“Then you shouldn’t have gotten cut there.”
The statement earned him a menacing look. “What about you, cavorting with the enemy’s daughter? That might leave a scar of its own.”
Oliver’s jaw tightened. No need to tell him that. He could feel it with every passing moment—each second with her dug deeper into his flesh. “At least I don’t browbeat ten-year-olds.”
“As my brother said, we asked, and he provided.”
Oliver scowled at the man. “He provided because he was a boy trying to protect his family. That lad took one look at you and saw danger. I wouldn’t be surprised if he even saw adventure.”
“You cannot fault us forthat.”
“Why not?” Oliver challenged, his gaze steady. These men were rough but not fools. They had even offered sweets. “I can fault you on many things.”
Reaper plopped down on a patch of hay. “But you are not going to, are you?”
Oliver shrugged, his shoulders stiff with annoyance. “Only because I don’t wish to waste my breath on vermin.”
“We might be vermin, but we are still the vermin people need.”
Oliver arched a brow at the man. “And what people are they?”
Reaper leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied Oliver. “People below the notice of a duke.”
“There are no people beneath my notice.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Reaper retorted, biting down a piece of straw. “You are but one man. We serve the majority, those below the consideration of you privileged few.”
Louisa called her brother a little brat, but this Fury... What a bloodybrat. “Stop taunting me and do what you came to do.”
“I came to keep a watch on you.”
“Does keeping watch require you to use your mouth?”
“What can I do?” The man shrugged. “My mouth moves on its own, I don’t have any power over it.”
Oliver laid the full weight of his gaze on the man, who could be a bit younger than him, or at least the same age. “I went along with your brother’s requests, but do not believe for one moment that I need to.”
“Same here, Duke.” The man studied him, chewing his piece of straw. “So you choose to go after this organization because it is run by your ladies. What about us bastards? Will you come after us next?”
Oliver caught the dark note of curiosity in that question. “Trust me, Fury, you don’t want my eyes on you. For now, we need each other, after that, I don’t care what you do so long as you don’t care what I do.”
“Being the smart man you are, you must have figured out our plan, why we want the ledger.”
“You plan to absorb their routes.”
“Will you try to stop us?”
“Why would I do that?” He didn’t plan, nor did he want, to start a war with the likes of the Fury brothers. Some battles were better fought by those who had less to lose. “Do what you want.”
The man’s features turned disbelieving. “Aren’t you a man of self-justice?”
“I’m not that polite.” Oliver glanced at the crest of the carriage he guarded. The angel’s. He had taken on this battle because of his mother, but he would finish it for her. “I am very much a man of self-interest.”
Reaper chuckled darkly. “A true peer.”
Oliver shrugged. What could he say? “Yes.”
“So bloody blunt. Annoying.”
