She could have clung to the “right now” if she were weak and addled. But
she wasn’t, she was a fighter. “Tell him I want to go home.”
“You’ll go where he takes you. Trust me, he wants to get rid of you as much as you want to be gone, and that’s the Lord’s truth.”
There was an odd note in his voice, and she narrowed her gaze, staring at him. Did he look a little less disapproving, a little less grim? His next words confirmed it. “He’s not for the likes of you, lass, and you know it. He’s part gypsy, and he goes where he wants, when he wants.”
“I’ll have you know I’m planning to marry Lord Eastham. I have absolutely no interest in a pirate,” she said stiffly. It wasn’t a lie. She was planning to marry the old man. She just hadn’t informed him of the fact yet.
“Privateer,” Billy corrected. “And that’s a good thing, then, for the both of you.”
“How’s she doing?” Luca didn’t turn his gaze away from the sea, but he expected Billy could read him like a book.
There was a long silence. “She’ll be fine,” Billy said gruffly. “Just keep away from her and she’ll get over you.”
That caught his attention, and he jerked around. “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think I mean? The girl’s in love with you, like they all are. She’s just another one of your conquests—don’t give her another thought.”
“I’m not,” he said grimly, turning back to the ever-soothing balm of the sea. It was the calm before the storm, a time he knew well, and he was taking it in before all hell broke loose.
Billy followed his gaze. “We didn’t outrun it, did we?”
“We’ll find out. I think we’ll miss the brunt of it, and the Maddy Rose is tough. She can withstand a lot.”
“Like her namesake.”
Luca whirled around. “What the bloody hell are you talking about? I thought you hated her.”
“I’ve never hated her. I just thought she was bad for you. All upper crust and all that, and a liar to boot. I’ll say one thing for her—she knows how to work hard. That old witch Mrs. C. near killed her.”
But Luca was focusing on one thing. “You said you ‘thought’ she was bad for me. Past tense.”
“Ah, don’t go bothering me with your fancy English stuff. I should never have taught you to read,” Billy said genially. “You prefer me to say that I think she’s bad for you?”
“It depends on what you mean.”
“Lord, boy-o, do you realize what a mess of trouble she is? I did what you told me to do. I told her you didn’t want to see her again and you’d drop her off at the first port we come to.”
“Good.”
“You don’t look happy about it.”
“It’s for the best. She’s a grown woman. She knows better than to fall in love with a half gypsy who works for a living.”
“Her father worked for a living.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“Yours, laddie. Always yours.” Billy put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I just want you to make sure you know what you’re doing.”
Luca didn’t answer. They’d ended the night at a standoff, even if she’d been curled up in his arms. They struck sparks off each other, and either or both of their lives could go up in flames. He knew what he wanted, and it didn’t include an upper-class wife and a life in London. He didn’t want her, damn it. Even if his body and something else inside him that he refused to recognize craved her.
“I’ll take first watch,” he said finally, changing the subject. “You’re as good as I am in a storm…”
“Better,” Billy said.
“Maybe,” Luca said grudgingly. “Let’s hope we don’t have a chance to prove it.”