The Desired Victim

***Chapter 29: These Agonizing Agreements***

Emory's Point of View:

I imagine an explosion of blood and brains discharge from Evelyn's head. Her small, pale and limp body drops to the floor with a thud, and I would never have to worry about her again. It could've been that easy, shooting her like I threatened to. But I couldn't do it. I'm a coward. Weak. 

Now that Evelyn was out of the room, my chest felt tight and heavy. Sensations of hunger and exhaustion hit me all at once, and I was wounded and bleeding. But I had to deal with Cassandra, and maybe now the bitch will listen to me without all of the distractions.

"Emory, you look like Hell itself," she scoffed. She was standing annoyingly close to me, and she ran her hands up and down my arms seductively. "What did you do, slaughter everyone on my ship?"

I grabbed her hands roughly and put them back to her sides. I wasn't in the mood. "I need the slave and my crew back," I retorted. "I don't have time for your games."

Cassandra looked insulted. She folded her arms to her chest, accentuating her bust even more. It was hard not to notice that she barely had any clothes on, especially with the faces and gestures she was making.

"I'm willing to sign an agreement with you, no need for you to be hostile." Her voice was deep and thickly accented, and it was hard for me to focus. She then looked at me for a second, evaluating me. "It's been a long time since I last saw you, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, six years." I say sharply, remembering how irritated I was. "And it's apparent that you're still the same conniving pirate who likes to take things that aren't yours."

She smirked, pursing her red-stained lips, and raised one eyebrow. "Look who's talking, niño pequeño."

Blood started to boil under my skin again. My mind screamed back, It's not the same thing. But she was right. I was no different from her. I took Evelyn, and she wasn't mine. Nor will she ever be. She'll be some other man's toy.

I rub my face roughly, wiping off sweat and blood. There was a long, painful, and angry history between us, and I wasn't about to start remembering everything now.

"Captain, I will not hesitate to kill you and everyone on this ship if you don't make a deal with me in the next fucking hour." I glare straight into her black eyes, growling every word. Anger was consuming me, but I didn't care. I live my life angry most of the time anyways.

Cassandra turns toward the door leading to the bedroom. "Come with me."

Not having any other choice, I follow her. At this point, I was willing to do anything to get off the ship. I was beyond ready to have everything back under my control again. 

Cassandra's bedroom was just as exquisite as the rest of her ship, if not even more fancy. Exotic animal pelts decorated the walls, and the tiger-skin rug was especially unnerving. Lifeless, its fierce gaze pierced through the scowl on my face. Most of the furniture was either made of ivory or rich wood and gold. Immediately, I notice and smell the trays of untouched food sitting on a nearby table, and I make my way towards it without hesitation. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten, so there was no need for me to ask for permission. I sit down, and start filling my mouth with fresh fruit, juicy meat, delicacies, cooked vegetables, and downing the jars of water like some animal.

"Once a pig, always a pig," I heard Cassandra say under her breath from behind me. She also mumbled something in Spanish that I couldn't hear. She was rifling through one of the drawers in a desk, looking for something. "I didn't bring you in here to feed you."

I belch loudly, just to piss her off. "Of course not," I say. "Because only a real woman would do that."

Suddenly, I feel something fly though the top layers of hair on my head. There was a loud whack, and I look up to see a dagger impaled in the wall in front of me. It barely missed my head. I turn around, and I see Cassandra standing there completely naked holding a scroll of paper in her hand.