Leaping off Eros, she was determined to put some distance between her and the ship. Except to her horror, there was Stuart stomping down the dock toward her.
“Stuart,” she said, stopping and backing away a few steps. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Google,” he said. “Your phone number came up on Karen’s phone.”
Shit. Why hadn’t she thought about hiding the number? Because she’d been too busy thinking about reversing the charges and hadn’t considered that he might reverse search the number.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” she said.
“What the hell are you doing here? You tell me it’s over and you’re marrying Dario, but you’re here… What’s going on?”
Sassi wished that more people were like Fidget. He was used to being subordinate on the ship and had respect for those he considered more in the know. If Swain needed him to be aware of something, he clued him in. But, Fidget didn’t always know everything that was going on. He was used to that, so he didn’t push.
Stuart wasn’t so easy to deal with. “Nothing,” she said.
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll get answers from these bastards,” Stuart said, marching past her to head for Eros.
“You can’t,” she said, running after him to put herself between him and the ship’s gangway. “You can’t get on the ship.”
“I fucking can,” Stuart said, though seemed to be assessing just how he might go about it. “Get out of my way.”
“You can’t get on a ship without the captain’s permission.”
“You were on it,” he said. “I saw you, two fucking minutes ago.”
“I have permission… I had permission…”
Maybe that had been revoked, she wasn’t sure. But, she could be confident that even if Swain had been aboard and hadn’t expected her, he wouldn’t have called the cops on her. He might call them on Stuart because Swain was particular about trespassers.
“You can’t fucking stop me. I’m getting on this fucking barge and I’m gonna talk to the guy in charge. He needs to stay the fuck out of our business if he’s not gonna help us!”
“He’s not on board,” she said, keeping her hands out in front of her to block her brother. “The man in charge, the captain, he’s not onboard. You’re wasting your time. Let’s just get out of here.”
Stuart peered at her. “You called me from here like an hour ago. You telling me you were sitting here alone staring at the wall there?”
“It’s called a bulkhead and no, there are people on board, two of them actually, but not the captain. He’s not here.”
Thank God, she thought to herself.
“Then I’ll wait,” he said and tried to swerve around her.
Sassi put herself in his way. “No. No! You are not boarding this ship! Not a chance! No! I won’t let you!”
“Move!”
“No!” Sassi said, adamant about keeping her brother away from the Eros crew who were in enough danger because of her. She didn’t need them taking more grief. “Get away! You are not allowed onboard this vessel!”
“You heard the lady.”
Swain’s booming voice might have startled Stuart into turning around, but Sassi let her head fall into her hands. Wishing the sea would sweep her away, she considered edging backwards and stepping into it. Except knowing her luck, she’d fail to fall in the water given how close the hull was to the dock.
When she did look up, Swain was ten feet away, pacing toward them, a fierce look of anger and possession on his face.
Great.
This wasn’t going to go well.
“Who the hell are you?” Stuart demanded.
Swain was bigger than her brother and definitely looked meaner, but that wouldn’t discourage her sibling from being an ass. “He’s the captain,” she murmured from behind Stuart and quickly realized she’d have to take charge because already Swain was balling his fist like he might be planning to knock Stuart out and ask questions later.
“Then you’re the fucker I’m looking for.”
Stuart was angling for a beating and if he insulted Swain one more time, she’d give him it herself. Curving her body around Stuart’s, Sassi put her body in front of her sibling and opened her arms.
With her back to her brother, she appealed to her captain. “If I asked you to step aboard and pretend you never saw us, I’d be kidding myself, right?” she asked Swain who scowled at her. “That’s what I thought.”
“Start talking, Waif or I’m gonna make assumptions that no one’s gonna like,” the captain said, fixating his dislike on Stuart.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“Nothing. Nothing,” Stuart said, trying to push down her arms. “Always fucking nothing with you. Something this fucker said changed your mind today. Something. It had to be him.”
“This is the first I’m seeing him today,” she said over her shoulder, fighting to keep her place as her brother fought to move her. “He said nothing.”
“Then what the fuck are you doing here?” Stuart demanded.
“That’s a good question,” Swain said. “And one I’ll get the answer to as soon as you take your hands off her and get the fuck out of here.”
“I can touch her any way I want to, you bastard,” Stuart spat. “She’s about to do something crazy and stupid. I’m allowed to be pissed.”
“Crazy and stupid like running off to sea?” Swain asked her brother, but he was looking at her. Her captain was making the assumption that she was there to take him up on yesterday’s job offer. They’d agreed it was over. But, did he think she was going with him like… with him? “Do you need me to cast off, Waif? I’m sure Jock’s onboard.”
“He is,” she said. “And Fidget too.”
“Then we got all the crew we need to ditch this asshole,” Swain said.
“Who you calling an asshole, asshole?” Stuart said.
Rage made her flip around and smack his chest. “You insult him one more time, Stuart, and I’ll toss you in the drink myself! Around here we respect our captain and if you think I can’t build myself an army to take you down you can kiss my ass. Do not swear at him again, hear?”
