Page 5 of Pirate's Intent
“One so honorable,” he grinned, “and one quite the opposite.”
“Well, of course.” She met his grin. “If I am to truly adventure, I must be willing to try everything.” She fluffed her skirt, thinking it over. “I could be anything, anyone.” She shrugged. “I could be more outgoing, like my sister.”
“I quite prefer the way you are,” he’d murmured.
Their gazes had lingered on each other for a telling moment before she cleared her throat and broke the moment by crossing her eyes. “I could even be daft!”
“She’s acting,” he whispered, biting back a grin when he figured it out.
“What’s that?” Charles said.
Thomas shook his head and watched Rose with well-hidden amusement. She was acting like one of the characters from her books, and it was keeping her out of the brothel. It would not keep her untouched for long once she was sold, though.
“Anyone set to outbid Big Devil and his rats?” Blackbeard called out. He stroked his beard and considered the crowd. “Anyone?”
Thomas’s gut clenched at the idea of Big Devil getting his meaty paws anywhere near her but knew the moment Blackbeard uttered the question, nobody would dare outbid the vicious pirate. With a bulging belly to match his flabby jowls, Big Devil was notorious for two things.
Demented cruelty and excessive drinking.
If he weren’t daunting enough, his crew known as the rats were named appropriately. More filthy than most, they were Big Devil’s eyes and ears, infesting darkened corners most would not go. Even worse, known for their ability to sniff out opportunity.
Not good when he and Luke needed to get the sisters out of here discreetly.
“Sold,” Blackbeard declared. He gestured at his man to collect payment and then handed her over. “She’s all yours Big Devil.”
“Of all the bloody luck,” Luke muttered, eyeing Big Devil and his rats.
Thomas watched Rose until she was out of sight then gestured that they follow him back to the tavern.
“Big Devil’s aluckyman,” Thomas said, talking in code, telling Charles and Luke they would proceed forward as planned. ‘Luck’ meant he still saw it as the best course of action.
Luke grinned at Charles. “We will have to celebrate with him tonight!”
That meant Charles would buy Big Devil plenty of rum and get him as drunk as possible. Anything to buy Thomas and Luke time. The key was not only to get the sisters out of here but to do so without anyone knowing who took them.
They would get the sisters, rendezvous at their holding where one of their ships would be waiting, and then go from there. Though more of an oversized shanty, their holding suited him and his brother when they were here. It also had the added benefit of being located on a more secluded part of the island. They were set to sail the following morning anyway, so their absence should go relatively unnoticed.
“Ah, smells good.” A pirate inhaled the scent of a woman’s undergarments from one of the sisters’ trunks. “Somebody’s gettin’ their money’s worth with those two.”
“There are bound to be plenty of baubles in there,” one of Big Devil's rats grunted, peering inside with beady, cunning eyes.
“Hey, ain’t ye part of their crew?” someone called out to the rat. “Seen ‘em safely into Blackbeard’s hands?” He half snorted, half chuckled. “Such as that is.”
Naturally, Big Devil would have had a man keeping an eye on things. No doubt with Blackbeard's permission as the two seemed to get along well enough. Thomas and Luke glanced at each other before his brother downed some rum and nonchalantly began rummaging through the trunk as well.
“Aye, I was part of the crew,” the rat confirmed, still eyeing the contents, not overly interested by most of what men were making off with. Yet he was quick to take notice when Luke looted one of several scrolls with an all-too-familiar seal on it. Bloodyhell. Luckily no one here recognized their family crest.
“Blackbeard said all is to be spread a little more evenly,” a man declared upon entering. He and another shut the trunk before anything else was taken and hauled it out of there.
Meanwhile, Charles snapped his fingers in front of Luke’s face, trying to pull him out of his stupor. Namely, the faraway look in his eyes as he read the letter. “Are ye with us, friend?”
Luke blinked several times and nodded then waved over some more rum. “Just thirsty is all.”
Thirsty his arse. Where Thomas had exchanged a few letters with Rose after he left years ago, their correspondences by no means matched the number of scrolls he’d spied in that trunk.
“YouwroteHannah?” he nearly muttered when he saw the handwriting and to whom it was addressed.Luke. He knew as he’d done with Rose that his brother had found ways to keep an eye on Hannah over the years but had no idea they’d corresponded.
“What’s it say?” someone called out.
