Pearls of Fire, page 23
More important, her marriage to Hugh might work against her, turning her into Montvey’s enemy while right now he merely considered her a useful pawn.
Emma could feel the hatred, like a fiery sunburst, flow between these two men.
She could see that Hugh wanted to kill his cousin and that worried her, for she knew he would do it without hesitation once he got the answers he needed. Nothing would stop him, not even her pleas to show mercy to this man who had shown him none.
Yet, killing his cousin would not end his torment but add to it.
Was he holding back because of her?
Despite what he’d said, did Hugh believe that Montvey knew where her father was?
Her hands fisted at her sides to hold back her despair. If Montvey truly did know, then how was she to shake the truth out of him?
The cur was desperate, and her father was the best bargaining chip he had.
Hugh crossed to a mahogany cabinet and opened it to reveal a stock of crystal glassware, gleaming crystal decanters, and bottles of every variety. He drew one out and poured his cousin a dark amber liquid that she assumed was the desired brandy. Hugh’s cousin had an obvious fondness for spirits, she could tell by the thin, red veins that mottled his nose and cheeks.
Perhaps it was Hugh’s goal to get him drunk and spill the secret of her father’s whereabouts, assuming he truly knew where her father was and hadn’t been lying to her out of a cruel desire to torment her.
His hands now released, Lord Montvey drained his glass and held it out for more.
Hugh obliged, remaining silent while his cousin drank down its contents. The silence stretched out unbearably, putting Emma even more on edge. Her nerves were frayed raw. She wanted to shake Montvey until his insides rattled. Where is my father, you snake? Where is he?
“Let’s talk,” Hugh finally said and Emma almost sobbed in relief.
His cousin shot him a smile of pure evil. “I’ll tell you where Lady Emma’s father is, but you must do something for me first.”
Hugh arched an eyebrow. “And what is that?”
“Bring me the Pearls of Fire.”
Emma held her breath. She feared to move, to even glance at Hugh. She was terrible at hiding her feelings and even one wrong twitch of her eye would give everything away.
Hugh kept his gaze trained on his cousin. “No one knows where they are or who stole them. How do you expect me to find them?”
Montvey laughed. “Hugh, you are the most resourceful brigand I know. You’re here with Lady Emma which means you must be on the trail of the thieves who stole them.”
“You’re wrong. We’re only here to search for her father.”
Montvey shrugged. “And he is after those thieves. One way or another, all your troubles will disappear once I have the pearls.”
“And how do you propose to make my troubles go away?”
“Simple. I have only to declare that you were innocent of the charges against you. That new evidence has come to light proving that Nikko was the one who killed Sir Richard Harlan.”
“And the charges against my father?”
He shrugged again. “Nikko’s hatred for you twisted his mind and set him out to destroy the Le Brecque family. He planted false evidence, he started false rumors. See, it all goes away so easily with the mere stroke of my pen. That’s the advantage to being Lord Governor.”
“And all I need to do is deliver the Pearls of Fire to you.”
Emma’s heart shot into her throat. Was Hugh going to hand them over to his cousin? It was such an obvious solution to their problems. Hugh would have his pardon. Hugh’s father would be cleared of any supposed crimes against the Crown. She’d have her own father back.
Montvey must have sensed her wavering, for his gaze suddenly fastened on her with unsettling intensity. “See? Simple. Everyone gets what they desire.”
“And we’re to trust the word of a murdering thief and liar?” Hugh set down his glass and casually leaned his hip against the large, teakwood desk, then folded his arms across his chest and stared at his cousin for a long moment. “You saw The Persephone dangerously listing on the reef. My ship is in no condition to sail. And I’ve just destroyed your ship. How do you propose I find the pearls?”
“That’s your problem, not mine. If you want to save yourself and your family, if you want to find Lady Emma’s father, then bring me the pearls. You’re obviously far more resourceful than I gave you credit for. I don’t care how you do it. Just do it. But one more thing…”
Emma gripped the lip of her chair with both hands. “And what is that?”
He didn’t address her, but turned to Hugh instead. “Lady Emma stays with me until you return with the pearls in hand. I’ll hold her as security until such time.”
Hugh leaned forward, towering over his cousin’s chair. “If you wish to live beyond today, you will tell me where Lady Emma’s father is right now. Just to be clear. I will kill you at dawn unless you tell me. I’m already a convicted murderer. What’s one more murder to me?”
Montvey visibly paled. “Brixham, be reasonable. I’m willing to give you all of it. Just–”
“Just give you the Pearls of Fire. Just give you Lady Emma? You will never have her. As for the Pearls of Fire, I will cast them into the deepest part of the ocean before I ever let you get your hands on them.” He took the drink out of Montvey’s hand and set it down hard on the desk. “Here’s what I propose. You write your full confession. You tell me where Emma’s father is. In return, I’ll let you live beyond tomorrow’s sunrise.”
“Lady Emma, will you let him do this? I know where your father is! I want the pearls. You want your father. Don’t–” Hugh struck him hard enough to knock him over in his chair.
