Page 97 of Devil in Her Details

“Let’s be clear,” Violet remarked drily. “He wasn’t your husband at the time. I only thought to approach him since he was your landlord, and you two seemed . . . close.”

Calliope arched a brow. “Do you really wish to compare stories? You had a wicked brother and a former betrothed hounding you. And let’s not talk about all the things you did in your husband’s dungeon.”

So much riveting information! “Were they all tossed into the dungeon, too?”

Violet and Calliope glanced at her, then back to each other, before bursting into peals of laughter.

Had she said something amusing? Or had she hit the mark? Lilly shook her head. They had probably all been tossed into the dungeon.

Calliope was the first to recover. “Unfortunately, my stepmother was not.”

Violet smirked. “My brother and that other man most certainly were.”

Lilly leaned forward, wine forgotten. “Have you both been to the dungeons?”

Both women nodded.

“I had to see that cursed rogue fallen from grace,” Violet muttered darkly. Very much like a lady turned Fury.

Lilly wanted to see Calvington fall from grace, too!

“Maxen took me on a tour after I insisted,” Calliope added.

Lilly took a begrudging sip of her wine. “Am I the only one who hasn’t been in this mysterious dungeon?”

He doesn’t get to face you.

Ah, mercy.

She wanted to go to those dungeons, but she also wanted to bathe in his resistance. Did that make her mad? Did she belong in Bedlam?

“Actually, there’s more than one,” Violet said. “Quite a few. And they’re nothing interesting. Cold. Wet. And bars. Keys. Locks.”

And that was nothing interesting?

Lilly didn’t believe that. She’d never been in a dungeon before. Who didn’t want to explore dungeons? Were they medieval in design? More modern? She cast a nasty look Dagger’s way before swiftly turning back to the women, but not before she glimpsed the slight furrow of his brow.

He was eavesdropping. Or trying but failing. Both sent a thrill through her.

“But what is this I heard?” Calliope said in a conspiratorial voice. “Did you take on a commission for Dagger?”

Lilly blinked the moment back into focus. “Yes. A body strap for his daggers. Nothing grand.”

“But you take other commissions, do you not?” Violet asked, eyes sparkling with intrigue. “I heard Reaper mutter that they even veer to the scandalous.”

How did that man come by his information? Allie! Leo! They needed to learn how to constrain themselves! Lilly took a sip of wine, admitting, “I make whatever my clients want me to make for them.”

“Even the men?” Calliope asked.

“Even the men. Why judge people for their pleasures? For their fun? We all have our own fun and pleasure.” A certain moment, and the maddening pleasure of being touched by him, came to mind. Their rubbing.

No, Lilly. Bury that back down! This was not the time to blush furiously!

“And what’s your fun and pleasure?” Violet asked.

The heat on her face couldn’t be stopped. Like a volcano, her body exploded with fire and lava and all the hotness. It took all she had to calmly blurt, “Shirts. Men’s shirts. I quite enjoy sleeping in them.”

Both women’s eyes shot wide.