Chapter 19 #3
He opened the door and slammed it behind him with so much force, even he tensed at the sound. She didn’t flinch as she stood at an opened safe, going through papers she’d pulled out. He could see the ring of keys dangling from the lock.
“Have your men raid the ship, but leave everything I’ll need to repair it behind.” She started shuffling the papers, turning them over to double check them. “Leave me enough supplies so I don’t have to go to port straight away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” he bit, finally putting his cutlass away and standing near the doorway. His stance was defensive, as well as aggressive.
“There wasn’t as much money in the safe as I thought there’d be, but I shouldn’t be surprised, considering they’re ferrying prisoners,” she said, blatantly ignoring his question.
She was treating him as though his words were of little importance.
“I know I said I’d give you half, but then I won’t have enough to resupply. ”
Then she went to a cupboard and pulled a fancy knapsack from it, as if she knew it would be in there. She started putting some of those papers inside it, filling it to the brim.
“I’m not the kind of person to mess around with another man’s wife, Rosetta.”
Her calm face turned up from her task to give him a scowl.
“I have not been that man’s wife for three years.” She shoved the bag at him so hard it felt like a punch to the gut. “Here are the maps I promised you.”
He was forced to take it when she let it go before he’d even grabbed it. He looked down, shifting it into one hand and letting it dangle beside him as he turned his attention back to her.
“It doesn’t matter what you say. You were still bound to him, whether you wanted to be or not. He was still your legal husband the entire time!”
He’d bedded her, touched her, had wanted her like a damn ache, and she’d been married through it all!
“And now he’s dead.” The cruel, broken smile she gave revealed just how happy she was about that.
Alister paused. She’s right. She’d been the one to do it.
She wanted to be the one to kill him. That’s why she had gotten in the way.
His gaze swept over the wall of the office as he mulled things over, and it caught on the large map of the world painted on the wall. There were ceramic jars of paint on a small table next to it, like someone updated it when they discovered something new.
The floor was timber with a dark-navy circular carpet in the centre, while the walls were painted white with a light-blue trim. The interior matched the exterior of the ship perfectly. Everything was bright and neat in comparison to his own.
The gridded windows were fancy, with swirling patterns on the outer edges of the glass. They were clean, not a single speck of grime on them. His thoughts continued to turn over as he took in all the rich and elegant details.
Rosetta had hated Theodore so much she’d gone out of her way to not only get revenge, but to take his life. Why should she have remained faithful? Especially with what Alister had discovered he’d done to her.
“You still should have told me what I was walking into today!” He pointed to the door. “You were supposed to follow the plan; you could have gotten killed.”
She gave a shrug, not seeming to care he was shouting at her. Sometimes, she frustrated him because he liked using fear to get his way and elicit the reactions he wanted. He hated that she never fell prey to it.
“I couldn’t tell you the truth. I couldn’t risk you not helping me.” She turned her eyes to meet his gaze. “Don’t lie to me. You know you wouldn’t have helped me if I’d told you. That, or you would have tried to get in the way of what I had planned to do things your way.”
Alister’s lips thinned.
She was right, he probably wouldn’t have helped her. He would have shunned her attention had he learned she was legally tied to another man. He definitely wouldn’t have let her face Theodore the way she had.
She did what she set out to do. In the same way, Alister was set on finding the Raider’s treasure trove. He wouldn’t let anyone get in the way until he found it.
“I won’t let you ruin how I’m feeling, Alister.
I have waited three years to put a bullet in that man’s skull, and even longer to be free of him.
” Rosetta walked to the desk at the back of the room, flipping open a tiny chest to go through letters.
“You can either fuck me or get the fuck off my ship.”
She read the envelope of the first letter before shuffling it to the back. Her expression turned blank once more, like she didn’t care which option he took.
Alister’s jaw dropped at her suggestion.
Now she wants me? He’d known if he got her the Laughing Siren, she might let him, but he hadn’t known it would come with all this baggage. He’d been hoping to bed her again – the prospect had occupied his thoughts near constantly – but now he was too conflicted to know what to do.
Prostitutes were prostitutes, their ties and pasts didn’t matter to him. Somehow, Rosetta had become something different, and he felt betrayed because of it, despite all the reasons why she couldn’t have told him the truth.
His lips thinned, and his unfocused gaze moved over the walls once more. She still tricked me. His nose crinkled in distaste, and he turned away from her, walking to the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it to leave.
But her desire had been real. There was no way she could have pretended or faked what he’d seen of her, felt from her, experienced himself.
He halted when the door was just slightly cracked open.
The way she had been lying back against the table after his fingers had delved inside her, staring up at him with that sense of innocence, cheeks pink with deep arousal, still plagued his mind. To see this bitchy woman compliant for the first time had been damning to his senses.
She had wanted him, just as he did her.
There was a side of him that hoped, once he left after getting her the Laughing Siren, he’d see her sails on the horizon in the future.
That she’d take him and then drop anchor next to his ship so they could rekindle the obvious passion between them, entangle themselves in one night of bliss before fading away.
Alister knew he would have constantly had his sight on the horizon, quietly and secretly hoping to find her ship dancing along it, like a beacon in the night.
She’d tainted that dream for him.
He opened the door further before pausing once more.
Or did she?
Rosetta no longer had any ties; she’d severed them herself this day. She was a free woman. A widow.
If I leave now... He knew if she ever saw his frigate, she’d direct her galleon the other way, two passing ships on the sea that would never meet.
If I leave now, she’ll never take me again.
Damnit, he wanted her. He wanted this more than he was willing to admit. She was like the sea – dangerous, chaotic, wild – and not once had he ever turned his back on it. Not once had he ever not wanted to ride it, just like he ached to ride her.