Emma heard the crack of wood as Montvey’s chair splintered.
She heard the thud of his body hitting the floor.
She heard his groan as his head cracked against the floor tiles.
Then Hugh turned to her with rage-filled eyes.
She recoiled in fear.
She, who had never once feared Hugh. She, who had never believed him capable of harming her.
Suddenly, she was not so certain.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Hugh, where are you taking me?” Emma asked as he grabbed her by the hand and strode out of the room, tugging her along. He strode out of the government house, barking orders to two of his burliest crewmen to guard Montvey. Hugh knew he was forcing Emma to scurry to keep up, but he needed to get away from his cousin before he gave in to the overwhelming urge to kill him.
He needed to get Emma away before she believed that devil’s lies.
“Hugh, please! I can’t keep up.”
Hugh slowed his steps, but only the littlest bit.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice raspy and breathless.
He was headed to the makeshift prison where he held Montvey’s men. One of them had to know where Emma’s father was. Perhaps all of them knew. They would talk. He’d make them talk. Having seen the look in the eyes of these soldiers, he knew they detested Montvey. They had made little more than a show of fighting before surrendering their weapons and allowing themselves to be herded into the cattle pen.
They would tell him what Montvey never would… the truth.
Lies spewed so easily from his cousin’s twisted mouth, but his soldiers held no grudge against him. They’d talk in exchange for assurances of their safety. And if they refused, he’d kill them all.
“Hugh, where–”
“Don’t say a word, Emma. Don’t.”
She was frightened enough of him to obey.
A sick feeling twisted in his gut.
His cousin had brought out the wounded beast in him and he had been a fool to think he could confront him without all of his anger, all of his rage, spilling out of him like bile spilling out of a wounded animal with its guts sliced open.
He’d lost control.
What troubled Hugh most was the fear still etched on Emma’s face.
Not fear of Edward, but of him.
How could she think that he’d ever hurt her? Even when enraged as he was now, even if wounded and blinded and fighting on raw, feral impulse, he would still know her and protect her.
He kept walking, Emma struggling to keep up with his long strides, but surprisingly not trying to remove her hand from his. Was she so afraid of him that she dared not struggle even to free her hand?
Even he was disgusted with his unbridled fury.
He no longer trusted himself to question Montvey’s men and knew he needed to calm down first, needed to temper his rage.
He slowed his pace and led Emma down to the beach where the silver moon’s glow illuminated the dark waters and a million stars sparkled overhead. In the distance, he saw the outline of Edward’s ship, only the red embers of its burnt mast now visible above the water. Pieces of wood and other debris were slowly drifting toward the shore. But for now, the beach was unsullied. He stopped just out of reach of the waves lapping the shore and settled on his haunches, motioning for Emma to sit beside him.
He would not have been surprised if she’d tried to run away, but was glad when she sank onto the sand beside him. “May I speak now, Hugh?”
His heart eased as he caught the note of impudence and admonishment in her tone. She was no longer afraid of him. “Yes,” he said, although he wasn’t quite calm enough to listen. But she was going to speak her mind anyway, and he never wanted her to be afraid to do so.
She said nothing at first, so all he heard was the soft whoosh of waves washing up on the sand and then swiftly retreating. Three times. Four times. Whoosh. Whoosh. Then Emma sighed. “I’m sorry, Hugh.”
He shook his head and gave a mirthless laugh. “What have you to be sorry for?”
“For not trusting you in that moment.” She took a deep breath and continued. “You had such a predatory look in your eye after you struck your cousin. Then you turned to me and I thought you were going to hit me, too. Your eyes had a wild look to them, a bloodthirsty gleam. You were enraged. I’d never seen your anger so out of control.”
Hell, no wonder he’d frightened the wits out of her. It wasn’t a matter of trusting him. She’d recoiled out of primal instinct to save herself.
“And then I saw your gaze soften as you looked at me. I knew then that you’d never hurt me. I know it now, Hugh. I won’t doubt you again.” She sighed. “But I still hated that look. It scared me. Not for myself, but for you. I think anyone is capable of murder given the right circumstances, but to actually see you that close to committing it… well, it was shocking.”
His shoulders sagged as the tension rushed out of him. “I wasn’t anywhere near killing him. He knows where your father is.”
Emma gasped. “He wasn’t lying?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t know. That’s why I brought you out here. I needed to talk to you outside of everyone’s hearing.”
“Mother in heaven.” She rolled to her knees and stared at him. “What if he spoke the truth? What do you propose to do?”
He contemplated his answer, for what he wanted to do was strangle Montvey with his own bare hands. But what he needed to do was keep him alive as he sought the proof necessary to clear his name and that of his father. “I’m going to question Montvey’s men and hope one of them confesses your father’s whereabouts. The Persephone is in no condition to sail, but Chief Tono will send a boat to pick him up and bring him here, assuming he’s on one of the nearby islands.”
“He must be close.” She gave a little shudder. “I feel it in my heart. But what if none of them confess?”
