Page 113 of Devil in Her Details

“Bloody hell, Reaper. Make yourself scarce,” Dagger hissed between clenched teeth. “You are ruining the moment for me.”

“This is a moment? It’s more like one of those Shakespearean tragedies Saint quotes. A couple forced apart by class and circumstance. Daggers and betrayal—”

Dagger cut him off with a growl. “Do you want to die, frère?”

“Fine,” Reaper grumbled. “But anger is better than sulking. Also healthier. What would be even healthier would be telling her how you feel.”

Dagger sighed, resigning himself to his fate of watching Lilly leave with commentary from this arse. Why would Reaper even damn well tell him this? “I can’t do that. How can I bloody do that? It would have made her leaving so much worse.”

“Because you are so certain she would reject you?”

“Yes.” The duo strode to the carriage.

You’d ruin her life.

He couldn’t get that damn echo out of his head.

“And perhaps that may be, but at least you would have tried.”

“Says the man going on about child names but still planning to die early,” Dagger shot back.

“True. Didn’t you claim I have no ambition, frère?” A coin flicked into the air. “You should be happy to know that I’ve found one.”

Christ. This was not going to be good, was it? “I don’t want to know.”

The duke held the carriage door open for his sister.

“My mission is to see all my brothers happily married.”

Dagger gave a loud snort. “Good luck with that, brother. Didn’t Serpent take a lifelong vow of celibacy?”

“He did?” Reaper asked skeptically. “Are you sure or are you spouting nonsense?”

Lilly entered the carriage, and Dagger’s heart . . . just . . . He pinched the bridge of his nose over the burn forming there, eyes not leaving the carriage. “Why?” he muttered, suddenly a little grateful for the arse’s presence. “Going to give up if he did?”

“Never.”

“Well then, again, good luck. Don’t ask him about it either. That is if you don’t want to live the rest of your life tormented by him.” That should keep his brother busy and off his damn arse in the future.

Dagger watched the door shut behind Kingsleigh, and moments later, the carriage jerked forward. He followed them until they were finally, conclusively out of his sight.

“Ah, so bloody heartbreaking,” Reaper repeated again.

Yes.

Heartbreaking.

There was a word that described the burn in his chest.

“She belongs in her world.” Dagger had lost count of how many times he had repeated those words to himself already. “I belong in mine.”

This time, Reaper didn’t respond.

So, his brother did have sense at times. Dagger’s senses, however, rioted at that bloody moment. Panting. He thought he was panting. And running. Why the hell was he running? He didn’t even know he had started to sprint until the buildings started flashing by him. Vaguely, he had the sense of someone spluttering curses behind him, but his mind pushed everything else out except getting her carriage back into view.

Getting her back into his view.

What had she told him that time?