Dilson suddenly burst through the door.
“Captain, it’s the pirate, Khar El-Din. We spotted him before we brought you on board. Now he’s demanding to come aboard!”
“That bloody bastard,” Mr. Donnetti exclaimed, turning sharply.
The earl turned his head on the pillow and said calmly to Dilson, “If our friend wishes to pay us a visit, we’ll not say nay. Francesco, go welcome him and bring him here. He’ll not accept less, you know.”
“But, my lord—” Scargill began.
“Enough, Scargill. Cover me, I cannot greet my friend naked. And bind my wound. Let him smell blood, but not see it.”
Cassie took a shaking step back, her eyes flying to the earl’s face. A pirate. The earl had told her that such men still existed, but she had not believed him.
“Cassandra.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
His eyes swept over her wet clothes, the breeches that clung tightly to her thighs and hips. He could make out her nipples pressing against the thin white shirt. Although her hair hung in tangled wet masses about her pale face, it seemed to make her all the more alluring. He felt a shaft of fear.
“Listen to me, cara, we haven’t much time. Wrap yourself from throat to toe in a cloak. You will sit very quietly, your eyes down. You will keep your mouth shut. Do you understand me?”
She nodded mutely, though she did not understand.
“Quickly, Scargill, cover her. Cassandra, we are not in England. Trust me in this.” He felt the pain drawing at his senses, and drew a deep, steadying breath.
“Do as his lordship has told you, madonna.”
Cassie pulled the satin cloak he offered her about her and sat down.
Her eyes flew from Scargill’s set face at the sound of heavy boots overhead. They drew nearer, sounding in her ears like the staccato beat of marching men.
A deep booming voice came through the open doorway, and a man entered whom Cassie would never forget. For an instant, her eyes locked to his, eyes so dazzling blue and piercing that they seemed hardly human. He was like a bull, she thought, short, but mammoth in girth. His blond hair was thick and long, bleached with streaks of white. His bare arms were thick with bulging muscle. He wore a loose red leather vest and baggy breeches that were held at his waist by a wide scarlet sash.
She dropped her eyes quickly to the floor.
“Buon Giorno, Antonio! Godo di verderla!” His voice held the swaggering tone of a man who knew himself to be in command.
The earl answered easily, in Italian. “And I am glad to see you, my friend. To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
Khar El-Din waved a negligent hand, pulled up a chair and straddled it. His fierce eyes slewed in Cassie’s direction and she felt as though he could see through her cloak, even through her wet clothing.
“Surely there need be no special reason, among friends, Antonio. I see that you are not well. You have suffered an accident?”
“I still live, as you see. Scargill, fetch our guest a glass of wine.”
“Ever gracious, Antonio, ever gracious. I see that you have another guest.”
Cassie forced herself to keep her head down, to pretend that she did not understand.
“Not a guest, but my wife. She is English and of course does not comprehend our language.”
Khar El-Din took the proffered glass from Scargill, tipped back his lion’s head, and downed the entire contents. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and grinned hugely. “So my lord earl finally ties himself to one woman. She is lovely, my friend, though she looks quite wet and uncomfortable. My girls will be bereft at their loss. Zabetta, in particular, will miss her English stallion.”
“I trust you will convey my regrets.”
“Trust me to console them, Antonio, though it will take me many nights. But my friend, you really do not look at all well. My men told me the strangest story, so bizarre that I must needs see for myself. A young girl diving most proficiently from your yacht to be followed by you, Antonio, your chest stained bright with your own blood. How, my friend, can I avoid drawing the most distasteful of conclusions? The mighty earl felled by a mere girl. Assist me to understand, my friend, why a wife would shoot her husband and dive into the sea to escape him.” He paused a moment, his eyes again upon Cassie. “If you had but left her in the sea, I would have been most delighted to save her and teach her the error of her ways.”