Page 80 of Ruthless, But for Her

“What of it?”

“Nothing, except you yourself have admonished both Sorren and I many times about getting too close.”

It was true, with good reason.

“I stand by those words.”

Sorren leaned forward. “What do you plan?”

He didn't ask if there was a plan. He knew his brother too well for that.

“Papers,” Ashton said. “A widow's papers, real enough to hold at any port. A ship out, eventually. But not tonight, and not from here.”

“Meaning what?” Ryker asked.

“Meaning I want her out from under this roof until I know what we're dealing with. There are too many eyes here now, with the bounty raised. She goes to Old Tam's, with me, until I've a clearer plan.”

Sorren's brow lifted. “You'd give up the room?”

Ashton said nothing.

“And the Reach?” Ryker asked, quieter now. “You've not said a word about it since you sat down.”

“Because I already know what you're going to tell me.”

“De Grey's man was seen walking the north boundary twice last week. Not soldiers. A surveyor, or near enough.” Ryker's jaw worked. “He's pricing it, Ashton. Same as we did.”

Ashton said nothing for a long moment.

“Then we've less time than I thought,” he said finally, “for all of it.”

“What will you tell Margot?”

That came from Sorren.

“Precisely what each of us tells her when we leave. She has no need to know our whereabouts. We're not children to be watched over. It's why we have Tam's at all.”

It was actually Sorren who’d first proposed finding a spot where they could be away from the Daisy but still in Mere's End, if trouble arose and Margot needed them. Now they used the ropewalk when the Daisy became too stifling, Ashton more than the others.

Tam’s was the one thing they had that Margot didn't know about. She could learn it easily enough, following them or having them followed, but she'd not resort to treating them like prisoners. At least, Ryker and Sorren did not think so.

Ashton believed Margot would do just about anything if she, or “her boys,” or the women who worked for her were threatened.

“She will wonder about the widow.”

Ashton gave Ryker a sharp look. “Cassia,” he clarified.

“It was Lady Cassia when you left,” he pointed out. To undercut the accusation, Ryker shrugged. “No matter. I am not your keeper. Do what you will. As long as you've your wits still about you.”

“I've more wits sleeping than you do fully awake,” Ashton shot back.

“Aye, and half as much charm,” Ryker said. “The bad half.”

Sorren snorted into his mug.

“You've gone soft in the head as well as the heart,” Ryker added, standing to refill his own cup rather than wait for the girl. “A widow, a ropewalk, and no sleep in a fortnight. Margot will have the whole of it out of you before summer.”

“She'll have to catch me first.”