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.Finally, he seemed to back down.“If you insist.”He turned and blinked up through the lush canopy of palm trees into the sun.Emiline frowned.Was he afraid he could hurt her delicate senses? For heaven’s sake, she was the daughter of a pirate!“It was very clear from the beginning that the private commission my parents secured for me wasn’t going to be an easy one.Not that I ever had any illusions that it would be, but Captain Asmussen was an autocratic man.His ship did a good business and he made good money, but his crew paid a high price.Disciplined perfection doesn’t even begin to describe what he expected from his crew, and he rarely received it, at least in his eyes.When I assumed my place as chief mate, I took my duties seriously.To me, that included looking out for the crew as well.So, over time, the captain and I came to an understanding: I’d do my work and most of his, then let him take all the credit.In exchange, I’d take the brunt of his anger for the whole crew.”Emiline had never really understood what Reinier’s life had been like before they married.Connor had hinted at something like that earlier….Reinier had such natural charm.He could make people believe that life for him was always dazzling parties and fabulous adventures—but now she understood that it wasn’t.“So the scar came from him, your captain?”At first Emiline thought he hadn’t heard her, but with a slow nod, Reinier conceded.“Yes, one night we had almost made it into Grenada before a bad storm hit.Almost, but not quite.During the wind and rain, lashing waves crashed on deck and rattled the Galatea as if trying to swallow the ship whole.During all the confusion that ensued, the cargo wasn’t anchored down properly.We lost a good bit due to the damage.It was blamed on the newest deckhand, a skinny, jumpy lad that couldn’t have been more than thirteen.Asmussen was livid and he got to him before I knew what was happening.When I saw the boy strapped to the mast, I stepped into the path of the whip before it could strike.I was only in my shirtsleeves and much closer to the whip than the boy was, so it was worse than a normal lashing would have been.There weren’t the means to treat the wound properly.I regarded it as a souvenir when I left the ship soon after.”Reinier’s lips twitched in a half smile.Blinking, he bowed his head and stared at his toes.His whole body seemed to convey that the tale was told.It occurred to Emiline that after all this time they were finally having an open conversation without the usual jests or evasiveness.“Why did you not tell me this when we married? I was—am your wife.Why did I get cavalier jokes about some boyhood adventure gone wrong instead of the truth?”Reinier shrugged, looking into the quiet pool.“Because I wasn’t looking for your sympathies and I was sure you’d never want to hear it.”“What do you mean?”“I didn’t think there was a place for such harsh realities in your charmingly innocent life.”“How can you say that?” Squaring her shoulders, Emiline turned away from him.“I’ve never done anything to make you think such a thing.”“You might not know it, but you did.” He touched her elbow and brought her attention back to him.“Do you remember that party at Lord Pearson’s to honor your dear friend Becca’s return from England?”Emiline’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.“Of course I do,” she sputtered.“It was one of the first big events we attended together.”“Do you remember talking with Marietta, Paulette, and Sheralyn? The three of you were alone in the lady’s salon.”Emiline tried to think back, but the specific event wouldn’t come to her.She shrugged and shook her head no.“Not specifically.We were all so close then.Silly young girls eager to gossip, that’s all.”“I’d been looking for you everywhere.I missed the beginning of the conversation, but when I found you I heard you saying something that amounted to a list of why I would make the perfect husband for this perfect plan you had.The way you talked about me was like how Connor talked about his favorite breeding horses.It made it seem like you had no real feelings for me—that it was all business.And that wasn’t how I was coming to feel for you at the time at all.It hurt, Emiline.As a consequence, I was determined to not let you get the better of me.”Emiline’s cheeks flushed with anger.“Is that why you left me? Because of some overheard conversation I knew nothing about and was never given the opportunity to defend myself or contradict it?” Fickle, silly man!“I am a fool, but not quite that much of one.It wasn’t just that, although that was very ill timed
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