“He’s not the most observant,” said Cass, earning a chuckle from Brayden.
“Seeing them was awkward.” Brayden put his arm around Scarlett as they got in the line for drinks.
“Yes, and I don’t know why Elestine brought up name changes in front of Alastair,” agreed Scarlett. “The bad news is, we’ll see them frequently at things like this, but the good news is, it can’t possibly be that awkward every time.”
“I hate to think of you attending these events alone once I go back. I can just hear them. ‘All alone tonight, Scarlett? Such a shame.’” Brayden ran a hand through his hair as he searched her face. “You know I’d stay if I could.”
She’d been afraid to ask when he’d be going. The way he was talking made his departure sound imminent. But she put on a brave face. They’d always known it would be this way.
“I won’t bealone. I can bribe Beni to be my date.”
Brayden gave her a pointed stare. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
She leaned into him. “I guess not. I get your point.”
As they waited for drinks, several gasps and a small shriek cut through the murmuring that filled the lobby, causing Scarlett and Brayden to turn toward the noise. Five men wearing balaclavas emerged from the far end of the lobby. The men headed straight toward them.
Pulling out her gun, Cass stepped in front of Scarlett. “Stop!” she shouted. “I’ll shoot you in the kneecap if you don’t stop! Brayden, get her out of here!”
Brayden took Scarlett’s hand, and they hurried toward the theater entrance. They’d only gone a few feet when a gun fired, followed by a loudthump. Scarlett’s chest tightened to the pointof pain. She saw Cass on the ground, her legs bound in rope weighted with balls the masked men must have thrown. One of them was hunched over, rubbing his upper quad, but he didn’t look like someone who’d just been shot. Cass fired again, but the men overtook her, and Scarlett’s jaw went slack as one of them tasered Cass and took her gun.
“Cass!” she cried. “Someone help her!”
Cass went limp on the ground.
The rest of the men were upon them too quickly. Brayden shoved Scarlett behind him, raising his fists and knocking one of them down with a right hook to his jaw. Brayden kicked out, dropping another to the ground, but two of the men grabbed his forearms and pulled them behind his back, while a third approached, pulling cuffs from his belt. Each of them carried a handgun strapped to a utility belt.
Brayden splayed his hands, and Scarlett’s whole body tensed, knowing the fire he could call if he wanted to. But what would the consequences be if he did? His fists clenched as if his thoughts were mirroring hers.
Instead he slammed his left elbow into the gut of one of the men trying to restrain him, freeing his arm, but before he could disentangle himself, another man grabbed it and pulled it back again.
“Run, Scar!” yelled Brayden. “I’ll be—”
He was cut off as one of the men kneed him in the gut.
“Brayden!” screamed Scarlett. She turned frantically to the crowd for help. Many of the people closest to them were either hurrying away or staring with wide eyes, but Lord Buckland rushed toward them, his wife just behind him.
Scarlett spun around in time to see Brayden elbow one of the men in the face, freeing his arm again as the man’s blood sprayed across the floor. The third man jumped on him before Brayden could fully free himself.
“See here, unhand that young man!” shouted Lord Buckland.
“Go get security,” Scarlett called to his wife, who scurried toward the door.
Lord Buckland kneed one of the men holding Brayden in the stomach, and the man let out a loud groan but didn’t let go. The one who’d taken an elbow to the face ran at the lord with murder in his gaze. He hit him in the jaw, and Lord Buckland crumpled to the floor.
“What are you doing?” screamed Scarlett. “Who are you?”
One of the men holding Brayden spoke. “Time to grab her.”
The self-defense lessons she’d taken as a teenager came back to her, and Scarlett ran at the man closest to her and slammed the heel of her hand into his nose.
“Fucking bitch,” he said. He flung her to the floor, pulling his own set of handcuffs from his belt.
Scarlett scrambled away, her eyes darting around the lobby as she racked her brain for her next move. She hid behind the large statue, trying to keep out of sight of the man as he followed her around the base. Death was a heartbeat away.
I can’t lose Brayden. I can’t leave Beni.Those thoughts played over and over in her head as she stayed just out of the man’s reach.
“I’ve called the police!”
