My nerves make it hard to swallow. This is the longest conversation I’ve had with anyone on the ship, and I want to learn things like I want to keep breathing. This little back and forth could fall apart at any minute. I keep my eyes on my plate. “Poseidon doesn’t like the food to be good?”
“Poseidon likes the food to be available and in quantity. It doesn’t have to be fit for people like you. Sailors aren’t a fancy bunch.”
I put some egg on toast and take a bite. “How long have you known him?”
Some of the openness in his face—which isn’t much—closes off again. “Long enough to know you don’t want to test him.”
“Test him like jumping off the ship?”
He gazes into the middle distance, shaking his head. “No. I wouldn’t jump off the ship anymore.”
“Because he has a temper.”
“That’s not what it is.” He takes a step back toward his stove.
“What is it, then?” I look him in the eye, fork poised above the rest of my food. “Tell me about him. Nobody else is going to. He’s not going to.” I lay the fork across the sausage patty, though I want to eat it more than I’ve wanted most things in my life. “Please?”
Cook sighs. His shoulders hunch forward an inch, and worry clouds his eyes. Worry for me? He doesn’t have to be worried. I don’t think things can get much worse than being finger-fucked by a man who has put a literal ball and chain around your ankle. The worst thing would be liking it and thinking about it the next morning.
Not that I’m going to announce that during this conversation.
“A few years back we were out on a job, like usual. He never stays long at any one port. Doesn’t like to be in sight of the land.” He shakes off the topic and stands up straight. “We were meeting with another captain at sea, and the deal went bad.”
The cook’s voice sounds pinched. He doesn’t want to tell me this. “How bad?”
“Captain cheated him.” His eyes go to the floor now, away from mine. “Poseidon doesn’t tolerate being cheated. He made an example of them.”
“Of who?”
“Of the entire ship. Every person on the ship. Every crew member. He killed them all and threw them overboard. When he was done he set the ship on fire.”
I can picture it. That’s the scariest part. I can see him causing mayhem on deck. I can see the way his blue-green eyes would reflect back the embers of a burning ship. Nothing scares Poseidon. He’d brush his hands together and sail away without a backward glance.
From the expression on Cook’s face, that’s exactly what he did.
“And he did this because he...lost money?”
His eyes snap back to mine. “It wasn’t about the money. It’s almost never about the money. He wanted to send a message to the entire ocean about what happens to people who cross him.”
A shiver moves over my skin. “And did he?”
He won’t meet my eyes for this part. As soon as he’s back at the stove, a pan scrapes across a metallic surface, then bangs into it. “I think they already knew.”
10
Poseidon
I hear the chain before I see her.
Ashley pads along the deck with the ball in her arms so the chain doesn’t drag. It’s a subtle sound, but I’m listening for it. The moon is past its peak when she comes to stand beside me at the railing. I’ve been here for several hours, restless, that anticipation dogging me once again. Something’s coming.
I will be fucking pissed if that something is only Ashley, coming up on the deck.
But not that pissed.
“You should be asleep.”
“Yeah, well, it’s hard to sleep when my leg is chained in this thing.”
It’s impressive how fast she’s gotten used to it. A light blush plays over cheekbones. Not the bright-red shame I’d prefer. That’s the thing about her. I wouldn’t put it past her to jump overboard with the fucking ball and chain. She’d have a one-way ticket to the depths and I’d probably drown trying to save her.
The ocean laps against the side of the ship, making the silence almost comfortable. It’ll never be comfortable, not really. Silence means that things are about to get worse.
I should pay more attention to that warning.
I should send Ashley back home.
She’s too much trouble. She tempts me too much.
I can’t picture letting her go.
“Did you talk to my dad yet?”
Her question is so soft in the night, and her voice doesn’t shake at all.
Surprising, because she should know what a risk she’s taking to stand this close to me. I’ve wanted to cage her against the railing and make her cry since I first heard her footsteps. Since before then.
But she asked me a question, didn’t she? “I gave him the bank account to wire the money. It hasn’t happened yet.”
Ashley swallows hard and looks away. “What happens if he doesn’t pay?”
He’ll pay. The man is going to pay, even if he doesn’t love her. Any asshole can sound angry on the phone. That doesn’t mean pure love is the reason he’s willing to part with the price I set. The reason doesn’t matter. Payment isn’t the question.
The question is whether I’ll be able to send her back when I have his money.
Night wind ruffles her hair, and Ashley lets a stray lock skim across her face when she turns to look back at me. Her eyes seem brighter in the moonlight. I put a hand in my pocket to keep from tucking her hair behind her ear like some lovesick fucker. My brothers can tie themselves in knots over the women they’re obsessed with. Not me. I’m not going to do it.
“Is it true?” she asks, and for a heart-stopping second I have the foolish thought that she heard my thoughts. “That you killed a whole shipful of people because the captain cheated you?”
My blood heats. “Have you been gossiping, princess?”
She blushes and looks down. “I was chatting with Cook.” When she lifts her head again, there’s a steely determination in her eyes. “He told me about it because I asked. Don’t fire him.”
“Fire him?” I laugh out loud. “Half this crew was there when I killed those people. They cheered when it was done. It was an evil crew on that ship.”
“More evil than you?”
I already know, deep in my bones—deeper than my fucking bones—that I won’t lay Cook out because he was charmed by this little lost princess. I won’t do it because she asked me not to fire him, and if I know anything, I know she’ll keep pressing on the details of her request. Don’t fire him. Don’t punch him. Don’t hurt him.
I won’t make a move in that direction, because if she asks me, I won’t be able to deny her.
Which—fuck.
However, leave it to that self-righteous asshole to put a terrible spin on that night.
I step toward her. “You tell me. Did they deserve it, or am I a cold-blooded psychopath who spends all his time killing people and sinking ships?”
Ashley searches my eyes like she’s going to find the answer there. Like I’ve asked her a serious question. Before she can answer, she shivers.