She straightened, and smoothed down her dress.
It had a sweetheart neckline, was blush pink with sparkly beading dotted on the bodice, as though someone had sprinkled the dress with glitter. The floor-length tulle skirt had a long split up one side.
Beneath the dress she wore the vest that Bennett had given her—it hugged her body tightly—and she had a small Smith & Wesson M&P Shield handgun strapped to her thigh. She knew Killian, Bram, and Bennett were wearing their vests too. She just hoped they didn’t need them.
Her hair was up in an artful twist, and she wore the diamond earrings Bennett had given her.
It felt like he was with her.
She tucked her arm into Killian’s.
“Nice pile,” she murmured.
The historic house had long, elegant lines and was built in the Tudor style. She expected a Jane Austen character to pass by at any second.
“Henry VIII built Nonsuch Palace near here,” Killian said. “It was destroyed, but this later mansion was built to echo its style.”
“I didn’t know you were so into British history, Killian.”
“I was doing research for the mission.”
“Sure.” There was a huge green lawn, immaculate formal gardens that were just starting to flare to life, and less formal, wilder gardens that invited you to wander. They followed the line of wedding guests heading around the house to where chairs had been set up outside for the ceremony. There were huge urns of flowers everywhere.
The Wentworths had spared no expense for their son’s wedding.
Hadley hoped the mission didn’t ruin the wedding, but the first priority was catching Westley.
“Ooh, this place looksfancy.” Hex’s voice in her ear. “Does Bennett have a country estate?”
They were all wearing tiny earpieces. The translucent adhesives stuck to the skin behind the ear and were impossible to see.
“I don’t have a country estate,” Bennett said across the line. “But if Hadley wants one, I’ll get one.”
She heard Hex giggle, and Hadley rolled her eyes. She liked hearing his voice. She glanced toward the huge stone house. He was in there somewhere, with the catering team.
As they reached the back of the house, she saw a band setting up on the large terrace off the huge ballroom. A string quartet was playing near the chairs for the ceremony.
Hadley and Killian moved to take their seats. She saw a flash of dark red hair. Bram’s large form dwarfed a chair in one of the middle rows. He looked around, his gaze sliding through them like he didn’t know them.
She also knew that David’s agents were sprinkled around. As she pretended to study the flowers, she also spotted Henry in a dark suit, flirting with a woman in a very short dress. The woman looked smitten.
“I love your dress, Hadley,” Hex said.
“Thanks.” She knew that Hex was tapped into the security cameras, including the extra hidden ones installed by the MI6 team the day before.
“There’s Kitty,” Killian murmured.
Hadley saw the woman at the front of the aisle, standing by an arch of flowers. The Wentworths stood side-by-side, and they looked very chilly with each other.
She guessed it wasn’t fun discovering that your wife was rotten.
Kitty fidgeted, her hands clutching the skirt of her blue dress.
“She’s going to give everything away,” Hadley said.
“It’s normal for the mother of the groom to be nervous,” Killian replied.
“How many weddings have you been to?” Hadley asked.