The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) by P.S. Bartlett Page A

see such a
fine woman die, simply because she was still too stubborn to accept good
advice.”
    “You cannot blame me for
wanting to protect Ivory. I would kill, or die, for any of my cousins. You have
no idea what she’s been through. As I sit here now, I imagine all sorts of
horrible things that may be done to her if she’s been kidnapped and has no
weapons or means of defending herself.”
    Green began to laugh again and
rose from the table, putting the chair back in its place.
    “And now what’s so goddamned
funny?”
    “Just let me say that your
worries are for nothing. You believe Ivory a brave and capable captain, and
woman, no?”
    “Of course I do. You know
she is, as well. Stop this façade, Alphonse.”
    “Well, then I have a feeling
that she isn’t doing anything she does not wish to do at this very moment. For
all we know, she’s doing exactly what she wants to do. Until we meet again,
Madame Cassandra. I do hope it will be under more amiable circumstances, and
believe me when I tell you,” he said, running his fingers and his eyes down her
bare arm, “I’m not carrying a pistol, only a torch.   So, when we next meet, I can assure you I
will be, as always, happy to see you.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself so.
I believe we settled all of our business long ago,” Cass said, looking up at
him and then quickly turning away.
    “And you should not fool
yourself so, either. Goodnight, Madame.” Master Green turned and smiled back at
her, then continued on his way to retrieve Sandy.

 
 
    Chapter
Nine

 
    Ivory awoke before dawn and
turned beneath the sheets to stretch, but she felt something impeding her hands
from lowering. She tugged, trying to figure out in her half-asleep stupor what
was keeping her from moving, when she finally realized she was bound by the
wrists to the bed.
    “Maddox?” she shouted, when
she realized she was alone. “Maddox!” she screamed again, this time pulling and
shaking the bed, causing it to slam loudly against the wall.
    “Ivory, please calm
yourself. I’m sorry, darling, but I could not allow you to wake and possibly
escape… or worse, kill me in my sleep,” Carbonale said, entering the room in
the pre-dawn glow from the balcony. He was already fully dressed, although not
in his usual style. He was dressed to sail.
    “Untie me this instant!”
    “Why?   So that you will be free to escape?”
    “Escape? You can’t be
serious. Untie me now and stop this. Who do you think you are?” she ranted.
    “That’s an excellent
question, but perhaps I may ask you the same. Obviously what happened here was
nothing out of your ordinary realm of behavior. You said so yourself…”
    “What I said last night…”
Ivory interrupted, remembering the words she spoke and realizing she may have
gone too far.
    “Yes…last night,” he sighed.
“Despite the unique and rather impassioned connection we shared, you do not
expect me to believe it was anything more than a ploy on your part to deter me
from my course, now do you? No expectations, remember?” he asked as he moved
next to the bed and straightened his belt in the mirror, not once looking upon
her.
    “I suppose someone like you
would think that, but if you believed it no more than a ploy, you certainly
gave me no indication as such,” Ivory replied, relaxing against the bed.   She waited for a sign of his now concealed
mutual affection, but it never came. His arrogance revealed him wounded, and
the blood flowed from his words.
    “Zara will be in soon to
release and ready you for the journey to Nassau. I’m needed aboard ship.   And don’t worry yourself—we most likely will
not be sharing any further, shall we say, unnaturally intimate moments. My
apologies, Madame, as I would be remiss if I did not congratulate you on a most
inspired effort.” Carbonale removed his tricorn hat and bowed, before he turned
to exit.
    “Maddox, please wait…”
    He stopped in the doorway
and held his back to her as she