Mulloney. I have a number of very unpleasant surprises for him, and you really don't want to be around when I spring them."
Dolly Hanover crept quietly from the bedroom and clutched her husband's sleeve as she caught sight of Daniel's gun. Her gaze strayed worriedly to the strange man holding the guard in the doorway, then back to her daughter hovering in Daniel's protection.
"Georgina?" she inquired anxiously.
"Go back to bed, Dolly. I'm handling this." Hanover tried to push her away, but she clung more fiercely.
"It's all right, Mama." Georgina touched Daniel's shoulder. "This is my husband. You remember Mr. Martin, don't you?"
Dolly smiled and nodded. "Pleased to meet you again, Mr. Martin."
Daniel could almost hear Tyler grinning behind him. It seemed perfectly natural that he was marrying into a family that was as mad as the one he had adopted. Daniel nodded a greeting. "Happy to see you again, ma'am. If you don't mind, I'm taking your daughter home now. I'll take real good care of her, so you just go on back to bed and rest."
Hanover was ominously silent during this exchange. His gaze darted back and forth from the one disarmed guard to the one waiting patiently for orders. A shot fired in these close quarters could kill anyone. He grunted and glared at Daniel.
"She doesn't come with a dime, I promise you. If that's what you're thinking, you're better off leaving her to Mulloney. He can support her the way she's used to."
Daniel reached behind him to encompass Georgina's waist with his arm. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not money we're after. Merry's doing just fine without it. I hate to break up this fine party, but we need to be going. Good night."
He gave a wry nod of his head and pushed Georgina ahead of him, out of reach of the only other man in here with a gun. Behind him, Daniel heard Hanover shout at the guard to go after him. Giving Georgie a shove toward Tyler, Daniel swung around to hold them off, continuing to back toward Tyler and freedom.
Tyler caught Georgina and deftly handed her through the doorway into Evie's hands. When Daniel was close enough, Tyler shoved the first guard toward the second, sending them both into a sprawling heap on the floor.
With a quiet yell of triumph, Tyler and Daniel slammed out of the private car and raced into the empty dining car after the women. Just as someone rattled the door behind them, they threw the bar across and ran.
"They'll shoot it loose!" Evie yelled, just as a splatter of gunfire proved her words.
"Hang on to your satchel, my dear, we're going for a ride." Tyler grabbed his wife by the waist and fled from the dining car.
Daniel snatched Georgina in the same way, leaving her no time to question as they reached the platform between the cars. Without any further thought, he flung his arms protectively around her and leapt from the slowly moving train.
Georgina screamed as they slid down the embankment and rolled to the ground, bits of dirt and pebbles flying around their heads. Although she felt Daniel trying to take the brunt of the fall, when they reached the grass at the foot of the embankment she was lying beneath him. Gasping for the breath knocked out of her, she felt Daniel's heavy weight pressing her into the ground and heard him panting as loudly as she. The arms braced on either side of her head reassured her, however, and she grasped them in a grateful daze. The laudanum was dissipating, but her head still seemed to be spinning.
Against the backdrop of the night sky, Daniel's eyes gleamed like the stars in the heavens above. When her gaze met his, the connection was almost physical. Stunned, Georgina just lay there, looking up at him.
"You came for me," she finally managed to whisper.
"Of course." Without another word, he leaned down and kissed her.
Georgina had never known a kiss like this in her life. Perhaps it was the aftereffect of drugs. She could feel the roughness of Daniel's lips as they pressed against her mouth. They sent a kind of magic spiraling through her middle that had been missing before. Her fingers gripped his arms tighter as she became aware of his masculine body pressing into her. But then her lips seemed to part of their own accord, and she felt his breath fill her mouth, and everything that was happening between them seemed perfectly natural. She