"Is everything alright?" Higgins sounded worried. Likely, he worried I had already come to Kael to report his actions. I hoped he wouldn't confirm that I had. But with Kael's knack for short speeches, it was unlikely he would come up with a lengthy excuse for his demeanor now.

"It's Madeline. She's being difficult." I heard both men walk further into the room. "Somewhere in this general vicinity, I know. Just which harbor?" They were probably looking at the map I had noticed hanging on the far wall.

"Yes, I see. We do need to know. Would you like me to talk to her? I can be quite persuasive." Higgins' voice made my stomach roll. I was glad they were talking of something other than me, however.

"No. We couldn't press her much harder. No use to us dead," Kael said. I heard Higgins laugh.

"The girl?" Higgins started. Not a smooth transition, I thought. He must be worried. "I haven't been able to find her. I hope she's alright. I caught one of the men making a pass at her. Had to scare him off. I'm afraid she might be a bit shaken up."

"She's fine," Kael replied. Then asked threateningly, "who was it? I'll remind him who he answers to if he touches her."

Higgins laughed again, a little more strained this time. "I agree. Scoundrels, though aren't we all? Unfortunately, we need every man we've got. So you've seen her?" Higgins was pushing Kael, I knew. In my heart, I wished Kael would take him down, especially while I was behind the door and would miss the gore.

Kael answered evasively, "I've seen her."

Higgins could not be satisfied. "Well, where's she off to? I'd be more than happy to show her to her room. I'll take personal responsibility for her safe guard tonight. Garrett won't be much use, I'm afraid. Poor fellow's a light weight." He punctuated his observation with another hideous laugh.

"That won't be necessary. She's already asleep."

"What?" Higgins stuttered, "Oh-oh! Really? Well, good then. You might as well get something out of this beastly ordeal!" My pulse raced, realizing what they were insinuating. "Did she say anything about the fellow earlier?"

Kael must have shaken his head.

"Ah, poor thing was distracted, eh? Well, I'll leave you to it. Sorry about all the misguided questions. You know, you don't usually... well you know. But I suppose this is a special case." Even behind the door, I could tell the man was flustered. I could hear him faltering, trying to find his footing with the new discovery he had made.

"You go before you wake her, if you haven't already." The footsteps came closer to the outer door. I heard it open again.

"Right. I see now why the door was locked." Higgins made a poor attempt at a whisper, "No worries; the old man will never hear of this from me." The door closed toward the end of his speech, drowning him out. I backed away from the door, expecting Kael to come in.

Instead, he knocked, "Harper?" The door opened slowly. He ducked to get in the doorway.

I stared at him for a moment. Much to his credit, his face did hold an element of guilt. This did not assuage my anger however. "What was that?" I demanded. "That story you just made up is not alright." I was pacing by the bed, my temples pulsing in my furry. He shouldn't have staged such an unsavory lie without my consent.

"Harper, I didn't have a plan. And this one just came together out there. He fell for it. It's good enough. Now you can stay here, no questions." He turned on a lamp in the corner, before turning to sit on the bed. "Now, we can figure out..."

His dismissal of my concerns only fueled angry words, "No! I'm not staying in here with you. What if he suspects I talked despite your disgusting story? I'd much rather take my chances and stay with Garrett." I headed for the door, half expecting him to stop me. As I crossed toward the outer door, I heard him come off the bed and follow me.

"Your choice," He called behind me, "I don't know what else to say to you, Harper. All I've done is in your best interest. I'd die before I let Higgins touch you again. But if you don't trust me, go."

I stopped, wondering how much truth was in his statement. I doubted he would give his life rather than see Higgins hurt me, but it was a nice sentiment. As much as I hated his plans, this one especially, he had always looked out for me as he said. I turned to find him standing in the doorway, arms crossed, watching me. He smiled a little when I turned. I wished he hadn't. The expression I had seen him offer so rarely softened my resolve.

"Fine," I said shortly, crossing my arms in suit, "but I don't see how this is going to work. I don't know how I'm supposed to act when we get there considering the situation you've put me in."

"Hurt, confused, angry. Take your pick," he offered as he turned back to the bedroom, "I'd say you could pull off any of those quite well."

