“Do you have business you wish to discuss with me? If so, perhaps you could call at the offices tomorrow?”
“We don’t want to discuss business, we want to discuss our sister.”
“Is she in some kind of trouble and in need of my help?” He knew only what Thea had told him about the woman, and had to say she did have his sympathy, considering what he knew of these men.
“Don’t mess with us, Dillinger, or we’ll mess with you,” Nathanial growled.
“You’ll forgive me, but I have never met your sister, so have no idea what it is you speak of.” For some reason, the tension inside him climbed another notch.
“We saw you!” Zach roared.
“What do you want with our sister?” Gabe demanded.
“I don’t know your sister,” Daniel said with a little more force. He could be polite, but it only went so far when someone was not reciprocating.
“We saw you talking to her earlier,” Michael said calmly.
Daniel thought back to who he’d talked to and could only come up with one woman. Surely not? He suddenly felt cold all over. Abby! Dear God! Was this what she’d wanted to tell him?
A large, familiar hand settled on his shoulder. “Is there a problem here, brother?”
“No problem, Oliver,” Daniel said. He’d long since given up trying to work out how his brother knew when he needed him. Peter would be with him too.
“What’s going on?”
“Hello, Dillingers.”
“Hello, Will.” His brother had indeed brought reinforcements in the form of Lord William Ryder, his brother-in-law.
Peter, Oliver, and Will all now stood at his back. The odds were even.
“You better have a really good reason for intimidating my brother, Raine,” Oliver growled.
“Oliver,” Daniel cautioned him. “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on and have no wish for any trouble here.” But he did know; deep in his gut, he knew that Abby was a Deville.
“We’d take you,” Zach said. Still young and extremely foolish.
“Be quiet,” Gabriel said, his eyes on Daniel.
“What is this about?” Oliver asked. “Your stance and attitude tell me it is not a social chat, which leads me to business, and to my knowledge nothing we’ve aided you with has turned sour.”
“It’s about their sister”—Abby—“who I do not know,” he lied. Anger was building inside him, white-hot rage that she’d played him for a fool.
A loud shriek had them all looking to the path behind the Devilles, and suddenly there she was, Abby, running toward her brothers.
Daniel watched as she skirted them and stood in the middle, between him and the four angry men.
She’d deceived him, and that alone should stop him wanting her.
“What are you doing?” She directed it to the men opposite Daniel. Her brothers. Dear Lord, he was a fool. He’d thought her a paid companion, but in fact she was the sister of four of the most notorious members of London society. One of whom was an earl.
“Nothing, just talking,” Nathanial said quickly.
“It’s not nothing. You’re intimidating Daniel because I talked to him, aren’t you? For the love of God, he had his niece and nephew with him. What on earth did you think would happen?” Agitation had her hands clenching. She shot him a quick look, then returned her gaze to her brothers.
“Since when is he Daniel? Why is he not Mr. Dillinger?” Lord Raine growled, sending Daniel a fierce look. He matched that look with a snarl of his own. Abby, he would not look at, because it made him feel raw. The first woman he’d shown a genuine interest in, and she was not who he’d believed her to be.
What the hell had a woman of her class been doing in the Duck and Goose? He almost winced at what they had done together. The time they’d spent together talking, and yes, he’d kissed her. Her brothers would certainly have had every right to be upset and angered by her behavior… and his. Every right to meet him in a field at dawn!
“I am not allowed to call a man by his first name?” Abby shrieked, making every man present wince.
“If you will let me explain,” Daniel intervened before the Deville siblings continued, as surely they would. Because if they were like his family, an argument was a family occupation. “I met your sister in the park several days ago with my sister-in-law, Lady Althea Dillinger.” He may be angry over her deception, furious actually, but he wasn’t throwing her to this pack of wolves across from him. Thea had told him