Page 67 of The Worst of Them

Then he looked up and flashed a lopsided, careless grin at his friends. “I’d be on time, but Robin’s a bastard,” he said.

“What happened here?” Hein asked, sliding his finger down his own cheek in the shape of Jack’s scar.

Jack’s smile sharpened, though he maintained his levity as he said, “A woman, a shiv, and a terrible misunderstanding.” His eyes slid to Cecily. “Hello, darling.”

Cecily crossed her legs, leaned her elbows on her knee, and replied smoothly, “It took a lot of time to make that shiv. You owe me a knife.”

“Looks as though you’ve lost any qualms over spending your gold. You didn’t buy one today?” His gaze raked over her again, then he glanced at Hester standing with her arm around Greyson. “Tell me she’s already armed.”

“Probably,” Hester said. Her unnerving smile appeared. “Maybe you should go find it.”

“I wouldn’t mind watching you get bested,” Maria said. “Try it, Copson.”

“It’ll find its way out on its own, I’m sure,” Jack said. “Careful sitting so close to her, Hector. I want you to live a long, terrible life.”

As though it might cool her from Jack’s derision, she leaned even closer to the officer. “Don’t mind our little spat,” she said to Hein. “As I understand it, no one cuts Jack, and it still chafes that I’m the exception.”

Hein turned his head, bringing his face nearer to hers. As he did, something dangerous flicked across Jack’s expression before he quickly schooled it into nonchalance.

A slow grin crept along her lips. Had Hein just threatened some odd little claim he thought he had over her?

Hein must have caught it too. He flashed a devilish smirk. “Surely our Jack would never do anything to deserve that,” he said.

Yes, Cecily would certainly stay close to Hein while they were in Tortuga. She assumed he’d be a willing participant as well as a fine distraction from the missing pieces of her heart. Perhaps it was risky, but two monsters playing the same game was surely not a danger if affections were never in question.

Jack turned away to face the house. “Tell us about the guards, Hector,” he said, his words carefully casual.

Hein laughed, breaking any tension in the clearing. “You all made a proper mess of things last year,” he said with both accusation and mirth. “The governor was livid enough to replace all his guards and set new rules with worse punishments for being idle.”

“Did he hire you?” Jack asked, approaching the cliff. Cecily’s heart quickened as he neared the edge, for fear—or glee—that he might fall from it.

“He tried,” Hein answered mildly, standing to go join him. The other men followed. “I gave him some ideas, and I stay close.”

Jack’s brows lifted. “You’re cozy with the governor now?”

“I like having friends in high places,” Hein said nonchalantly. “It’s much easier to make my life as I will it to be.” He pointed to the house. “There are no breaks in guard rotations any longer, so everything is seen at all times. The guards inside are less of a hassle, but that’s only if you can get in. Some thieves have tried it since your last escapade, and they’ve never made it within a stone’s throw of the house.”

“We make it look too easy,” Frederick said, rubbing his hands together, and Greyson growled a laugh in reply.

“God,” Maria said. “Men.”

“Will we go with them?” Hester asked, moving closer to Maria. “To rob the house?”

“Yes,” Fay sighed, like it was all a wonderful dream. “It’s our favorite game. It’s how we all started getting along. The governor makes it harder every year, thinking we won’t outsmart him, but we always do.”

Cecily didn’t love the idea of robbing the governor’s mansion but would say nothing of it. Jack would undoubtedly skin her alive if she refused to go.

“Six summers and counting,” Maria said proudly. “It all started after we were given to some violent disagreements one summer, and Jack made us rob the house because he was annoyed with the bickering and swore it would make us friends again. He nearly got us caught, so we all were friends and Jack was the ass, but we forgave him eventually. As breaking in got harder, we got smarter, and now it’s our favorite tradition.”

Cecily scoffed. “Jack, a peacemaker?” For all his slights just now, she wondered how the friend they knew could be the same pirate she was stuck with.

Maria glanced at the men on the cliff across the clearing. Cecily followed her gaze to Jack, who peered at Cecily over his shoulder.

“I am many things other than the foolish pirate you think me to be,” he said while the others still discussed the governor’s house. “Though trying to keep peace with you has been bloody, insulting, and shockingly expensive.” He threw out a smile as though he meant it to be funny.

She scowled back, heat blooming across her cheeks, but he faced the house again.

Peacemaker indeed.