Chapter 13 Cameras, Monkeys, and Sneaky Pirates #2
“My problem?” Matteo asks, pointing at his own chest. “You two are supposed be the next great captains, and this thing with you two, it’s ridiculous.
All Harlow wants is you. I will never be enough for her because she only wants you.
My entire life I’ve had to watch her cry over you.
And for what? So you could choose him? He’s never respected anyone.
You’re gonna throw everything away for a guy with a huge ego and commitment issues? ”
I take Sivan’s hand in mine and give it a tug, urging him to look at me, his gaze is locked on Matteo though.
“Hey,” I say firmly. “Don’t listen to him.
” I look back at Matteo. “You know that I have never cared about Harlow in that way. Why am I suddenly the worst man in the world? And all the shit you just said about Sivan isn’t true. ”
These two are gonna go at it soon if I don’t get them away from each other. I’m still holding Sivan’s hand, but his grip is loosening.
“Ha!” Sivan says. “Ego? I don’t have a huge ego, and I don’t have commitment issues.
You’ve had a problem with me since you caught us together.
That’s why you wouldn’t let me fucking see him when he passed out.
Another thing, I asked you to make sure to let me know when he was better, and somehow, conveniently, my phone number was changed in his phone and blocked from calling him.
Now, you, one of the greatest tactical minds on this crew, couldn’t figure out that something was wrong? Bullshit.”
Matteo smirks at him. “I don’t remember any of that.”
I’m so confused right now, but it’s obvious that Matteo is lying.
“Oh, you forgot about all that?” Sivan asks.
Matteo shrugs as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“Right. Well, I don’t care. I only care about Harlow.
She is obsessed with you, Vincent, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.
But you have to make a decision. You either throw it all away for him or go along with what she wants and you get everything.
It’s not even a choice. It seems quite easy to me. You choose her. You don’t choose him.”
“I choose him. It’s always going to be him.” I squeeze Sivan’s hand.
The sounds of shouting and gunshots outside pierce the tension between us. I freeze momentarily, as Sivan pulls my hand toward the door. The three of us quickly dash out of the room toward the deck.
“Shit, we’re gonna be in so much trouble!” I shout, while we’re running through the hall. We should have left twenty minutes ago, so hopefully whatever this is, it doesn’t end up being my fault.
Rounding the corner and heading up the stairs, the fighting sounds intense. “Sounds like a lot of them, Sivan.”
Matteo bumps into my back, and Sivan turns toward him.
“What the fuck?” Sivan asks.
“Sorry, sorry,” Matteo replies shakily. “I wa—I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“It’s okay,” I say, pulling Sivan. That was weird. Pretty big difference in the tone Matteo just used and the way he was acting thirty seconds ago. “Be careful, Matteo,” I warn. He’s definitely distracted. Even though he’s been an asshole, I’m kind of worried about him.
The scene is madness when we step out. There’s fighting everywhere, pirates wearing black and green are on the deck—it’s an all-out brawl.
“Where is my father?” I shout to no one in particular.
Sivan looks to the right and a scraggly-looking pirate, wearing black and green, quickly approaches me from the left, with his sword drawn.
Before I can even react, Matteo has kicked him out of the way.
He follows up with a punch that knocks the pirate off his feet, causing his sword to land on the deck beside him.
Matteo picks the sword up and places his boot on the man’s face.
“Thank you for the sword,” he says, and steps on him.
Matteo generally uses daggers, so seeing him fight with a sword will be interesting.
“Thanks,” I say, while continuing to look for my father.
Sivan steps in front of me. “Stay behind me while we look for our fathers. I didn’t even see that asshole.”
I give him a nod, craning my neck, still looking for our dads amidst the swarm of black and green uniforms.
Oh shit…
“It’s Henry,” I say to Sivan.
He’s a fucking monster of a pirate—he’s probably seven feet tall.
I’ve heard stories of him and seen his picture.
We don’t have any trouble with the inner police that deal with non-pirate business outside of the port, but there are pirates who are wanted by both captains and police alike for crimes. Henry is one of those pirates.
“Aww, fucking hell,” Sivan says, raising his chin toward the ball of pirates battling it out.
Our fathers are both facing off against Henry and someone else I don’t recognize.
“My father looks tired, I’m going in,” Sivan says.
Without thinking, I instinctively pull him back. “We can’t interfere in their fight. You know that!”
“I do, but my father looks exhausted. He’ll lose at this rate!”
“Then all the more reason for us to stay back. If your father is tired and you ju—”
A sword slices in between us narrowly missing both of our chests.
