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“Did he hurt you?” he bites out.
“No,” I sigh, unable to claim he meant to.
Perhaps he hadn’t.
Perhaps I overreacted.
Which I hadn’t, but that would be the man’s claim. Bentwood might be above such thoughts, but society considers women as corrupting influences who should know better than to risk dangerous situations.
I’d put myself into a very dangerous situation.
“I didn’t give him the opportunity.”
“Are you sure it’s the same man that attacked Jenny?”
I snort, crushed by his doubt.
“Three festering scratch wounds down his cheek?”
Jaw clenched tight, rigid yet… Is he trembling? Stupid thought. I am shaking so hard, it’s impossible to decipher whether it’s him or me.
“Come here.”
Bentwood reaches for my shoulders, trying to pull me into his hold.
“Don’t.” I shock us both by shoving away. It’s too late. His doubt has ransacked my trust and faith in him. “You don’t even believe me.”
I refuse to cry.
Voice rough and deep, he claims, “I do believe you. I don’t want to, but I do.”
Does he? I doubt anyone else would. The man was visibly marred yet hadn’t been brought forward. If there’d been a search, it had been weak. What is wrong with this ship, this crew? Bentwood’s life is threatened, but there’s no effort in finding the culprit. They abandon the search for a man who preys on unprotected females.
I am too wrought to take solace.
Bentwood misunderstands.
“You refuse comfort because it’s me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I shout, loud enough a head pops out the opening of a cabin door down the passageway. Both Bentwood and I stop, staring as the man darts back, slamming his door.
“Was that…?” I start to ask but Bentwood shakes his head. “It couldn’t be, he’s, well.” He gives another hard shake. “No, it’s dark down here, he was in shadow. You’re just spooked.”
But he looks as confused as I am.
“Fine.” I try to brush past him. “And you don’t have to treat me as weak and pathetic.”
“I meant to comfort us both,” he snaps. “What if you hadn’t been able to break free?”
Chastised, I admit, “I dropped and rolled, like we did with blind man’s bluff.”
On a bark of laughter, he pulls me into a crushing hold.
“If he’s as disfigured as you say, he won’t be hard to find.”
I feel the beat of his heart, pounding in his chest.
“He wasn’t found before. Why? Jenny told us she scratched him. Surely someone noticed. Why is he left to wander along the passageway? Why was the lower deck empty? What is wrong with this ship?” I look up at him. “Why haven’t you insisted he be found?”
