Page 105 of Devil in Her Details

“All of it,” the duke continued. “Every note, every obligation, every rather creative arrangement you made before your father’s death. Speaking of fathers, yours is the Earl of Henshaw, who your mother had an affair with. Fascinating the things you can uncover once you start to dig. Seems you have no birthright to the title you bear.”

Dagger grimaced. Savage.

Lilly’s hand flew to her mouth, covering a gasp.

“Lies!” Calvington exclaimed. “All lies!”

“Did you really think the truth would remain buried forever?” Kingsleigh scoffed. “More ridiculous, did you really believe, for one bloody second, I’d ever allow my sister to wed a bastard like you? You’d ruin her life. She’d be reduced to the laughingstock of England. Her character would be in question along with yours.”

Dagger’s blood turned to ice even as all the color had drained from the marquess’s face. But he forced all emotion from his body, allowing only her presence to wrap around him until he could think of nothing else. He felt Lilly hold her breath beside him, and he shifted slightly, until the backs of his fingers brushed hers.

She didn’t pull away.

He didn’t move any closer.

This was enough. This was all he had to offer.

“They’re nothing but lies!” Calvington cried again.

“You have, as I see it,” Kingsleigh said, “one path forward. Disappear from me and my sister’s sight. You can even find a willing bride if you want to, even sire an heir. But do it quietly. Do it away from us. Remove yourself so thoroughly from my sister’s life that her name never crosses your lips again. If I hear otherwise, debtors’ prison, along with all your lies exposed, will be a generous alternative for your future.”

Even more brutal.

And admirable.

Calvington sank onto his knees, sobbing.

He couldn’t blame the man. There was nothing left to say.

Kingsleigh turned to Dagger, who slowly retracted his hand. This duke was not what he’d expected, though he couldn’t have said precisely what he had expected. Someone softer. Not a man who had ever needed to brutally fight for his place in the world. This man was neither soft nor all that polished. Not that he believed all aristocratic men to be delicate. He’d met enough to know that wasn’t the case. But this one was Lilly’s brother, after all. He’d imagined the man, who was so indulgent of his sister, to be closer to her in temperament.

“Now that you know his secret, too,” Kingsleigh said, “he shouldn’t be a problem for you once you release him.”

Dagger said nothing, simply stared at the duke. Like the arse in the cell, he had nothing to say. In fact, if he had a voice, he’d laugh. To think he and the marquess had something so damning in common.

“Dagger?” Lilly said softly.

He glanced at her, reading the concern in her beautiful eyes. He had no words for her either.

He simply had no bloody words.

Did you really believe, for one bloody second, I’d ever allow my sister to wed a bastard like you?

Carlisle stepped in then. “We should go, Lilly. I’m sure your friends have other things to deal with.”

Her throat moved, and her stare turned probing. Dagger drank in her profile. Committing even the smallest of lines, the faintest of freckles, to memory.

She’d be reduced to the laughingstock of England.

Realization dawned on her face.

“Very well.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, but her gaze was loud and as direct as ever. “Thank you, Dagger Fury. For all of it.”

Christ.

Say something, man.

Her expression fell. “I shall send your commission via the post once I’m done.”