Julia nodded, but spoke in the direction of her ugly brown boots. “Jena’s right. He’s been really busy. Snowed under. I know he’s been worried about work. But once he opens the office in London, things will ease off.”
“He’s opening an office in London and he didn’t tell me?” Kirsty started to cry again, as though the lack of information was confirmation that Lake didn’t love her anymore.
“He didn’t want to bother you. He was worried that you were stressed enough with the wedding.” Julia’s soft voice was urgent, defusing Kirsty’s fears. Joe liked Julia. She was pretty much the only sensible woman in the room—even with her many social phobias. “He was trying to get it all sorted to surprise you for your wedding day.”
“See?” Jena said. “Everything’s fine. As soon as you see Lake, you guys have a nice little talk and sort all this out. Right now, you need to dry your tears and concentrate on what’s going on here. Okay?”
“Okay,” mumbled Kirsty.
Joe wasn’t sure if Kirsty was convinced or not, but he didn’t care. The main thing was she’d stopped crying. And that was good.
The sound of engines cut through the mood in the room, and everyone turned towards the windows where Ryan kept watch.
“Snowmobiles are here. I’m counting at least nine men out there now, maybe more.” Ryan’s eyes were dark when he looked at Joe. They didn’t need to communicate to be on the same page. This was bad. Real bad.
“We’re secure in here and Claire should have reached the pub by now. We only need to hold them off until reinforcements get here.” He hoped no one realised he sounded a whole lot more confident than he felt.
“I’d be happier if I wasn’t working in the dark,” Ryan said. “And I don’t mean the power. I’d like to know what they want. Why they’re here.”
Joe couldn’t agree more. He was barricaded inside a room with a dozen slightly tipsy women who were scared out of their minds, and he was planning for a siege while staring at delicate rose-print wallpaper. Having at least some idea why he was in this situation would make it slightly less surreal.
Megan let out an exasperated growl as she leaned over her captive. “Enough is enough. You heard the man. We need to know why you’re here. Tell us what you want.”
“For the two of us to be alone,” he drawled. “I’m not shy, but what I have in mind would be better without an audience.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Heather snapped. “That’s my daughter you’re leering at.”
“I can see she comes from good stock,” the guy said.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Megan threw up her hands. “Do I have to let Ryan hit you again?”
“Too late,” Ryan said. “No time for that. The new guys are off the snowmobiles and they’re heading this way. Looks like we’re about to get some company.”
“They’re coming in here? Inside my castle?” Caroline sounded panicked. She shot to her feet and rushed for a window. Before anyone could stop her, s
he’d thrust it open and was leaning out into the icy night air. “Don’t you dare break anything,” she shouted down at the men with guns. “This castle was recently restored and I will not tolerate it being damaged.”
Joe yanked her back into the room and slammed the window shut. “Thanks for letting them know exactly where we are.”
Caroline straightened her shoulders, but her face paled. Her bottom lip trembled a little, making Joe panic that she would start crying again.
“I didn’t think.” She tucked a strand of her golden Doris Day bob behind her ear and smoothed her pale blue woollen dress. “I’m sorry, Joe.” Water-filled eyes looked up at him. “This castle is a historical landmark. I want to make sure they respect it.”
“While they break in?” Joe had to ask.
“Maybe now they’ll be careful when they break in,” she said.
Joe looked over at Jena and silently begged for her to deal with Caroline. Jena tottered over on her platform stripper shoes, wrapped an arm around Caroline and led her back to the sofa.
“Remember,” Jena cooed, “things can be fixed.”
Megan threw up her hands in disgust. She turned to Joe.
“You were right. He isn’t going to talk.” The blonde clenched her fists with clear frustration. “I’m putting the gag back on him. I really don’t want to listen to him anymore.”
“Admit it,” the guy said to Megan. “You’re just kinky. You like me tied up and at your mercy. After this is all over, I’ll make sure you get another shot at me.”
“Oh, I’ll take a shot at you.” Megan stuffed the hand towel into his mouth. “I just haven’t decided whether it will be with a shotgun or a crossbow.”