Hugh ran a hand roughly through his hair. “I can’t search for him. The British fleet will be after me. The only reason they’re not here now is that they’re too busy fighting the Dutch for control of the northern islands. But British ships routinely patrol these southern waters. I’ll be hanged the moment I’m caught, and I will be caught if I dare stay here too long.”
“You won’t look for my father?”
He heard the heartbreak in her every word. “Not right now. I need to sail home first and clear my name. Now that I have Montvey and his men–”
“You promised me, Hugh.”
“And I’ll keep to it. But I want you to understand what I must do if neither Montvey nor his men will tell us where to find your father. In truth, they may not know. Montvey could have been lying to us.” He turned to face her, wishing with all his heart that he could make things better for her. But all he’d done was complicate her life and probably put her in danger now that he’d captured Montvey. “My cousin’s men detest him. They barely lifted a finger to fight against us. That tells me they will turn witness against him.”
“Even if these men testify against your cousin, there’s no assurance your sentence will be overturned. Am I to wait here for your return? Assuming you ever make it back?”
“Assuming I make it back? We are going back to England together. You are my wife now, Emma. I won’t leave you behind.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “What if I wish to be left behind?”
“Do you wish it?” Had he been a fool to believe she loved him enough to put his dire needs first? He had pledged his heart and life to her. He wanted theirs to be a forever marriage. What did she want? An annulment once they found her father?
He knew she loved him.
But not enough, it seemed.
“You are mine, Emma. Mine.”
She curled her hands into fists at her sides. “As in, you are a pirate and I am merely one of your possessions?”
“You said it, not me.”
She stormed to her feet. “I am no man’s possession. I love you with all my heart, Hugh. But I am not yours to do with as you please. If that is how you think our arrangement will work, then I can play this game, too. We have a contract and I intend to hold you to it.”
He rose along with her, determined to remain calm, although he was the farthest thing from it. “What we have is a marriage. That voids any contract you and I entered into. However, I fully intend to fulfill that commitment. My way. My time.” How had they gotten into this argument? All he needed was one of Montvey’s men to give up the location of Emma’s father. It would then be a simple matter to retrieve him. “If Montvey’s men do not know where your father is, then I must use them to save me. Is that so hard for you to understand?”
“So you’ll sail back to England with me as your wife and all of the benefits our marriage provides you. You’ll sail with those men as your witnesses, and the Pearls of Fire as your gift for the Crown. You’ll use everything and everyone to gain your freedom and secure your father’s earldom.” She shook her head and sighed. “I want to hate you for this, but I can’t. I know how hard these years have been on you. But if we leave here without finding my father, I don’t know that I can ever forgive you, Hugh.”
“Emma, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, saying things that neither of us truly mean. Perhaps it will never come to that.”
“But what if it does?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Hugh was saved the need for a reply when Chief Tono and several villagers called out to him. He watched them hurriedly march toward him, dreading what new problem was afoot. While he dealt with it, perhaps the chief could make Emma see reason. Not that her desire to find her father was unreasonable. It wasn’t. But now that Hugh had destroyed Montvey’s ship and taken him and his soldiers captive, saving his own life had become more urgent.
In the next moment he realized why Chief Tono had been searching for him. He cast his gaze toward the open sea, beyond the burning embers of Montvey’s ship. “Hellfire,” he muttered under his breath.
Emma gripped his arm. “What is it you see out there?”
Against the black expanse was the shadow of another ship silently gliding toward the Wamsisi dock. It would not attempt to dock until the sun rose, but that merely delayed the inevitable for another few hours.
Then Emma saw it, too. “Oh, no. What are we to do now?”
Whose ship was it? Had Nikko somehow survived their encounter and captured a new vessel? Perhaps the British navy had learned of his presence and was coming after him.
It mattered little.
All possibilities boded ill. “My sweet, seems I’ve run out of time.”
“Have you formed a plan yet, Hugh?” Emma asked as the first glimmers of sunshine burst over the cliffs that rose from the sand beach and curved outward toward the open sea. The ocean breezes blew onto the beach where he and Emma stood once again to await this latest trouble.
He gathered Emma in his arms, knowing she would not be pleased with his decision. “Yes. I’m going to make a deal to keep you safe. The vessel is one of the British warships on patrol in these waters.” He had decided not to run. Where could he and his crew go? They were trapped on this island. Besides, they were holding Montvey and his men.
The best he could hope for was the chance to spare his men. He’d given them the choice to go into hiding, but they were determined to remain by his side and face whatever fate befell them. It would be a grim fate, for his decision not to engage this naval vessel and its crew in battle meant he would not enter negotiations from a position of strength.
“But Hugh–”
“No, my sweet. If this were Nikko’s ship my answer would have been different. But this is a British ship of the line. I will not fire against it or harm its crew. The best I can do is meet the captain and negotiate terms to spare my men and secure your safe passage home.”
“Back to England?” Emma meant to protest, but he cut her off with a low growl.
“I’ll ask the captain about your father, of course.”
“What happens if he doesn’t know where my father is?”
“He can question Montvey’s men. If Montvey’s claim is true, then his men will know where to find him and will tell the captain.”