At the moment, angry sounded the closest to the truth. Following him inside, I slid down to sit on the floor. He was back up on the bed, sitting cross legged. "So what's this about Ava Price?" he asked.

Any time I brought her up, it got me into trouble. Keeping it general, I offered, "Something about Higgins knowing things that not even you would know. I haven't the faintest clue. He wanted all I had on her. Really, Madeline told me very little. Once he worked that out, he let me go."

Kael mumbled something rather unkind toward Higgins. He turned to sit with his back against the headboard and asked, "And what did Madeline tell you?"

I had pulled my hair over my shoulder and twisted it as I spoke. "You were the one that killed her," I offered without hesitation. I had wanted to have this conversation for a while now. Apparently, it was now or never.

"I see."

He was studying some distant spot on the ceiling. I wished he would confirm or deny it. He did neither.

"Did you?" I pressed. He wasn't getting off so easily this time.

He kept his gaze to the ceiling letting silence envelop the room. I waited, praying I would finally get the answers I had been seeking since Madeline had plagued me with these questions.

"Why do you ask me questions you know you won't like the answer to?" He asked. To himself he added, "As if you don't have enough reason to loathe me."

I considered his statement. He actually made a fair case. I had to admit, I had a twisted curiosity about this life my father and he shared. While I hated everything about it, the more I learned the more I wanted to know, whether it disgusted me or not. The feeling of always being in the dark, needing rather than providing protection did get frustrating. Every piece of information gained was a small victory, a small tick in my long list of questions.

"That's actually a valid point," I replied, playing idly with the ends of the lock of hair over my shoulder. "Regardless of whether or not I like it, I'm just trying to understand what's going on here."

"I'll show you something." He jumped off the bed and headed to the far end of the room, opening a door behind a curtain I hadn't noticed before. I heard the wind whip past the portal, making a faint whistling sound. I came to stand beside him on a small outer deck. There was just enough room for the two of us to stand shoulder to shoulder. When the boat rocked, I had the sickening feeling I could easily fall off. I held the waist high metal rail with both hands, praying the boat wouldn't sway suddenly and tip me overboard. I could just make out lights on the coastline that blinked like fireflies in the black expanse of the night.

"What are we looking at?" I asked, trying not to disclose my fear of drowning. The boat dipped at that moment, and I took in a sharp breath. Kael dropped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side, stabilizing me.

"See over there?" He pointed with his index finger, indicating the coast opposite us. "The castle on the side of the cliff?" My eyes widened, realizing that the cluster of lights actually belonged to one structure.

"What is it?" I asked, enthralled. I had seen castles in photos before but never in person. Until now, Harper Manor was the closest thing to a castle I'd seen.

"Conway Castle. The village of Conway is where I was born."

"Really?"

I hadn't expected a personal story but asked politely, "Do your parents still live there?"

"No. Our parents were business partners remember?" I nodded encouraging him to continue this voluntary release of information. "My dad managed the estate but apparently his financial planning was," he hesitated, "less than adequate. He got himself in an exorbitant amount of debt. As a result, he was quite open to your dad's lucrative business proposition."

"Oh." I strained my eyes to study the distant structure, curious at Kael's unexpected sharing of his past. "Do you know where your parents are now?" Remembering his father's death I rephrased, "I mean your mother, where she is now."

"My mum died in childbirth."

"I'm sorry. How awful for you."

He shrugged, his arm around me shifting slightly in the process and responded, "I never knew her. Don't be." A comfortable silence settled in. Standing there with the wind whipping around us and the waves lapping below was surprisingly serene considering my earlier fears.

"Thanks," I said after a minute, keeping my gaze toward the shore line.

"For?"

"Sharing. I know it doesn't come naturally to you."

A half smile came to his face; he knew I was right. "Why do you keep the cards so close to your chest?" I whispered up to him, enjoying this side of him.

"Because that's how you win the game," He whispered back, with a shadow of a wink. Not the answer I had wanted, but I had the feeling it was true. Yes, it had a lot to do with his personality. He wasn't the talkative type like one could argue I was. But something had to be said for keeping information until it could be used to your advantage. I knew he had delayed telling me about the smuggling business until he had gained some trust between us. In the end, that had made all the difference in my decision to keep his company despite his unsavory livelihood. I wondered how many other shocking things he was keeping from me, waiting for the opportune moment to spring them on me. I really doubted there could be much at this point that would shock me.

