel and helped load their luggage into the trunk of the waiting car. “If I haven’t said it yet, I really appreciate you both being here with me. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay either of you.”
“You never have to pay us back,” Lil said. “We just want you to be happy.” He hoped like hell that he’d be happy too, but he wouldn’t know if that was even a possibility until he found Danger. Then, he’d find his happily ever after with her—somehow.
Danger
Anthony seemed to be getting tired of being hidden away in their little cottage, but Danger wasn’t willing to let him back out in the real world. Her contacts told her that the Dead Rabbits were looking for him and if he wasn’t careful, they’d find him.
“Tell me again why we can’t take the train down to London?” he asked. “Country life is not agreeing with me.” Her brother was used to big cities. He had a flat in London—or he used to before he was abducted by the Dead Rabbits.
“Because it’s not safe,” Danger said. “We’ve been over this before, Anthony. The Dead Rabbits are looking for you and London is the first place they’ll search for you.”
“We can wear disguises. No one will know that it’s even us,” Anthony promised.
“I want to agree to your crazy plan, but I can’t. We need to stay here until they stop looking for you. It’s just not safe to go to a big city right now,” Danger insisted. “I just need you to trust me.”
“I do trust you, Bernie,” Anthony said. “I guess I’m just feeling a bit fatigued after spending so much time here. I’m ready for a change.” She knew how he felt. Danger was sick of being hidden away with no one except her brother for company. And then, there was the fact that she missed Declan more than she was willing to admit. There were so many times that she wanted to pick up the phone and call Lil to talk to her, but she knew that doing so would only put her friend in danger and she couldn’t allow that.
“I am too, if I’m being honest, but it’s just not safe. At least we have each other to commiserate with,” Danger said.
“Don’t be offended but that really doesn’t bring me any comfort. I’m going to take a shower and then, I’ll probably read or something, “Anthony grumbled.
“I’ll make us some lunch,” she offered. Anthony grumbled about wanting to go out to lunch in London and shut the bathroom door.
She started pulling stuff to make sandwiches out of the refrigerator when a knock at the door startled her. It wasn’t really a knock and more like someone banging on her front door. Danger pulled her gun from the kitchen drawer and made her way toward the front of the house. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to have a rude awakening.
Danger pulled the door open and immediately regretted it. Declan, Lil, and Cillian stood on the other side of the door, and it was too late to pretend not to be there. Before Danger could even say a word, Lilliana launched herself at her, knocking her back a few steps as she hugged her.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Lil whispered. “We all have. You should have let us help you.” Lil released Danger and looked her over. “You look tired.”
“Gee, thanks,” Danger drawled. “I’ve missed you too, Lil, but I had no choice but to come here. I didn’t want to involve you in my mess—any of you.” Danger looked at Declan and noted the sadness in his dark eyes. She hated that she was most likely the cause of his sadness.
“You didn’t need to protect us,” Lil insisted. “You needed to trust us.”
“All of us,” Declan growled.
“Um, I think that might be our cue to freshen up,” Cillian said. “Do you have a spare bathroom that Lil and I can use?”