Sassi might be taking on one too many of her former lover’s mannerisms. But, as she considered this, her captain’s hand curled over her shoulder to grip her tight, giving her the support that she needed. Lifting her shoulder and dropping her cheek to press it on his knuckles, she relished the feel of his long, capable digits.
“He’s your brother,” Swain said.
Turning to her captain, she felt relief at the acceptance of his fingers when he brushed the back of them down her cheek. “You thought he was my lover.”
“You said there was another man.”
“It’s not him.”
They stared at each other for a second until Stuart’s exclamation of hysterical disbelief made her jump and turn to face him again. “You fucked your boss?” Stuart asked her. “That was smart, Sass, real smart. Where the fuck were you for the conversation we had about us distancing ourselves from people?”
Sassi had planned to never reveal her affair with Swain to her brother.
But, now they were there, she wasn’t going to deny it. “It wasn’t like that,” she said. Swain’s hand rested on her shoulder again. “He’s my captain.”
Stuart’s brows rose. “So, he fucks all the women on his staff? Nice 0077ork if you can get it.”
“Crew and no,” she said, pissed that he was being glib. “I’m the only woman on his crew.”
“And, fucking him came as a bonus?” he said and lifted his eyes over her. “You’re a real fucker.”
“Yeah, much better that I should wait ‘til she needs me most then cut and run,” Swain said. “You’re a real hero.” He sighed, like he had better things to be doing than this and he did. “You need me to hit him, Waif, or you just wanna keep arguing with him?”
“I don’t need you to hit him,” she said, sad when
his hand left her and he stepped aboard Eros.
“Oh, now who’s the champ?” Stuart said, turning to the ship. “You fuck my sister for God knows how long, have your fucking fun and when things get desperate and she’s about to lose fucking everything, you just sail away on your fucking boat and forget about her. You are an asshole and I don’t care what she says. You’re no better than him.”
Smacking Stuart’s arm, Sassi felt a burst of something in her chest. “What the fuck did I say to you? He’s not an asshole. And, he’s a million times the man that Dario is! He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. I didn’t tell him anything and keeping quiet almost cost a dear friend of mine his life! As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve been choked and slapped and taken about as much as I can today! So, everyone has to stop fucking fighting and just accept that I have made a decision to end this. Today!”
“Waif,” Swain’s voice was cool and calm behind her, but his composed reserve only increased her dread.
Oh no, this was it. She’d said too much. Her captain wasn’t going to let her away with excuses anymore.
“Yes, Captain,” she said in an almost Pavlovian response to his stern tone.
“Come aboard.”
Turning around, Sassi accepted her captain’s hand for balance and stepped onto the ship, moving behind him when he guided her there.
“You’re not crew, Robins,” Swain said to Stuart. “But, I’ll only get what I want from her if you’re around. I’ll invite you aboard as a guest. But, if you outstay your welcome there won’t be any damn warning, I’ll just toss you over.”
“Whatever,” Stuart said and inched forward, but Sassi rushed into the gangway and blocked him again.
“You say ‘yes, Captain’ and show him respect or I’ll have Jockey out here so fast your head will spin.”
“What the fuck is—”
“I won’t let you aboard unless you promise to respect my captain, Stuart. I won’t do it.”
Stuart thought she was nuts, that much was obvious, but he grumbled an exhale. “Fine,” he said. “Yes, Captain. Satisfied?”
No, because if he refused, she’d have a valid reason to bolt without giving Swain any answers. But, Stuart came aboard, wobbling and taking a minute to get his balance even though Eros was barely moving. Swain didn’t wait for Stuart, he marched on, heading down the passageway.
“I made cookies,” she said, pushing Stuart, and hoping Swain would react to her statement, he didn’t.
Her captain went into the mess where they found Jockey at the dinner table, coffee and cookie in hand. “Lass, you’ve got some explaining to do,” he said and glared at Stuart. “Who’s the landlubber?”
“He’s my brother,” she said, going into the galley to pour coffee for Swain and for Stuart, who was still looking around the place like they’d just teleported him to a new planet.
“The lass tell you we got Fidget berthing a week?” Jockey said to Swain. “Boy got himself in some trouble I guess.”
“The lass,” Swain stated, taking his place at the head of the table. “Has got a serious amount of talking to do.”
Trepidation made her avoid looking at him when she took the coffees over to the table. “Would anyone like a sandwich? Pasta? I can make a pot roast, there’s—”
“Dock it, Waif,” Swain said, nodding to the seat at his side where she’d always sat since they first slept together. “Robins, put your ass on the bench too… We’re gonna get the whole story out. It’s about fucking time I knew what the fuck was going on. No terms, no time limits, the truth, Waif… All of it.”
“Swain,” she said, swooping onto the bench to grab up his hand. “I’m sorry, cap’n.”
Hooking a finger under her chin, he raised it up to examine her neck and from the tick in his jaw, she’d guess there were bruises around her throat.
“I’ll take him down, Waif. But, you’ve gotta tell me everything. Every detail.”
