“What did they intend?” Penny asked, her hand gripping the mantel.
His lip curled. “Well, it was my father’s nickname first. And for him it was irony. It meant that he wasn’t able to hold onto a single bit of his money.”
Penny had that feeling again. Like the one she’d had on their first meeting. Inside him was a man who needed saving. It washed away much of her anger.
“Logan,” she whispered as she stepped closer. “That is a terrible nickname.”
He dropped his cheek onto Natty’s head. “For me, it means that I am single-minded in my pursuit of gold. Consumed by the possession of money. In both cases, the name has been deserved.”
Penny covered her mouth with her hands as she waited to hear what else he might say, but the sound of crashing shutters stopped her from speaking.
The sound was closely followed by the rolling of glass across the carpeted floor.
“Bloody hell,” Logan yelled as he jumped from the chair, handing Natty to Penny in a single motion.
He raced into the front sitting room, Penny following as fast as she could with the child in her arms.
A scream nearly ripped from her throat as she saw a bottle with a rag on the floor, a line of flames pouring from its mouth.
Chapter Ten
Logan was not always the warmest, friendliest man. He knew that about himself.
He’d never been like Penny. People were drawn to her, he was certain.
But in a crisis, he was a man of action.
And that’s exactly what was needed now.
“Take Natty,” Logan bellowed, pointing toward the stairs. “Get everyone out of the house.”
Then he ripped off his coat and covered the bottle, taking immediate action to stem the flames. Though the bottle likely contained lamp oil and would not be snuffed out by his jacket. It only bought them time. A very precious few seconds to spare them all.
“The oil’s all on the rug.” Fergus pointed. The bottle had landed in the middle of a throw rug and all the oil had spilled on it. “It’ll catch the entire house on fire.”
“You’re right,” he yelled. “Let’s get it out of here.”
Quick as they could, they rolled up the rug, bottle inside the roll and each took an end, lifting the entire thing. “We’ve got to get it out quick,” Fergus said with a grunt as they started toward the door. “I can already feel the heat. It’ll burn us if we’re not careful.”
“Take it to the middle of the street,” Logan said as he jerked open the front door and started down the steps.
The moment his feet hit the ground, he ran, hunched over the heavy roll. He burst open the gate, the lock flying into ten pieces as they tossed the carpet into the middle of the cobblestones.
For a moment it sat, dark in the middle of the street until flames began to lick out of either end. Exactly where he and Fergus had just been holding on.
“Damn it all to hell,” he yelled into the night.
Behind him, Penny appeared in the door, still holding Natty. Another little girl trailed at her side. Clarissa appeared too with a third little one on her hip.
Anger boiled in his veins. Another minute and the entire house would have gone up, fire consuming their home.
He knew he should be careful. Those men were still about, and one might attack him or them.
But these men had tried to hurt Penny and the girls. They were the closest thing he’d had to a family…well…ever. And no one was going to hurt them. He’d die first. His chest expanded as lifted his chin.
“People of Adderley Street,” he yelled into the night. “You have men in your midst willing to attack innocent women and children.”
He watched a door open across the way.