Her Pirate Master (Entwined Fates) (16 page)

“I’m headed to the galley,” Stefan said tiredly. “I’ve heard enough of the man’s praises.”

“I’m not praising him,” Sidious called, but Stefan ignored him and continued down the hall.

Sidious shook his head and let out a tired sigh.

“I’m sure Jack’s fine,” Jonah offered, even though he didn’t completely feel certain. Maybe he was just trying to convince himself as well. “With that mouth of hers, Victis will probably pay us to take her back home.”

Sidious leveled a solemn stare at him that made Jonah nervous. “What?”

“Don’t tell your dad this, but during my research I discovered that Victis is a Dom.”

Jonah closed his eyes briefly. “Son of a bitch. Jack will not handle being bossed around well.”

“Nope,” Sidious said and glanced down at the controls, rapping his knuckles lightly against the edge.

“Maybe he won’t—”

The look on Sidious’s face when he turned his gaze back to Jonah had his heart skipping a beat. “Agnus believes he will. Matter of fact, he made it clear he planned to make use of Jack’s namesake just to piss off Jack.”

Jonah pursed his lips and frowned. Anger welled inside him at the thought of his sister being raped. But inside, he didn’t think that had happened. He didn’t feel it. He always knew when Jack had been hurt, no matter how far away from each other they were. He hadn’t felt anything like that. Either the link just didn’t work anymore, or Jack hadn’t been hurt.

He chose to believe the latter.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell that to Dad.”

Sidious snorted. “What do you think I am? Nuts?”

Jonah scowled and moved a step closer to his uncle. “If you knew Victis was a Dom and what he would probably do to Jack, then why did you try to get my dad to see his good side?”

“Because I refuse to believe that a man who would resort to stealing to feed his people would deliberately hurt a woman in his care. Dom or not.”

* * * *

Jack struggled to open her eyes, despite Gora shaking her shoulder repeatedly.

“Come on, dear. Wake up,” Gora called. “We have company.”

Jack frowned as she rolled to her back and wiped the sleep from her eyes. God, she was so tired. Haydrien had woken her up sometime during the night and made love to her again. “Company?”

“Yes. Looks as though your Marcone is here to get you.”

Jack sat straight up, her heart nearly leaping from her chest. She glanced around frantically for Haydrien. Unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen. She was happy to see her family, but she hadn’t had a chance to tell Haydrien who she really was. This was not how she wanted him to find out.

“Where’s Haydrien?” she asked and threw the covers off her legs.

Gora handed her a pair of pants and a top that Jack quickly threw on.

“He’s on his way to meet them,” Gora said.

She froze. “What? No. We have to stop him, Gora. I have to tell him something first.”

Gora shook her head. “It’s too late, dear. They’re already in the meeting chamber.”

Jack’s hands began to shake. Oh, God. This was not going to be good.

* * * *

Haydrien stared at Stefan Marcone as though he’d grown another head. What the hell was he talking about?

“I don’t have your daughter, old man,” Haydrien replied as he walked to the head of the large table that dominated the room.

Stefan had not come alone. Two other men were with him. One about the same age as Stefan, the other much younger. Haydrien studied the younger one. “Who are you?” Haydrien asked.

“Jonah Marcone. Jack’s twin brother.”

“Where’s Jack?” Haydrien asked.

“You have Jack,” Jonah replied.

There was a slight hint of amusement swirling in Jonah’s eyes that made Haydrien uneasy. “I have the woman who was named after Jack, not—”

Jonah shook his head slowly. “You have Jack,” he repeated softly.

Haydrien scowled. “What the hell kind of game are you playing?”

“We’re not playing a game,” the other older man replied.

At that second the door opened, and Jacquelyn stepped inside. Her worried eyes met his, and it was in that instant he knew.
My God.
Why hadn’t he seen it before? She’d lied to him. Pain sliced through his gut like he’d been punched. He bent over slightly and grabbed the back of the chair for support.

All this time he’d had Jack right under his nose. He’d been played for a fool.

Jacquelyn. Why the hell hadn’t he seen it? Because like so many others, he would’ve never imagined a captain with Jack’s record had been a woman. It never once crossed his mind.

