“Did the boy say what happened?” Maxen asked.
“Three men came into her shop, and she left with them,” the man, Warton, said. “They made her cover herself in a cloak, but the boy said she looked panicked.”
Maxen’s jaw flexed, teeth grinding. Three men. A cloak. Panic. He could all but see it. A storm thrashed inside him. He caught the twitch of Drake’s head as his brother moved in closer, Reaper at his side, both silent pillars.
Drake broke his silence. “What did these men look like?”
The red-haired, flower-named woman frowned in thought. “The boy said they were not Brighton men. How he could tell, I’m not sure.”
“Oh, they can tell,” Reaper muttered darkly.
Outsiders.
Bloody hell. His fist curled. He’d known from the start she wasn’t an ordinary woman. The way she carried herself, the refinement beneath her stubbornness. And then Drake had gone and confirmed it with Dare’s information—daughter of an earl, apparently engaged. A runaway lady.
He stared at the trio. One ofthem.
Did that mean she was kidnapped or merely collected?
“Will you save her?” the blonde asked. Her eyes narrowed. “Or was I mistaken in thinking that you care?”
Maxen’s teeth bared in something like a snarl. Care. The word burned. “She is my tenant. That is all.”
Reaper gave a soft, derisive snort, but didn’t speak.
Drake sighed.
Violet stepped forward. “Tenant or not, she needs help. Will you give it or not?”
His temper spiked. “Her matter seems to be a family matter.”
Drake’s warning slid into the moment. “Don’t make a mistake here, Maxen.Mattersmight not be what they seem.”
Maxen forced a breath. “If it was her family, then it is no business of mine.”
Reaper snorted. “No business of yours? That’s not what I heard—”
“Reaper,” Maxen growled.
“What?” his brother challenged. “You’re just going to let her go like that?”
“What the devil do you want me to do? Steal her back?”
“Do you want to steal her back?” Knight asked.
Yes, damn it. He hated the image of Calliope living any sort of life without him. A noble life. But, “If she is a lady, then perhaps she belongs with them. Perhaps I’ve been a fool for thinking otherwise.”
The blonde gave a most inelegant snort. “Let me assure you, sir, as a marchioness, that line is the most nonsense I’ve heard in an age! Love is love! It transcends class. Onlyfoolsbelieve otherwise.”
“I think she just called you a fool,frère.”
Maxen’s eyes cut to Reaper, but the arse only grinned, dark challenge glinting in his eyes.
The marchioness folded her arms. “Well? Will you sit and sulk, or will you act? A woman’s future may hang in the balance.”
“She is not a woman,” Maxen snapped, and the woman’s husband took a protective stance. “She is a lady. A runaway. And I’ve no place meddling in the affairs of the nobility.”
“Seems to me you’ve meddled plenty,” Drake muttered.
