As he’d expected, the ship was dark. What he hadn’texpected to hear was music and laughter. They drew closer, careful to paddle softly, and listened.
The crew silenced for a few seconds before they rose in a cheerful roar. Some game must be afoot. Good. A distraction.
Nick guided the gig to the starboard side, where a wooden ladder stretched up to the main deck. Making sure his weapons were ready, he crept up the ladder and slipped over the side, signaling for the others to follow when he went unnoticed.
Alex’s sailors faced the center of the deck, fists pounding the air, their loud whoops piercing the night. Nick couldn’t have asked for a better distraction. Even the lookout watched the deck when he ought to have spotted them approaching.
Curious, Nick used his height to peer over the crew. A man was flat on his back. A young lady knelt down at his side, then rising to her feet, she held a hand out to help him up.
That was when Nick heard Alex, saw her out of the corner of his eye, laughing and clapping.
The hairs on the back of Nick’s neck rose on end and, before he thought better of it, he shoved through the crowd, pulling his loaded pistol out of his waistband.
Whispered exclamations—“There be two of ‘em!” “If I didn’t see it with me own eyes…” “Which be which?”—faded under his heartbeat drumming inhis ears.
Alex, vixen that she was, smiled at Nick and stepped forward, closer to him and the pistol he pointed at her. “Nick!” she exclaimed, not in the least bit concerned. She didn’t think he’d do it.
“Don’t test me, woman. I’ll shoot.” He gritted his teeth and cocked the pistol.
Her smile wavered. She looked confused, but he wouldn’t let the treacherous siren fool him again. She’d sooner lead him to the rocks and let him drown than let him leave to find whatever it was he’d thought he was out to find. Anger and the prospect of revenge had fueled him over the miserable weeks crossing the Atlantic to London, but now that she stood close enough for him to shoot…
Drat it all to the crushing depths, he couldn’t do it.
Lord Matlock’s voice broke the silence. “There shall be no bloodshed, Nick.”
The man the lady had handed up earlier spun around. “Uncle?”
Nick felt his eyes bulge and his mouth drop. His hands shook, and he dropped them to his knees. There was no pistol there. When had someone plucked it from his grasp?
Richard and Lord Matlock brushed by him to the man. To Darcy. They embraced him and bowed to the young lady they called Miss Bennet. Their greetings were happy.
Nick thought he would be sick. He seemed to have a head cold, complete with a useless, stuffy nose and aswollen throat. His chest ached, and his eyes blurred. Definitely sick. He closed his eyes and filled his lungs.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Two boots stood before him. Taking another deep breath, Nick forced himself to stand straight. After twenty-eight years of searching for something he couldn’t name, something which had always been just out of his reach, the truth crashed over him like a rogue wave he couldn’t have foreseen or prepared for.
Darcy held him by the shoulders, steadying himself as much as he steadied Nick. In a low voice, he said, “Youaremy brother.”
Sweet, warm release flooded through Nick like a double ration of rum. He had never been happier. His cheeks were wet, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t alone anymore. He had a family.
And then, he sawher.
CHAPTER 26
Darcy saw the moment Nick noticed Alex. His eyes hardened, and his jaw clenched. It was a fearsome look to behold. It occurred to Darcy that he must look the same when he was in high dudgeon, but Nick’s hand reaching to his side and the knife flying past Darcy’s nose to plunge into the plank at Alex’s boot tip prevented any further pondering on their likeness.
Alex jumped backward. “What’d ye do that for? These’re me favorite boots!”
Another knife flew by her ear, close enough to make her eyes double in size … then narrow as she reached for her boot.
Darcy moved in front of Nick. Jaffa appeared at his side, strengthening the barrier. “Get outta me way,” Nick seethed between his teeth.
“No.” Darcy blocked Nick’s attempt to get past.
“You will have to kill me first, Cap’n Nick,” Jaffa said.
Given the lethal gleam in his brother’s eye, Darcy added, “I cannot allow you to injure a lady.”
“Ye call her a lady? That conniving viper?” He raised his arm to shove Darcy out of his path, but while he was the same size and very strong, Darcy had a slight advantage in weight, and he used it. To protect Alex. Why on earth he would protect that woman when she had caused him and Elizabeth and their families so much trouble, Darcy could not say. But it was the right thing to do, God help him.
