The Rogue Pirate’s Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

you.”
    Bastien raised his eyebrows then nodded.
    “He in the wardroom.”
    “Thank you.” Bastien turned and strode across the deck, taking a ladderway to the lower deck. When he reached the wardroom, he saw the door was ajar. Maine stood with a lean, black-haired youth. Bastien recognized the boy as one of his crew, but he couldn’t recall the lad’s name at the moment. He and Maine were speaking earnestly, but their conversation ceased as soon as Bastien entered.
    “Captain, you know Jack Smith. He’s one of the deckhands.”
    “Of course.”
    The boy had a nervous look on his face, and Maine knew as well as Bastien that having the captain know who he was would put Jack at ease.
    “Jack has some interesting news to share.”
    Bastien nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m listening.”
    “I-it’s about the girl, Captain. The one you brought on board.” Bastien noted Jack had an English accent, lower class. Perhaps he’d known the hellion in England? Except that now that he thought about it, the hellion had a refined accent. He was no expert on English accents, but he knew her speech was educated. Why hadn’t he considered that important until now?
    “I know that girl, Captain. She’s trouble.”
    Bastien smiled. “You don’t have to tell me.”
    “No, sir. I mean, she could get us into trouble. Her father…” He swallowed, tried again. “Her father is Admiral Russell with His Majesty’s Navy.”
    Bastien felt as though a mast had fallen on his head. He blinked slowly.
    The boy must have seen something in his eyes, because he took a step back. “I used to be in the navy, Captain. Before I deserted.” He glanced at Maine as though wondering if this admission would cause him trouble. But Bastien couldn’t have cared less about his crew’s former lives. Hell, half of his men had probably deserted some navy or other.
    Maine put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Go on.”
    “I wasn’t part of Admiral Russell’s crew, but I seen him from time to time. And I seen his daughter with him. She sails with him, Captain, and it’s a bit of a scandal.”
    Bastien nodded but still did not trust himself to speak.
    “Her name is Raeven, Captain, like the bird. Raeven Russell, and she was engaged to Captain Timothy Bowers.”
    Bastien waited for the lad to continue, but he seemed to think this explanation sufficient.
    “What the hell does Captain Bowers have to do with me?” Bastien looked at Maine. “And why the hell is Admiral Russell’s daughter seeking me out and challenging me to a duel in a Brest tavern?”
    The lad’s eyes were huge now. “I heard she has a bit of a temper.”
    Bastien laughed. “That’s an understatement, but it doesn’t answer my question.”
    “It’s Captain Bowers,” Maine said, “her fiancé. He was captain of the HMS Valor .”
    Like lines on a map, everything took shape as soon as he was oriented. “The HMS Valor .”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “The ship we… had a run-in with last spring.” The Valor had come after them and gone away the worse for it. But as the Shadow hadn’t sunk the 32-gun frigate, Bastien didn’t consider the incident much more than a skirmish.
    Maine nodded.
    “And am I to assume that Bowers was wounded in the fighting?”
    “Killed.”
    Bastien already knew this, but he wanted it confirmed. So the little hellion, Raeven Russell, wanted revenge for the death of her fiancé. He could hardly blame her. Bowers had not died a hero. The British captain had chosen the wrong ship to trifle with and had, after a series of clumsy maneuvers, almost lost his own vessel. Bowers’s error, as Bastien recalled, was engaging the Shadow in stormy weather. The Shadow ’s guns were mounted on the upper deck. The Valor ’s guns graced both the upper and lower decks. In the storm, the seas grew so rough, the Valor had been forced to close its gun ports on the lower deck, evening the odds against the Shadow .
    Bastien remembered the Shadow had fired