Reggie pushed her way between James and Conrad. “Tony, stop!”
Anthony saw her and let go of Henri, who slumped down onto the steps.
“So I was right!” Tony glared, seeing his brother. “You didn’t learn your lesson the last time you ran off with her, did you, James?”
“May I ask how you found us?” James inquired with profound calm.
“You may not!” Anthony retorted.
“Tony, you don’t understand—” she began.
“Reggie!”
She gritted her teeth. Tony was so stubborn. This was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. The brothers were together, and it was a chance for them to mend their rift. But if Tony wanted only to drag her straight out of here, how could she get him to calm down and talk to James?
“Ohhhh!” Reggie gripped James’ arm with one hand and her belly with the other, doubling over as if in pain. “I feel…ohhhh! Too much…excitement. A bed, uncle. Get me to a bed.”
James lifted her gently in his arms. He didn’t speak, but he did give her a doubtful look when his eye caught hers. Reggie ignored this and groaned again, quite effectively.
Jeremy came running down the hall toward them, tucking an open shirt into his trousers, both donned hastily. “What happened? What’s wrong with Regan?” No one answered him as James and Conrad hurried back to the bedroom with Reggie. “Who are you?” Jeremy demanded as Anthony barged past him to follow the others.
Anthony stopped cold. He’d given the boy only a glance, but it was enough. It was like looking into a mirror of the past. “Who the bloody hell areyou?”
Conrad laughed and came out of the bedroom. “He’s not yours, if that’s what you’re thinking, Sir Anthony. But he’s family, all right. James’ boy.”
Jeremy covered Anthony’s gasp of surprise with his own gasp. “Uncle Tony? Hell’s bells! I thought I’d never get to meet any of my father’s kin, but here’s Regan first, and now you, and all in one night.” He grabbed Anthony in a bear hug that damned near knocked the breath out of him. Tony gripped the boy’s wide shoulders then and returned the hug, surprising Conrad. “Don’t go away, youngun,” he said gruffly before moving on to the bedroom.
Seeing Reggie stretched out on the bed, James beside her, Tony’s fury returned. “Confound you, James! Have you no bloody sense a’tall, dragging her around in her condition?”
“He didn’t drag me,” Reggie protested.
“Don’t lie for me, sweet,” James admonished her gently. He rose and faced his younger brother. “You are quite correct, Tony. If I had any sense, I’d have found out who Montieth’s new wife was before I had her brought here to flush him out.”
Tony looked bewildered, then exasperated. “A mistake?”
“A colossal one.”
“That’s still no excuse,” Tony grumbled.
“Agreed.”
“Will you stop agreeing with me!”
James chuckled. “You don’t need an excuse to have a go at me, if that’s what you’re itching to do, brother.”
“Don’t do it, Uncle Tony,” Jeremy said as he entered the room. “I would hate to have a row with you when I’ve only just met you.”
“He’s very protective of his old man,” Conrad put in. “Thinks his father can’t manage on his own anymore after the grueling excercise Montieth put him through.”
“I thought I told you to go to bed, Jeremy.” But James’ scowl was directed at his first mate.
“I thought you saidyouthrashed Nicholas, Uncle James,” Reggie said.
“Oh, he did, squirt.” Conrad grinned. “He walked away from the encounter—just barely, mind you—whereas your husband, no doubt, did not.”
“No doubt?” she echoed. Conrad shrugged. “We left while he was still out.”
“You mean,” she demanded furiously, “you abandoned him when he was hurt?”
