"C'mon, Celena." He gave her a wink. "It's the only shot you have at getting him."
"And if I don't break a rule in a week's time?"
"I'll hand him over."
She cocked her head as she considered that. Rafael wasn't exactly known for keeping his word. "You swear?"
"Every day."
She hissed at him. "That's not what I mean and you know it."
For the first time, his handsome face turned completely serious. "On my word as a pirate who died defending his crew, absolutely."
He said it with such conviction that she found herself actually believing it. Besides, he was right. If he wanted to hide Jeff, there wasn't much they could do to reclaim him. And knowing the two of them, Jeff and Rafael would probably rub all their noses in it, too.
"Okay. I'm going to trust you. In seven days, I'll be back to collect him. Have him here and waiting."
She turned to leave only to find Rafael's hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop.
"Whoa, wait a sec, love. You don't think it's that easy, do you?"
"How do you mean?"
That devilish gleam returned to his midnight eyes. "There can be no faith without doubt. No strength without temptation. In order for this bargain to stand, you have to be here so that I can oversee your behavior myself."
She stiffened at his implication. "My word is gold."
"And usually mine is pyrite. At the moment, though, to see this through, I want you here to serve me. It's only fair anyway, since you're the reason I'm being deprived of Jeff's service, such as it is."
"Who will look after Ephani?"
"Call in a substitute. That's what you would've had to do to find him anyway, right?"
Celena was beginning to hate this man. "You can't be serious."
"Quite. Now is it a deal, or not? Think quickly before I change the terms again."
And he probably would, too, just to annoy her. "Fine, it's a deal." And yet even as she said those words, she had the sneaking suspicion that she'd just signed her soul away to the devil.
As soon as Rafael had Celena out of his house, he rushed to the basement only to find Jeff lying back on his black leather sofa, feet up on the coffee table, playing his PSP as if he didn't have a care in the world. It was so unbelievable that Rafael stood in the doorway for a full minute, staring with a slackened jaw.
Jeff was the kind of man that as pirates they'd have buried alive in the sand and left to rot. Why? Because people like him really were too stupid to live. It was a public service to speed them to their graves.
Honestly, the temptation to kill him was there and it was strong. Damn strong.
Yet again, Jeff was lucky Rafael had mellowed tremendously over the centuries. Not to mention the small fact that Rafael wanted an opportunity to break at least one more major rule before one of them died.
Jeff had no idea that he owed his life right now to the fact that Celena had the most tempting lips this side of paradise and if Rafael wanted a taste of them, he had to get Jeff out of here before she returned.
Rafael grabbed the tiny remote from the table to his left and turned the PSP off.
"Hey!" Jeff snapped, looking up. "I was on level four and I didn't save it."
"Screw level four. I need you to get out of here, pronto."
"And go where?"
"My boat in the marina."
Jeff curled his lip in distaste. "And do what?"
"Live through the night, which is more than you're going to get to do if you don't stop lipping off. Now get up and get started. I've bought you some time, kid, but it's finite. You have to go lie low for a week."
While Jeff made juvenile noises of discontent, Rafael's attention fell to his laptop, which was on the table at Jeff's feet—that should do to keep him occupied and out of trouble.
At least until the poor bastard published something again.
Picking the laptop up, Rafael handed it off to Jeff. "Go write your great American novel, but for God's sake, do what everyone else does and make the whole story up."
Jeff grimaced at him. "You know I get seasick."
"You'll survive seasickness. Lead poisoning's another matter. There's enough staples and such on board that you should be fine. Keep your ass below deck and if you so much as look at the helm, I'll cut your head off myself. You're not to go joyriding or anything else on my boat—it really is worth more to me than your life. Do not leave the lower deck under any circumstances barring fire, and whatever you do, keep a bucket nearby and don't puke on anything."
Jeff screwed his face up as if that were the most sickening thought he'd ever had. "But I want to stay here."
"And people in hell want ice water and if you don't go to the boat, you'll probably be able to take it to them in person in about twenty minutes. Get out, Jeff. Now."
Jeff started to grumble as he got up, then caught himself. "Can I take the PSP?"
"If it will speed you on your way."
"You got any more games for it?"
Raphael growled low in his throat as he picked the small black game case off the coffee table and chucked it at him. "Anything else?"
"A hooker would be nice."
"Jeff. . ."
"I'm going; I'm going."
The pain in Rafael's skull returned as Jeff made his way back upstairs at a pace that would make a slug proud. Oh yeah, they'd have sacrificed him on the main deck ten seconds after boarding.
"Could you pick up the pace, Jeff? We only have another eight or nine hours until daybreak."
He cast a grimace at Rafael over his shoulder. "You're such a bossy asshole."
"Comes with being a pirate captain . . . which my father was, too, by the way. He wasn't a merchant like you have in your story. He ate those for breakfast."
Jeff actually stopped on the stairs. "Really?"
"Jeff!" he snapped. "Up. The. Stairs."
Mocking his words, Jeff finally managed to make it up to the door. It took about fifteen minutes to get him packed and out of the house, along with more warnings about what Rafael would do if Jeff so much as scuffed a board on his boat.
Jeff had only been gone at most five minutes before Celena returned. Rafael had to force himself not to glance down the street after Jeff since it was obvious the two of them must have passed each other on the road. But unlike Jeff, Celena was quick on the uptake and would realize why Rafael was looking north.
No doubt she'd catch the snail and salt him well.
"Welcome back, my lady," Rafael said as Celena adjusted the black backpack on her shoulder as she neared his door.
She only grumbled in response as she stepped past him and entered his house. "I can't believe I have to do this," she said under her breath.
He was a bit stung by her words until he realized she still wasn't looking at him. In fact, she avoided it with such determination that it made him smile. No woman did that unless she was interested and was trying to fight it.
"Let me show you where to bunk."
Celena stepped back so that Raphael could lead her toward the mahogany stairs in the middle of the house. She really did hate being here. How could she serve a man who distracted her so much? And as he headed up the stairs and she had an unobstructed view of that tight, perfectly formed butt, it was all she could do not to reach out and grope it.
This was wrong on so many levels. How had she allowed him to talk her into this?
It's the only way to get Jeff. Or was that just an excuse so that she could be here with him? Not wanting to even consider that thought, she forced herself back to business. She'd have to keep her thoughts on her work and not on how good Rafael looked while dressed all in black. . . .
Or more to the point, wonder what he'd look like without those clothes on.