A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 6)

Will threw an apple at Oliver, who ducked and laughed.

“Is there something we should know?” Niall squinted suspiciously at Oliver whose grin widened.

“Maybe,” Oliver edged.

“Shame. Shame. The ink is barely dry on the certificate, you cad,” Niall chided around his grin.

“They were living in sin beforehand,” Will reminded him.

“We did no such thing. It was all part of the investigation. Besides, what do you think we could get up to with you lot watching us all the time?” Oliver protested around his smile.

“You have only been married for three weeks,” Will sighed, shaking his head and throwing Oliver a stern look. “You couldn’t wait, could you?”

“For what?” Oliver smirked.

“They had to wait a fortnight for the paperwork to come through and for everyone to get some free time to arrange the wedding, don’t forget. I am sure Oliver made good use of it,” Jasper replied ruefully.

“Well, enough about my family business.” Oliver seemed to puff out his chest as he grinned proudly at his colleagues.

“God, to think that we are going to have another one of you running around. God save us,” Will hissed.

This time, Oliver threw an apple at his head, only it hit in square in the middle of his forehead. Amid guffaws of laughter, everyone congratulated Oliver, who took the celebratory remarks with a gracious nod of his head. Eventually, everyone subsided and turned to Niall, who had lapsed into sullen silence once more.

“All you need to do is keep her safe, Niall. There is no requirement for you to marry her. She is Atticus’s daughter, so is untouchable. Nothing can happen to her. I am giving you three this assignment because I know you are the least likely of all of us to ever be swayed by a pretty face,” Oliver reasoned.

“Is she pretty?” Niall had no idea why he felt compelled to ask but did.

Will took great delight in detailing the woman’s attributes with many elaborate hand movements. Unfortunately, they were nothing like reality.

“She sounds like a bloody gargoyle,” Rhys snorted.

“She sounds hideous,” Niall grumbled, mimicking Will’s description with his hands. The embellished nip

ped in waist was alarming as was the size of the woman’s hips and shook his head in disgust.

“Would you prefer her to be irresistible so you can letch at her from a distance?” Oliver demanded, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“No wonder she isn’t married,” Niall replied.

“Well, maybe I embellished her size a little. But she is pretty,” Will assured him.

“Again, you are not helping,” Niall warned. He lifted his brows and began to feel a little better about having to look after her. “Maybe you are going to be the next to fall, Will?”

Will curled his lip. “I shouldn’t sodding think so.”

“For now, gentlemen, I am going to St Magdaline to make sure Emmeline is settling in nicely and then will help the others try to locate the remaining kidnap victims. The rest of you are going to Gloucestershire. I will catch you up. You know what to do.” Oliver told the men going after Peregrine where to find him and then began to gather his things. “Good luck, everyone. We will be in touch soon.”

Several minutes later, Niall tugged ferociously at the strings of his bag and flipped the flap over before tying that too. Once he had conducted another thorough check of his now empty bed chamber, he left it behind and raced down the stairs to go in search of his horse. Now that he had his orders he could see no reason why he should not get them over and done with as quickly as possible.

“I can only hope that Claude moves through Gloucestershire and heads to London. If he tries to take up residence anywhere, I shall damned well toss him out on his ear myself just to keep him moving past Serpentine and the pesky Clara Potter,” he grumbled when he met with Will and Harry in the yard.

Several minutes later, they took one last look at their sanctuary before setting out for Gloucestershire.

CHAPTER TWO

Like every other rural village in England, Serpentine didn’t have much in the way of memorable features. It was nothing more than a small cluster of houses of all ages, shapes, and sizes within which sat a tavern, a village square, a variety of the usual shops, and an old Norman church. Nestled amongst rolling hills stretching in all directions, it appeared a tranquil haven of rural life where nothing much was ever likely to happen.

“It doesn’t seem the kind of place Smidgley usually hides in,” Harry murmured as they eyed the occasional house perched at the side of the only route into the village.