Son of a bitch.

She took a step toward him, her eyes pleading with him to understand. Why hadn’t she told him? Why?

He set his lips in a firm line and took a step back. From the corner of his eye, he watched Stefan rush forward and grasp his daughter’s face, forcing her to look at him, allowing Haydrien to finally break eye contact with the woman who’d just devastated him.

“Are you okay?” Stefan asked.

“I’m fine,” she said and turned her gaze back to Haydrien’s.

“As you can see, she’s unharmed. Now the three of you can get the hell off my planet. And while you’re at it, take her with you.”

He couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t look at any of them and turned to leave the room through the side entrance. She’d made a massive fool of him. He just wanted her gone.

JACK WATCHED HIM go and swore she felt her heart shatter. She knew the second she saw the hurt in his eyes he’d put the pieces together. What they had was over. He would never forgive her for this. In his mind, he felt betrayed, and could she really blame him?

Stefan started toward Haydrien, but Jack grasped his arm, holding him back. “Don’t. Just let it go.”

Her dad pointed toward the door Haydrien had just walked through. “He—”

Jack shook her head, trying hard to hold her tears at bay. “He never laid a hand on me. Just let it go.”

Her father reluctantly nodded, but she could still feel the tension radiating off his entire body. He was furious, but he would do as she asked. He always did.

Around her father’s shoulder, she caught Jonah’s concerned stare. He was her twin, the other half of her. She could see in his eyes and in his understanding expression that he knew exactly how much she hurt right now. She ran and threw herself into her brother’s outstretched arms. He caught her to him and held tight.

“Just take me home, please,” she whispered, her voice cracking under the strain of holding back.

Jonah bent and put his arm under her knees, lifting her easily. He carried her from the room, her father and Uncle Sidious following. She closed her eyes tight and buried her face in her brother’s neck, finally letting the tears fall.

Chapter Twenty

Jack held her cup of tea in her hand as she leaned her shoulder against the window and stared out at the stars. They’d just exited the transport gate and now entered the outer rim of her home galaxy. Tilarus was only a few hours away. She sighed and leaned her temple against the glass.

Home.

She took a tentative sip of the hot liquid. Warm cinnamon filled her mouth, but the taste of her favorite tea did little to ease her aches. She’d fallen in love with Haydrien. She doubted that ache would leave anytime soon.

She’d done her best at hiding her hurt from her dad, but she hadn’t been able to hide it from Jonah. Through racking sobs, she’d told her brother everything, or most everything, but then made him promise to never tell their dad. As far as Stefan Marcone knew, Haydrien had never touched her, and that was how she wanted to keep it.

The door to her room opened, and she watched through the reflection in the glass as her father walked into the room and leaned his hip against the small table that separated the living area and bedroom.

“You’ve been way too mopey, Jack. I know you. Something’s wrong. Do you want to talk about it?”

Inwardly, Jack cringed. She lifted her head and smiled softly at her dad through the reflection. “If I had boy problems, would you really want to hear about it?”

His lips twisted. “Not really, but I thought I would make the effort.”

Jack laughed softly and walked over to place a kiss on his whiskered cheek. She rubbed the backs of her fingers over the stubble and grinned. “You better shave that. If you don’t, Mom will know something’s up.”

He smiled softly as he grasped her hand and placed a kiss inside her palm. It was something he’d done since she was a little girl, and surprisingly the gesture made her feel a bit better.

“Yeah, for some reason whenever I’m worried, I always forget to shave.”

Jack snickered as she walked around him to sit on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine. Just homesick.”

He turned to study her over his shoulder, his gaze serious. He wasn’t going to let this drop. “What happened over there, Jack?” he asked softly.

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Nothing really. I just got to know him. He’s a lot like you, you know.”

Her father made a strained face. “Yeah, so your uncle likes to tell me.”

She sighed and stared into her cup. “I should’ve told him.”

“If you had, do you think he would’ve hurt you?”

