Hearing his tone, Kate glanced up at him in surprise. “Why are you angry with me? You would have acted similarly, had I not stepped in first to protect Gabrielle.”
“My anger is because you made yourself a target for Louvel’s vengeance. He will view it as the ultimate humiliation, being vanquished by a woman.”
“What can he do to me?” Kate asked dismissively. “We will be gone shortly and will never have to deal with him again.”
Brandon bit back a sharp reply. Having witnessed some of the pirate’s previous altercations in America—which had ended in assault, and worse, death—he knew the lengths Louvel might go to now. For that reason among others, he was eager to leave St. Georges as soon as they loaded their valises into their rented carriage.
He escorted Kate to the cottage and left her there to collect their belongings, then made his way to the nearby livery and ordered his team hitched. While he waited in the stable yard, Brandon recalled her naïve question, What can he do to me?
His unease increased as memories of Louvel’s gravest offenses came flooding back, and he couldn’t suppress the dark images flashing through his mind. A scoundrel unconstrained by civilized boundaries, Louvel could easily act out of revenge, doing Kate physical harm, up to and including killing her.
The possibility made his gut clench. Perhaps he’d been unwise to leave her alone in the cottage after all. He should have brought her with him to the livery.
Unable to shake his ominous thoughts, Brandon had decided to return to the cottage when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning at the sound, he went very still.
Barely ten feet away stood two of Louvel’s underlings, with four more at their backs, all of them armed with pistols or knives or cudgels.
He recognized three of the brutes by name: Ancel, Raoul, and Gaston. The ringleader, Ancel, waved his pistol while speaking in French.
“You are to come with us, monsieur. Louvel wishes a word with you at once.”
Assessing his odds took Brandon only a heartbeat. Fighting his way out of this situation would not be easy—one against six hulking corsairs brandishing weapons at close range. A quick glance at the rear of the stable yard told him that the head ostler and livery hands had all slipped away, no doubt unwilling to cross a man as powerful as Louvel.
Brandon voiced a silent oath. He should have been on his guard, especially after the emasculation Louvel had recently suffered. But self-recriminations were useless at this point.
Just then Louvel himself rode into the yard and drew to a halt, followed by a lumbering wooden wagon pulled by a pair of sturdy horses.
“What is this?” Brandon asked the pirate. “Retribution?”
Smiling, Louvel rubbed the scar on his cheek. “Mais oui. I have a long memory. You never paid for the humiliation you dealt me years ago. Did you think I would permit you to leave here with impunity?”
“I suppose I should be honored. You sent an entire army of your cohorts to apprehend me.”
A gloating grin spread across the pirate’s swarthy features. “I could not risk your overpowering them.”
“I suspect the reason is more because you are too spineless to fight me man to man.”
Louvel’s grin disappeared. “Why should I risk myself when there are more
certain methods to ensure your demise?”
Brandon ignored the sudden tightness in his chest. “You mean to shoot me, then?”
“I have in mind something more original.”
“Do tell,” Brandon drawled, knowing that provoking Louvel to boast was the swiftest way to discover his plan.
“I have merely to leave you to drown. There is an underground cell in the caves where our contraband is stored that will flood at high tide.” Louvel glanced around the yard. “Where is Mademoiselle Wilde? I expected to find her with you.”
The constriction around Brandon’s chest drew tighter, and he spoke before he could stop himself. “If you dare lay a hand on her…”
“What will you do?” Louvel’s expression turned to a sneer. “You cannot escape with your life.”
Once again Brandon contemplated taking on the entire band of pirates. He could possibly commandeer a pistol and shoot Louvel before being overwhelmed. But if he fought and failed, Kate would be alone, undefended, at Louvel’s mercy. No, his only leverage was to bluff.
“Would you care to test me?” When the pirate hesitated, he added a warning. “Clearly you suffer from an unnatural belief in your own immortality. Even should you eliminate me, Miss Wilde has powerful friends who will hunt you down like a rabid dog.”
Louvel continued to pause, although judging from his scornful expression, the threat was ineffective, Brandon realized.