Page 130 of Devil in Her Details

“Where are we going?” Lilly asked Dagger.

“Home.”

“Brighton?” No! She had to retrieve her most important items first.

Saint clarified, “Your brother’s home.”

Dagger nodded. “Best to get the most important things out of the way.”

Blazes, she could just imagine her brother’s face. But she no longer held any fear or reservations. Carlisle had her back.

She patted Dagger’s chest. “Oh, by the by, is Calvington still enjoying your dungeon?”

Dagger nodded. “I’ll hand you the key. You can do what you want.”

Lilly grinned at him and tucked herself more firmly against his chest, listening to the frantic heartbeat beneath her ear. She already knew what she would wear to sleep tonight. And tomorrow night. And every night thereafter. Right here in his arms. In whatever life they were going to build. She would wear his shirts, shamelessly, for the rest of her life.

A hand brushed the back of her head.

The best things, she had learned, were worth every obstacle.

And panthers, it turned out, were absolutely for keeping.

*

Dagger returned the Duke of Kingsleigh’s stare with one of his own. Naturally, he hadn’t thought he’d obtain the man’s approval for his sister’s hand, and Lilly had already indicated he approved but also didn’t. That alone would make many a man cower. Not Dagger. He was a man who had, in the past, been stabbed. Shot at. Betrayed by blood. He had handled all of it with a grim will.

But this was not the damn same.

He might not cower, but his damn hands were sweating.

Beside him, Lilly leaned against his arm with a grin she was making absolutely no effort to conceal, and on his other side, Saint sat like a carved statue, which was, Dagger noted with no small amount of resentment, entirely unhelpful. Drake, even Reaper, would have been a better option for family meetings that required talk.

Kingsleigh, for the most part, did not flinch, twitch, or clench at the sight before him. He leaned back in his chair behind his desk, observing them.

“You’ve caused quite the scandal.”

Lilly gasped. “You’ve already heard what happened?”

The duke shrugged. “I’ve had eyes on you ever since we returned from Brighton.” The man’s gaze moved over Dagger with the slow, thorough assessment. The perusal of a man who made his living reading other people and trusted his conclusions.

Dagger arched a brow even as beads of sweat broke out across the back of his neck. He’d take Lilly no matter what this man said, even if he changed his mind about his approval, but Dagger would rather not go down that path. So he drew comfort from her presence at his side, the way she stuck to him even in full view of her brother, which was the only reason why his pulse wasn’t climbing up his throat.

Lilly loved her brother.

And he placed all his trust in her.

The lynx made a small sound of disbelief beside him. “Unbelievable.”

Kingsleigh shrugged. He directed at Dagger, “You shared lodgings with her in Brighton?”

Dagger nodded. He understood the meaning. “I’ll stay where Lilly wants to stay.”

The man cocked his head, interest flashing in his gaze, the same color eyes as his sister. “Will you stay in London?”

Dagger paused, and he felt Saint stiffen beside him, too. “Brighton is my home.”

“London is my sister’s home.”