Page 5 of Devil in Her Details

Dagger sighed. “I can’t read their minds either, so I wouldn’t know.”

Reaper gave a world-weary sigh before shooting him a distasteful glare. “You’re no fun, frère. Let me spell it out, then. They are the only guests at Peregrine’s. There are better lodgings in town, but they chose that place. Something is brewing.”

“Seems they like discretion.”

“There are a thousand ways to enter and slip away from a brothel without being seen. They could have chosen better lodgings. They didn’t. Why? Seems to me, frère, they have something to hide.”

“And you believe what they’re hiding has to do with our uncle or brother?”

“I do.”

Dagger shook his head. “Deveraux must know by now we’ve commandeered his inn.”

“True,” Reaper agreed. “Unless he is taunting us.”

“Too fanciful for my liking.”

Undeterred, Reaper remarked, “That’s what the others said, too.”

Ah. “I’m your last resort.”

“No,” Reaper denied swiftly. “You are the best equipped to sniff around the milliner’s skirts.”

Damnation. He sensed where this was going. Not what Dagger wanted. Arguably the last thing. “You know this is what they’re aiming for, don’t you? For us to become paranoid.” And he had only one goal. Eradicate their enemies, remove the weak links within their ranks, and refuse any distractions. No more mistakes.

“We’ve always been paranoid,” Reaper countered. “What’s the worst that can happen, heh?”

“I get distracted.”

“Come on, frère, this could be the best thing.”

Dagger scowled. Best? Shite. “Why don’t you go if you’re so dead set?”

Reaper pointed to himself. “Me?” He shook his head. “I’m not suited for this.”

“Why not?”

“You might not know this, frère, but women tend to find me unsettling.”

Enough. Dagger slammed the blade flat on the table before leaning back and crossing his arms, settling back as he studied his brother. “And the rest of us are fit for nursery tales?”

A coin appeared between Reaper’s fingers, and he flicked the silver into the air with ease before catching it neatly against his knuckles. “You can’t deny, you’re prettier than me.”

Dagger scoffed. “We both have scars.”

“Yes,” Reaper agreed, flipping the coin again. “But yours slices handsomely across your cheek. Mine merely splits my brow in two.” He caught the coin and rolled it across his fingers. “Women love scars like yours, you know.”

“Ridiculous.”

“Also, your manner is better than mine.”

“Finally admitting you’re undisciplined?”

Reaper shrugged. “I’m extremely disciplined where it matters most. In some other respects, I’m less bridled.”

Dagger scoffed. Were those even the same things? However, his brother did have a point—he had a menacing presence about him that, more often than not, he leaned into thoroughly. Reaper couldn’t help himself on that score.

“Fine.” He could help the arse. “I can order my harness from this woman and judge whether she merits a closer look.”