My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 309

“Hello little brother,” Ilona grinned, knowing he had hated being referred to as her little brother since he had grown more than a head taller than her.

“Ian what’s going on?” asked the woman at his feet, “Who is this?”

Her brother sighed, handsome even when he was looking at her with such disapproval, and answered.

“This is my older sister, Ilona Black.”

The woman stared at Ilona in surprise and Ian helped her up from the ground before stepping forward and helping the scarred man up as well.  Ilona watched as the man winced and was unsteady on his feet and she wondered how badly Pierce and the other men had abused him.

The lovely noblewoman rushed forward to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him.  She was quietly crying, relieved but probably still scared.  The man kissed the top of her head and held her in his arms as well.

For a brief moment, Ilona wondered what it would feel like to be able to be vulnerable like that.  She wondered even more what it would feel like to have someone hold you and want to comfort you like the man was doing.  What it would feel like to reveal your true emotions to someone and have them not think less of you for it.

“Ilona these people you and your men terrified and battered are the Duke and Duchess of Edgewood, Vincent, and Delaney Adair.  He’s what?  Third in line to the throne now?  And maybe most importantly to you, he’s our father’s business partner.”

Ilona felt like she might be sick.  As if it wasn’t bad enough that her brother had caught her and her men here, the people they had been intending to raid worked with their father.  The pirate king was very serious about his business arrangements, always trying to make more money.

And this man was a duke that close to being on the throne?  How could her luck possibly be this bad?

Not for the first time in her life, Ilona wondered if she was cursed.

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest as the couple stared at her.  This may be bad but she wasn’t about to let Ian know she was worried.

“Well, how was I supposed to know who they were?” she asked, “We’ve been away for months… and it hasn’t been a profitable few months I’ll have you know.”

She hated to admit that last part but she was secretly hoping it might earn her some pity from her brother who was annoyingly successful as a pirate.  As soon as she heard his next words though she knew the attempt had failed.

“So you decided to raid a manorhouse so close to home?”

Ilona shrugged, trying to seem unbothered, “The ship is damaged and we saw the bonfire from sea.  We could make out the big house it lit up and we decided to take a chance.  We never would have attacked it if it hadn’t been lit up.  And we never would have attacked it in broad daylight either.  This was just the perfect chance for us.”

Not all of that was true and Ilona knew Ian knew it.  He narrowed his eyes on her.

“Where is our mother?  Did she agree to your plan?”

Ilona felt a stab of embarrassment but wouldn’t dare let her younger brother see it.  Instead, she raised her chin, defiantly.

“Of course she did,” Ilona lied, “She’s been letting me make more decisions so I’ll be ready when I have my own ship soon.”

“Decisions like these are exactly why you don’t have it already,” Ian snapped.

Ilona felt herself shrink at his words and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pierce smirk which made her feel very angry.  She didn’t want Ian to know she was captaining the ship on her own.  Maybe if he thought their mother was still the Captain he wouldn’t rush to tell their father about this.  His harsh words still cut her to the quick though and she felt her anger bubbling.

Her brother turned away from her to ask the nobles if they were alright.  He asked the woman about her injuries and Ilona felt relieved to hear they were frown falling and not from her men.  Technically she supposed it was still their fault because they were the reason she was running and had tripped, but at least it wasn’t directly.

“Father has me here specifically to keep her safe,” Ian called over his shoulder.

Ilona cringed again felt her stomach knot.  Whoever this woman was, she must be important.  Or why else would her father take one of his most valuable Captains away from his ship and stick him here to guard her?

She heard Ian refer to the scarred man as “Lord Adair” and she paused, wondering what it was about that name that sounded so familiar.  Where had she heard it before?  She tried to remember.

“Wait a moment,” Ilona spoke up, the name finally coming to her, “Wait did you say he was Lord Adair?  Are you… Are you the Duke that killed the giant dragon in the war?”

The scarred Duke with the lovely green eyes looked at her for only a moment before dropping them.  She watched him swallow and then, still not meeting her gaze, answer.

“I am.”

Ilona’s mouth fell open in surprise.  She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.  This was the famous Duke who had almost single-handedly killed the biggest dragon ever recorded.  The dragon’s teeth had gotten him though and the dragon poison was coursing through his veins, giving him the terrible scars.  But he had saved everyone in the land.

“We’ve heard so much about you,” she said to him, feeling more guilty about the attack now, “Some of my men actually fought the dragons in the war with you.”

“I’m sure they were invaluable to us,” Lord Adair said quickly with an awkward sort of bow, “Please thank them for their service for me.”

Ilona opened her mouth to reply to him but her brother quickly cut her off.

“Don’t try to change the subject, Ilona,” Ian frowned, “I will be telling our father what happened here and you will have to answer for it.”

Ilona turned to frown at him and lifted her chin.  Her brother had thoroughly annoyed her now and she was about to get angry and mean.

“We are pirates, she hissed, “I was doing what pirates do.  Father will understand that.”

“We’ll see about that,” Ian laughed coldly, “Now take your men and leave this place and these people alone to recover from all the trouble you’ve caused.”

Ilona stood very still, glaring at her brother.  He was embarrassing her in front of her men, barking orders at her and making her look weak.  She had hoped he might still be loyal enough to her that he would take her side instead of the side of the nobles.

She thought back to the way Ian had looked down at the pretty duchess and now she wondered if there was something between them.

Either way, she recognized now that she had lost.  The pirate king would hear about the terrible thing she had done to his allies and he would punish her.

“Return to the ship,” she gave her men the order as calmly as she could, wanting them to go before anything could happen that would make things worse.

There was a moment’s hesitation and Ilona felt her heart leap into her throat.  She couldn’t deal with her men’s uprising right now and she knew it would be Pierce that led it.  Luckily they quickly got back to work.  Below, all the pirates turned and headed back down the stairs.  Once they had all reached the sand below, Ilona gave her brother one last cold look before she turned and followed them as well.

Down below on the cool sand again, Ilona glanced up once more and tried to see if she could see her brother.  They had been apart for nearly two years with their ships never seeming to make port at the same time.

Now she felt herself wishing she could hug him and catch up with him as if nothing had ever happened.  She couldn’t though.  He was even angrier with her now than he had been the last time they were together.  Besides, she didn’t want him or anyone else to find out yet what had happened to their younger siblings.  It was her mistake so she wanted to explain it herself.

Ilona climbed into the longboat and her men climbed in after her.  They all began rowing right away, ready to get her back to the ship and be on their way again.  So close to home, she knew many of her pirates had families they were looking forward to seeing.

She couldn’t wait to tell her younger brothers that she had met Lord Adair, Duke of Edgewood.  Jamie and Nick ate up every story they heard about the mysterious scarred Duke so she imagined they would be thrilled but even more jealous they hadn’t been able to come.

The boats reached her ship and Ilona frowned when she saw all of the lanterns and torches aboard had been lit against her orders.  She braced herself before grabbing the rope that had been tossed over the side to her.

She climbed and finally pulled herself back onboard, safe on her ship once more.

Her boots landed on the wooden deck and she opened her mouth to give orders but instead, a sound tore through the air.

“Ilona Black!”