TWENTY-FIVE
With her heart pounding in her chest, Sassi tried her best to fill her captain in. Where she struggled, Stuart leapt in to pad out the details until he’d taken over telling the story completely. Jockey asked questions, Swain brooded, and eventually everything came out. She and Stuart confessed everything from their father’s debt to Dario’s demands where their trouble had started.
She told him about Karen and how she’d gotten the job with him, and how the siblings had decided it best to keep distance from those who could be used against them. They talked about Stuart breaking up with Karen and Sassi learned some new details about what Stuart had been up to while she was at sea.
The story culminated in that day with her dropping off the baked goods, Dario’s men, and what had happened with Fidget.
Swain wasn’t an easy man to read. It was obvious he was tense and angry, but she didn’t know what he was thinking, other than how he probably wished he’d never met her.
“I brought Fidget here because I need him to be safe,” she said. “This will be over when I go to Dario. I won’t leave him once I get there. But, I had to make sure Fidget was being looked after.” Turning to Stuart who was on the same bench as her she stretched her arm toward him. “You can keep the money that’s in the apartment. I just need a couple of thousand, something I can keep as back up in case there’s an emergency or I see a real chance to get away.”
“A real chance?” Stuart asked. “Now is your real chance. We’ll buy you a fucking ticket to Europe and you go to ground.”
“Then what?” she asked. “I don’t know anything about changing identities or how to live on the run… or about life in Europe. I wouldn’t even know how to get an apartment or a job.”
Stuart thought about it for a second. “You mentioned mom before,” Stuart said. “Do you have any way to get in touch with her? She manages to do a damn good job of hiding.”
Their mother wasn’t hiding from anyone, they just never tried to look for her. She just wasn’t in their lives, and they didn’t expect her to be. “I can’t go to mom,” Sassi said. “That would put her in as much danger as you are. Besides, if I run, where does that leave you and Karen? If I’m not here, he’ll want his money.”
“I know some people,” Stuart said. “I have contacts. I’ll talk him into hiring me, I’ll work off the debt.”
That was a ridiculous idea because with someone like Dario he’d always find a way to keep Stuart on the hook. It would take years, her brother would never be free.
“How long will that take?” she asked. “And, what about Karen? Is she supposed to wait for you? Her family already hate you, working for a known criminal is not going to raise their opinion of you.”
“They don’t hate me,” he grumbled, but both siblings knew they did.
“The point is, how can you ever be happy with the woman you love if you’re working for Dario? Karen would always be in danger, always. He’d give you the worst jobs, and any time you fucked up, any time Dario was in a bad mood, he’d take it out on her…” Sliding further toward her brother, she fumbled for his hand. “And, what about us? We could never see each other again, do you get that? I’d be on the run for the rest of my life and if you were linked to Dario, I would never be able to see you again. He’d always be around, lurking.”
Pulling her to him, Stuart squeezed her hands in both of his. “You are my baby sister, I swore to dad I’d take care of you… How the fuck can I promise that then let you marry a guy whose only mission will be to crush you?”
Raising her chin, she tried her best to project nothing but defiant confidence. “Do you think I’d let him? When he told me I’d have to be a dutiful wife who deferred to him and didn’t have opinions, I laughed in his face. I don’t care what he does to me, I’ll give it right back. Why do you think I got choked? I insulted him and he couldn’t take it. He slapped me ‘cause I kneed him in the balls for getting too close. Don’t you worry about me, brother. I know how to handle myself around strong men… Just ask the guy sitting behind
me. They don’t come much stronger than him and I never showed him an ounce of fear.”
“If you let me ask him about—”
“No,” she said. “What happened today scared me. Not what happened to me, but when they brought out Fidget I… I’ve never felt shame like that, terror… Dario made his point. I can take whatever he wants to hit me with, but I can’t let him hurt the people I love. I won’t let you risk your life and I won’t risk this crew’s lives or livelihood.”
“You love this crew?” Stuart asked her.
“I do,” she said without having to even consider her answer for a beat.
“And, him?” Stuart asked, examining her as he nodded past her at Swain. “Do you love him?”
Sassi had never let herself think about her feelings for Swain because he’d never been an option for her and never would be. “I’m getting married in five days, Stu. Nothing else matters.”
“It matters,” Jockey said from his seat opposite them, though he didn’t stay in it long.
Agitation made him leave the table and she didn’t like to see the usually collected man so fraught.
The first-mate didn’t often scowl, but he was angry now, and it was her fault. “She’s right,” Swain said, the first thing he’d said for a while. “We have to worry about everyone’s safety first and foremost.”
Yes. This was where his sense of responsibility as captain would work in her favor. “Thank you,” she said, twisting to see Swain’s tense frown was fixated in the middle distance. “Will you please look after Fidget? What am I saying? Of course you will. Thank you.”
“Fidget isn’t the only one we have to look after,” Swain said. “He’s safe for now and he’ll stay where he is.” Swain left his seat to go to a lock box on the wall that she’d noticed before but had never been curious about. There were plenty of things on ship she was clueless about. “Robins, you’ll be coming with me.”
Sweet Seas Page 22
