Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

and sisters in heaven.”
    The softness of his tone was more destructive than anger could have been. Annika covered her face. Tears leaked through her fingers, her breath shuddering. She heard someone approach down the passageway. David angled his body as if to shield her from view.
    He waited until they were alone again. “Tell me again not to pursue this, Annika.”
    “I can’t.” How could she? She’d have done the same as he was. Lifting her head, she swiped at her cheeks. “But I can’t tell you what you want to know, either. I’m sorry.”
    His jaw clenched. “I’ll find them, you realize. I’ll search every inch of that island, and everything we find will be documented, published. But if you tell me, I’ll go alone. I’ll keep everyone else away, help you protect them.”
    Anger exploded in her, hot and fierce. Annika welcomed it, fed it, let it push away the pain. “You’ll stoop to blackmail? What will you do next, hit me until I tell you? Rape me if I don’t? Surely you won’t stop at threatening the people I love—and the people your mother loved, too. Her sister. Her mothers. Her friends. How easily you toss away their lives. I doubt that’s what she meant by being a good man.”
    He recoiled as if struck. He shook his head, opened his mouth to respond. Not caring what he had to say, Annika beat him to it.
    “Go on, then. Hunt them down.” She could threaten as well as he. “I’ll let them know you’re coming, and how you intend to expose them. You might find them, yes. But you’ll be dead before you write a word.”
    She ducked under his arm and walked away.
    “David!” Lucia’s smile quickly changed to concern when she saw his face. She stepped back into her cabin, pulling him in. “Are you all right?”
    No. And David didn’t know when he would be again. “Do you have anything stronger than wine?”
    Strong enough to dull this ache. I doubt that’s what she meant by being a good man. God, that was true. He’d never been so ashamed.
    Lucia opened a cupboard as he sat. Glasses rattled. “What happened?”
    “I spoke with Annika Fridasdottor. She knows my mother’s people.”
    “I knew it!” With a brown bottle in hand, she joined him at the table. “And what did she say?”
    “Nothing.” He downed a short glass of the clear liquid, the alcohol scorching the length of his throat. “I threatened her.”
    Lucia froze. “What?”
    He couldn’t believe it, either. He had no excuse. Desperation wasn’t a good enough reason to threaten a woman—not if his life wasn’t in danger. Frustration was no excuse at all. His mother wouldn’t have just said that; his father would have been ashamed of him, too.
    He’d seen how Annika protected them, and had thought a threat would give her an excuse to tell him—to continue protecting them. He’d never have actually followed through. But she couldn’t have known that.
    Now, she’d never have a reason to believe otherwise.
    God. It had been hard enough to decide between his promise and her goodwill. Yet he’d chosen, knowing he’d lose her newfound friendship—and douse the fire that had sparked between them, too. They had been getting along, so well. When was the last time he’d felt anything like this toward a woman? He couldn’t even remember one. Tossing that away, choosing her hate, had been one of the most difficult choices he’d ever made.
    David hadn’t realized he’d bring that hate down on his head so quickly.
    “You’ll apologize, and it’ll be all right.” Lucia patted his hand. “She’s not unreasonable, David. Odd, certainly. But surely she won’t hold words spoken in haste against you.”
    Remembering her fury, David wasn’t so sure. She’d understood the promise driving him; after he’d told her how his mother had died, she hadn’t been angry with him for that. Not until he’d threatened her people.
    She might not forgive him. David wasn’t certain he could blame her. He tipped the bottle, took another swallow.
    His aunt watched him, her eyes dark with concern. “Does she know of the vow you made to your mother?”
    “Yes.”
    “Oh.” The soft disappointment said Lucia believed that knowledge should have won Annika over. Hell, David had thought it would, too. “She’s not unreasonable. So I suppose that means she has a reason to deny you?”
    “She’s protecting those she loves.” He pushed his fingers into his hair, held his head in his hands. Despair spread through him with