My Wicked Pirate. Rona Sharon
sighed. “If I have to.” He considered her for a moment. “You’re coming?”
“If I have to.”
His eyebrow rose. “And that depends on…?” She shrugged. “Hmm. Guido tracked me down near Corsica, said you needed rescuing. He told me the pirate hunter captured your ship. Did Silverlake keep you a prisoner in one of his fortresses?”
“For a while. He wanted information leading to your whereabouts. Apparently, you are his prime target. When he realized the case was hopeless, he brought me here.”
Eros swore. “Did he tell you he was engaged or did he let you believe he was in the market for a leg shackle?”
She smiled; her brother’s perverse opinion of marriage was not foreign to her. “He did tell me about Lady Alanis. Their betrothal was arranged when they were still in the crib. He claimed they grew up together as a brother and a sister, not as sweethearts. I imagine it was foolish of me to nurture false hopes, but we fell in love. I believed he’d cry off the engagement and choose me instead. He was certainly in no hurry to return to her. I wonder why she put up with it.”
“She didn’t. So tell me, have you decided to give up your piratical existence in favor of a skirt of hoop? I’d rather you wreaked havoc on Viscount Silverlake than terrorize Frenchmen.”
“I know you’ve always wanted me to pursue a quiet life, find a husband to look after me, and live in a nice home with children. I believe I’m ready to leave the unlucky Frenchmen to you now. Poor Louis has his hands full dealing with one member of the family.”
Eros chuckled. “I missed you, Kitten. We’ve never been apart so long.”
She sighed. “I miss you all the time, Eros, but even if I lived in Agadir, you’re never there. Aren’t you tired of rampaging the high seas and fighting the King of France?”
“I never tire of pestering the King of France.”
She laughed. “I’ve heard about your new sport, collecting Louis’s frigates. How he must hate you now. He’ll never invite you to any of his balls again.”
“Of course he will. He adores me. I’m the only one who won’t let him cheat at faro.”
She shook her head, sighing. “Eros. You’ll be two and thirty this October. Don’t you ever dream of finding a woman to love, bear you children, and—”
“Let’s talk about you getting married. Tell me about your new victim. He can’t be all bad. Villains usually fence better than he does.”
She felt a rush of excitement in her stomach. “Then, you don’t mind if I—?”
“Au contraire. About time some other unlucky devil earned the privilege of pulling you out of the hot pan. I was beginning to despair I’d be straddled with the task forever.”
She smiled, then scowled. “I should hate Hunter for what he did to you.”
“Forget what he did to me. The question is—what does Silverlake have in mind for you? He’s practically a married man, Gelsomina.”
Silly tears sprang to her eyes. “What do you think I should do?”
“Don’t be discouraged,” Eros said gruffly. “I’m here now. I’ll fix everything for you. If Silverlake is the man you want, you’ll have him.”
“How? You’re a prisoner.” She sniffed. “And Hunter will never defy his father. He won’t leave his lady for a nameless hoyden.”
“You are not a nameless hoyden!” Irritated, he concentrated on getting up. He stumbled to the dresser and splashed water into a porcelain basin. Only when his head was submerged in the cool water did the stiff muscles on his back unwind. He grabbed a towel to dry his face. “Leave Alanis to me. I’ll handle her.”
“He has a thousand soldiers at his command. Even with my help, how will you manage both Lady Alanis and slipping out tonight? This house is a damnable fortress.”
He ran his fingers through his wet hair. “There must be a way. There’s always a way.” He ambled slowly to the window and gave a soft whistle when he glimpsed outside. “Difficult. Not impossible. It would be easier if you came along, but I’ll manage. Now may I have my hug?”
She sprang into his open arms. “I missed you. I can’t lose you, Eros. You are my one solid rock in the world. If it weren’t for your courage and cleverness, I’d be dead sixteen years now, buried next to our mother and father in an unmarked grave in Italy. Nothing can come between us. You know that. Not even my love for Lucas Hunter. We are blood.”
Eros kissed her teary cheeks. “I love you, too, Amorruccio. You’ll always have me.”
After the long embrace, he returned to the bed. He subsided stiffly on the pillows and shut his eyes. Jasmine dropped on the bed beside him. Lying on her stomach, she propped her elbows on the mattress and cupped her chin, crossing her boots in the air. “What sort of woman is she?”
One sapphire eye opened. “Who?”
She grinned. “Your pretty blond nurse.”
He contemplated the ceiling. “During the four days I entertained Silverlake’s fiancée on the Alastor I reached a few conclusions. One of them was that her betrothal to the viscount was not made in heaven. Perhaps with the right approach, I’ll persuade her to give him up.”
“I knew it!” She sat up. “You intend to seduce her. You’ll make her fall in love with you so that she’d eagerly follow you anywhere. You’ll ruin and cast her aside, as you do to all women!”
“I do not ruin women,” Eros stated succinctly.
“Her reputation will not survive a liaison with you, Eros, and you bloody well know it. She was kind enough to help you. You cannot repay her with a nasty ruse.”
“I won’t harm her! Debauching haughty virgins is not my primary pursuit in life. Unlike your viscount, I’ve learned to master my amorous urges.”
Jasmine eyed him skeptically. She had already surmised the lady had a soft spot for her unscrupulous brother. Yet as lovely as Lady Alanis was—and knowing Eros, he did not fail to notice—as a rule he avoided her kind, no exception. He would seduce her only to clear a path for Jasmine to wed Hunter. He would then jilt the lady, leaving her devastated. The idea did not sit well with Jasmine. Eros might not feel obliged, but she did feel indebted to the other woman. Damned if she let Eros crush the opposition in his high-handed way. “Lady Alanis comes from a powerful family,” she warned. “Her grandfather is a personal advisor to Queen Anne.”
“I know.”
“So I urge you—reconsider. I don’t think the duke will take too kindly to what you have in mind for his granddaughter. You have enough powerful enemies. You don’t need to antagonize every monarch in the universe.”
Eros turned cold, lazy eyes to her, the look in them chilling. “I don’t give a damn.”
She recognized this look. Fleets ran away from it. “‘Stefano Andrea,’” she whispered, “‘he fears no one and does whatever enters his head.’ Papa said that about you.”
“Do not call me by that name,” he bit out. “How many times must we go through this?”
“You call me Gelsomina,” she reminded him gently.
“That’s different.”
She swallowed the sad lump in her throat. “I know you are past the point of caring which sin you’ll fry for, but please, Eros, don’t hurt her. Not even your buried conscience will live down an ugly ruse such as this.”
After spending the day exploring the house grounds, Alanis returned to her apartment. She found Jasmine in the drawing room. Lost to the world, the female buccaneer sat on the couch, admiring a gown of cherry silk that Betsy had