I pull my head back. “What the hell?”
“I’ll kill you both where you stand!” the pirate holding the sword in between us says.
I recognize his dirty, disgusting face. It’s the messenger pirate from earlier. “It’s you!” I shout. “How the hell did you get out of your cell?”
“Got a little surprise for you!” he says, grinning. “Found out something interesting. Your—”
Matteo knocks him down from behind, sweeping his feet from under him.
Sivan grabs the sword that the messenger dropped at his feet. “Your whole crew just drops swords? What are you, a gang of clumsy asses? I don’t understand.” Pointing the sword at the man’s face, he asks, “Now, why are you here?”
The messenger holds his hands up. He’s giving us the most wicked smile I’ve ever seen. “You might not want to kill me. In fact, you might want to point that sword at that man right there,” he says, pointing at Matteo.
“Oh, I agree,” Sivan says. “But maybe I should kill you first.”
“Why should he want to point a sword at him?” I ask the messenger.
“Because he’s family,” he says, pumping his eyebrows at me. Sivan is still pointing the sword at him, the tip only a few inches from his brow.
“Yeah, he is part of my family,” I say. “Sometimes I do want to point a sword at him.”
Matteo kicks the man in the face. “So what if I’m family? You don’t even know me. What are you scum sucking bastards here for?” he asks.
“Oh, right, you weren’t there earlier,” I say to Matteo. “This is the messenger that works for Slicer.”
“Captain Slicer,” the messenger says, rubbing his face.
“Shit, why does everyone always correct me?” I ask. “Yes, okay. Captain Slicer. He said he came here to collect something that my father has of his. We still don’t know what it is.”
The man on the ground spits to the side and laughs looking up at Matteo. “What, indeed?” he asks. “You should just sit back and watch the show… Things are about to get interesting.”
I pull Sivan’s pistol from his holster and point it at the messenger. This pistol does feel nice in my hand. Why was it my instinct to grab it instead of my sword? I haven’t drawn my sword once since we’ve been out here.
Sivan’s eyes widen looking at me. He squats down beside the man’s face. “What do you know, Messenger? Tell me, or I’m gonna let him shoot you. He doesn’t really use pistols, so he may shoot you by accident anyway.”
“I’m gonna shoot him,” I say. “It’s like 90/10 at this point.”
Sivan chuckles looking up at me. He turns his gaze back toward the messenger. “Well…he’s gonna shoot you anyway, and I kinda like him, so I don’t think I should get in his way.”
This is why I dislike pistols. It’s too easy to take a life this way. I don’t really want to kill him, but at this moment, I could, and there’s nothing he could do about it.
The messenger is staring up at me. He doesn’t really look afraid at all.
“Well, if he’s gonna shoot me, then why should I say anything?
” he asks. “What about parley? That’s what I want.
You two aren’t captains, yet. You can’t touch me now that I’ve requested parley.
” He spits to the side again and smiles at us.
“Oh shit…” I groan.
“Who gives a shit if he’s asking for parley?” Matteo asks. “I don’t give a shit. Do you? Shoot him. The captain is busy with Henry over there.”
Why is Matteo so anxious for me to shoot him? He’s never encouraged me to choose violence over peaceful solutions.
Sivan is studying Matteo’s face and slowly standing up.
“But if I shoot him and he doesn’t die, then what?” I ask Matteo. “I’ll be in trouble when the captain finds out he asked for parley and I didn’t give it to him.”
“Then make sure you kill him,” Matteo says coldly.
Sivan stands beside me and holds his hand out for his pistol.
I pass it back to him. “This is why I don’t like pistols. I almost shot him,” I say.
“Draw your sword, Vincent. But not for him. We need to take him to your father,” Sivan says. He turns toward Matteo. “And, Matteo, if you want him dead, then you kill him. But you’ll be the one to explain it to the captain.”
As I draw my sword, a high-pitched scream draws my attention. I know that loud obnoxious squeal. It’s Harlow; she’s on the opposite side of the deck, and she looks terrified. Why the hell is she out here?
“Harlow!” Matteo shouts, running toward her. He shouts back to me, “Vincent, help me!” Harlow is being slung over another pirate’s shoulder, her feet kicking wildly, as she continues screeching.
“Damn it! We have to help, Sivan!” I look down at the messenger. “You want a fucking parley? Get up and interrupt my father yourself.”
Sivan and I quickly push through the pirates who are still scuffling.
Matteo is a few steps ahead of us. He’s trying to catch up to the man who has Harlow. It looks like he’s going to carry her off the ship.