Looking up at her dad, she thought about it for a second before answering. “In the beginning, I thought he might. I kept my mouth shut and behaved in the hopes that Agnus would get to you. I had no idea what he would do to me. I tried to explain about the ship, and I thought that he’d dismissed my whole explanation, but I heard him ask Lear to check into it. After I got to know him, I don’t believe he would’ve done anything to me, but…”

“But what?” her dad coaxed.

“I was enjoying his company,” she finally said. “Do you know that I got sick, and in four days, he never left my bedside?” Her father frowned, and she continued. “The medicine he’d stolen is what saved my life. I think I was afraid if I told him who I was, he would…”

“React just like he did?”

“What would you have done?” she asked.

“If I were him?”

She nodded.

“I think a lot of it would depend on my feelings toward you. I’m sure he felt like an idiot, not figuring it out. Maybe he didn’t want to figure it out. Maybe like you, he was enjoying your company and didn’t want to see the truth. All I know is I saw the hurt on his face when he finally put two and two together. You don’t hurt like that if you don’t care.”

“Maybe.” Jack shrugged and sighed tiredly. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over and time to start new.”

“No more being a pilot?” her dad asked with a frown.

“Just for now. I think I need a break. How’s Agnus?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Berating himself.”

Jack snickered. “I can just imagine.”

“He was devastated that he hadn’t been able to do more. Last I heard from your grandfather, Agnus was demanding we stand together as a family and convince you to give up this nonsense of you piloting ships.”

Jack smiled and stared into her cup. Agnus would never let up now. That was for sure.

“I haven’t told your mom about this. I didn’t want her to worry until there was something to worry over.”

“Thank you,” Jack murmured.

Her mother, Krista, would’ve freaked out if she knew what had happened.

“If you want to talk about…anything,” her dad said, “I’m here.”

“I know, but I’m fine, Dad. Really.”

* * * *

It had been the roughest four weeks Jack thought she’d ever experienced. She’d hardly slept at all. Every time she tried, she missed Haydrien lying next to her and would eventually just get up, only falling asleep when she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

God, she missed him so much.

“What do you think of this one?” Miya asked as she held up a deep blue dress.

Jack blinked and tried to stay focused on her and Miya’s plan for the day. Miya had dragged her all the way to Daego to stay at Sidious and Mikayla’s lake house and spend some time shopping.

Daego was a small moon where most of the galactic elite came to relax. The small town by the same name was nestled by a mountain lake and catered to couples who wanted privacy in a gardenlike setting. Shopping was some of the best in the galaxy. It was where Jack got most of her clothes.

Jack could admit to needing the diversion; unfortunately it wasn’t working. Neither was the afternoon spent in town searching for a dress for Miya.

Jack shook her head, deciding the color wasn’t right for Miya’s darker complexion.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“What is it you need this dress for?” Jack asked.

Miya glanced back over her shoulder, giving Jack a look of censure. “Jack, you’re as bad as the men in this family. Only half listening.” Miya hung the dress back on the rack and turned to fully face her. “I need a new dress for Ambassador Dorn’s party.”

“Dorn? As in Alexander Dorn?”

Miya nodded and began to sift through the next rack.

“So that’s why you’re so interested in finding a new sexy dress?” Jack teased, her lips twitching slightly.

Her cousin wasn’t into fashion, but for some reason, she wanted to make sure she looked good for this party. Jack wondered if it had anything to do with the handsome ambassador.

Miya scowled and pointed her finger at her. “Jack, don’t you dare. It’s not like that. Dorn is very nice.”

“Yeah,” Jack said drily. “Very nice-looking.”

Miya’s face took on a dreamy expression as she examined a dark green dress. “More like gorgeous.”

Jack watched Miya closely. “Is that a hint of a crush I’m detecting?”

Miya placed the dress back on the rack. “I do not have a crush on Ambassador Dorn. I just think he’s very…handsome.” She shook her head as she sifted through a rack of skirts. “He’s too old for me, anyway. Too…intense.”

“So what kind of guy is it you like, Miya?” Jack asked, genuinely curious.

She’d never known her cousin to date, at least not seriously. Miya was too focused on her career. But she was right about one thing. Jack agreed that Dorn was way too intense for Miya.