Something below caught his eye, and he squeezed my shoulder. I looked down to see Higgins, slightly hidden in the shadows standing below us, watching. He must have seen me looking, as he ducked back further into the shadows seconds after I spotted him.

"Do you think he's watching us?" I whispered, feeling my brief reprieve ending.

"Yes."

Kael kept his gaze to the ocean. I wasn't sure if it was the prolonged exposure to the wind or our uninvited company below, but his features were more chiseled now than they had seemed a moment ago.

"At least he knows I wasn't lying about your whereabouts," he said coldly.

I watched Higgins stand motionless in my peripheral vision. For all we knew, he had been standing there the whole time. If he had, he couldn't help but notice the friendly nature of our conversation. He would know that Kael was lying, that I had told him what had happened, that he was protecting me. In the end, Garrett would be the one to suffer.

Praying the ocean's breeze wasn't carrying our conversation down to the man below, I whispered softly, "Do you think he suspects? Should we," I hesitated before going on, "do something to corroborate your story?" I could feel the heat building in my cheeks after I spoke.

Looking up at Kael, I couldn't help glancing at his lips before catching the amusement in his eyes. He knew what I was insinuating. Kissing him seemed unimaginable considering how fragile our relationship was already. I knew from experience, such physical contact could cause irreparable damage, even if of innocent intent. I wasn't sure what else to do though. Garrett's life could be at stake.

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and commanded, "Just slap me, Caraleena."

Without hesitation, I slapped his face hard, hurting the palm of my hand with the force of the blow. Turning on my heel, I ran back into the bedroom, slamming the door for effect. I knew I had already caused him much pain between the broken ribs and stabbing. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice.

"Harper!" The sound of him yelling my name made me cringe on the other side of the doorway. His voice was deep, angry, intense. I was reminded that this was the more dominant side of him; this side of him dealt with criminals and their contraband. Much as I hated this aspect of his character, it seemed to consume him more often than that glimpse of kindness he'd shared unexpectedly. He came in behind me, closing the door loudly as I had done. The side of his face was bright red, a little inflamed.

I stood from where I had started to shrink against the bed. "Did I really hurt you?" I asked, regretting the force I had used.

He looked between the slats in the window, trying to get a glimpse of the man below. "No, I've had far worse beatings than that." He stood up on tiptoe, straining to see something just out of view of the small window.

"Here we go, he's leaving. Heading down below." He glanced at me and said, "He could just be checking on Madeline."

"Or Garrett."

I wished I could see out as well, but the window barely gave Kael enough room to view the deck.

"Why are you letting him do this? From what I know, you wouldn't tolerate this kind of behavior from anyone else," I pointed out.

In a habit that seemed stress induced, he ran a hand through his wind tousled hair and answered, "Before I kill him, I need to know what he's doing. I don't like this anymore than you do." He looked back out the window and straightened, adding confidently, "See, he's coming back up."

He continued to watch Higgins even as I breathed a sigh of relief. I sat down, no longer able to support myself.

"Yes, looks like he fell for it. Good work."

"I guess. Your face is still so red." Despite my concerned words, I couldn't help my smile. It was a relief that both Garrett and I were safe for now.

"Why on earth did you call me Caraleena?"

"Encouraged you to hit me didn't it?"

He walked over to the bed, sliding his hand firmly along the top of the wooden footboard.

"Try to get some rest before we dock." he said as he let go and headed for the door.

"Where will you be?" I asked.

"Just out here. Someone has to navigate the vessel."

I tilted my head, watching his tired eyes, wondering if his kindness was simply because of my father or if there was some other, darker motivation. "Well, if you get tired, tell me. I'm fine with taking the couch," I agreed. I was grateful for any amount of rest offered. I ran a hand through my own hair and slipped off my shoes.

"I'll sleep later," he noted and as he opened the door he called, "Good night, Caraleena." My shoe hit the door just as the latch caught behind him.

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Soooo Harper does not have a future as an interrogation specialist. She can't seem to get answers out of him! I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite Kael's evasive answers. If so, leave me a vote and your thoughts. :)

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