“Humor me.” Elizabeth ignored his attempt at privacy. She was not at all secure with him. However, she feared him less. The tone of his voice and the blank emotionless stare had become more comfortable to her. Glancing at her before shaking his head, Ryan wondered if it was too late to put her back inside the carriage. “You are annoying. Do you know that?” “And you are rude, thoughtless, and arrogant.” Elizabeth tried to brush the mud off her skirt with little success. “So, how do you know Gatler?” His smile was not pleasant, but she ignored it rather well. “You are not going to stop, are you?” There was no answer for a few seconds, and when she turned to face him, Ryan decided to give up the information. “We came over together from New York. We had never actually met there, but we found out that we had a lot in common one night when he tried to cheat me out of a card game.” “How did he try to cheat you?” “He pulled out the same Ace that I had slid up my sleeve.” Even though Elizabeth did not see the humor right away, Ryan chuckled at the memory. “After a few struggles on the ship, we decided that we had better work together in Burdery.” The road curved to the right while it eased up the hill. “Within a month we had made a name for ourselves.” One of the horses exhaled loudly, making a huffing sound as it raised its head. “Gatler met Andrew and started to make more money. I met another business opportunity.” When Ryan stopped talking, Elizabeth did not know whether she should ask anything more, or if she had pried enough. “How did you meet my brother?” “The same way I meet all Burdery’s high-society. I collect on their debts.” The answer did not bother him as much as it seemed to bother her. Elizabeth gave him her full attention. “My brother does not have any debts.” Lowering his head Ryan realized his mistake. It would have been easy for him to tell her the simple truth. However, the truth did not matter to her. The woman had been through quite a bit already. There did not seem to be any point in telling her what happened. With a heavy sigh he changed his story. “Fine, we met for tea after church.” “You’re a liar.” “Of course, I am, and you keep asking me questions!” Every moment that went by made him wish that he had left when the opportunity arose. Elizabeth was nearly irate. Ryan had insinuated that her brother had a dark history when she had seen his success at the bank. “I asked how you knew the man that helped kill my father. Had I known that you were about to affront my brother as well, I would have refrained,” she stated. “No, you wouldn’t,” he pointed out, “You are the one who wanted to ask me everything that popped into that little head of yours.” “How dare you?” “See there you go again, asking questions that you don’t want to know the answer to.” “How on earth my brother tolerates working with such an egotistical man is beyond me!”