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A feral grin hitched the side of his mouth in a challenge. “Only one topic is off the table.”
I snorted, popping a dumpling in my mouth. “What?”
“Your father.”
Every muscle in my body locked up, air halting in my lungs, anger drilling into the back of my neck. “Why?” I shook my head. “No! That’s bullshit. A truth for a truth, you said!”
“You don’t want to know that truth.”
“Because we already know you murdered him? That I’m sitting here with my father’s killer when I should have dropped you at the bottom of Davy Jones’s locker the moment I saw you?”
He didn’t move, unfazed by my reaction. “You have no idea what actually happened.”
“Then tell me.”
“That is not the story you will get from me tonight.”
“Why?”
Croygen’s lids narrowed. “Start with something else, or you get nothing from me at all.”
“Typical Croygen, your way or no way.”
“How it works on my ship, Kitty-Kat. And if I remember correctly, you’re still my captive.” He nicked one of the dumplings, biting into it, his gaze never leaving mine. “Why isn’t Killian with you?”
Sucking down another sip of baijiu, my mind and mouth started to disconnect.
“He wanted something I couldn’t give him.”
“Andwhatwas that?” Croygen’s intensity made me wonder if he already knew the answer, the response screaming from every molecule.
“A relationship. Love.”
“And why couldn’t you give it to him?”
I swallowed, drinking more, everything becoming a little fuzzy around me.
“Kat?”
“You.”
“Me?” His brow curved up seductively.
I shifted on the bed, staring at the swollen drops of rain against the window, the room shadowy and humid, sticking my wet clothes to me even more.
“My obsession to become a better pirate than you—to best you in every way, to track you down, force you to see what you did—was more powerful than my feelings for him.”
“Ouch.” Croygen’s lips pressed together, but he looked anything but compassionate for Killian. Smugness curled his mouth. “That had to hurt. Killian’s only thought was always for you… and your only thought was ofme.”
“It wasn’t like that.” I glowered at him.
“Sure,” he smirked
“Get over yourself.”
“So you thought coming before me, showing what a better pirate you were, more ruthless, cutthroat, seductive, would do what?” He bit into another dumpling, his tongue sliding over his lip. “Make me ashamed I kicked you off the ship? That my actions turned you into the remarkable, powerful, and extremely clever woman you are now?”
His praise blossomed like flowers in my gut. The little girl who had lived for the approval of her captain was a grown woman who wanted to be punished for it now. A twisted sickness I couldn’t seem to rid myself of.
