“I don’t know why I don’t believe you, and yet I don’t.” Zach’s eyes were now slits as they went from Samantha to Warwick.
“I assure you it’s true. He has been laid low by a trifling illness, which you or I would have recovered from in just a few days,” she said. The pressure of Warwick’s hand increased briefly. “But there you have it, once again it is confirmed that men are the weaker of the two sexes.”
“He has always been one of those men who drops like a stone when they get ill,” Dev added.
“Yes, thank you both for that,” Warwick said.
“It is very kind of you to be worried about us, Zach,” Samantha added.
“We have come to offer our services,” Lord Raine said. “We believe you are in trouble and would like to help both you and your family.”
“Oh… well.” She shot a look at James, who was watching her and Warwick with an odd expression on his face.
She stepped away from Warwick and moved to the window.
“We have contacts, as I said, and can keep a secret,” Zach said.
“I beg your pardon? You cannot keep a secret,” Warwick said.
Samantha looked from Zach to Warwick. She’d often said she wanted to marry Zach, but it wasn’t the truth. She felt nothing but affection for him, unlike what now lay in her heart for Warwick.
He’d nearly died.It hurt her deep inside when she thought about that.
“Perhaps they could help us locate whoever is behind this?” Harry said.
Wolf nodded.
“What I am about to tell you Devilles could ruin my family,” James said.
“Your secret is safe with us,” Gabe said. “In fact, I doubt it would even come close to some of the stuff we already know.”
“True.” Zach nodded.
“My sister is being blackmailed,” James said. “Because of something my father did many years ago. There was a demand for money, but before my sister could deliver it, she was kidnapped… again.”
The Deville brothers didn’t look overly shocked by these admissions. Their eyes went from James to her and back again.
“The first happened when I brought her back from Wales.” Warwick took up the story and explained the events that had unfolded. “Tell them the rest, Samantha.”
She explained about the notes she’d received. One in Ireland, the other here. About meeting at the Duck and Goose the first time.
“That all sounds a bit smokey,” Zach said. “Do you believe they are connected in any way?”
“We had thought the first incident was random, but to have it happen a second time tells us it is not,” James said. “We also don’t believe someone would blackmail Samantha for money and then kidnap her for the same reason.”
“Agreed,” Lord Raine said. “What did the letter say?”
Samantha hesitated, her eyes going to the rest of her family.
“Lady Samantha, my wife was a piano teacher who lived most of her life under another identity to that which she was born into. The women my brothers are wed to also have pasts. I doubt anything you tell us would shock us, and as I said, your secrets are safe with Zach and I.”
James nodded to her.
“My father was a traitor to his country,” Samantha said.
“We have one of those in our family too.” Zach dismissed her words. “You may as well give us the whole of it. We can help, I promise you.”
“What is it you do exactly?” Warwick asked.
