CHAPTER 78: [78] HIS FAVORITE THINGS

Pierre’s eyes opened to silk.

Not the rough canvas ceiling of his cabin aboard the Crimson Sparrow, but cream-colored silk stretched taut above carved mahogany posts. The bed beneath him was soft enough to drown in, piled with quilts that probably cost more than most people earned in a year. Sunlight streamed through windows so clean they might as well have been invisible, revealing a room that belonged in a palace rather than a port town.

The air didn’t move. No salt breeze, no gentle rock of the ship, no familiar creaks and groans of wood settling against the sea. Just stillness, heavy and wrong as a held breath.

Pierre sat up slowly, his ribs protesting the movement but no longer screaming. Someone had changed his clothes while he slept—gone were his salt-stained shirt and patched trousers, replaced by a nightshirt made from fabric so fine it felt like wearing a cloud. The knowledge that hands had touched him while he was unconscious sat in his stomach like spoiled meat.

The door opened without a knock.

"Ah! Our guest awakens!" Valerio’s voice boomed across the room, carrying a silver tray loaded with enough food to feed a small army. The shipwright moved through the space like he owned it—which, Pierre supposed, he did. "I was beginning to worry! You’ve been sleeping for nearly two days!"

Two days. Pierre’s hand went instinctively to his chest, feeling for Mika’s sea-blue stone. It was still there, a small comfort against the wrongness of this place.

"Where are Raven and Alyssa?"

"Your companions? Safe and sound, of course! Resting in their own rooms, enjoying the finest hospitality Porto Veloce has to offer!" Valerio set the tray on a mahogany table near the window, his movements precise despite his bulk. "The young lady with the striking hair was quite insistent about checking on you, but I assured her that rest was what you needed most."

The food smelled incredible—fresh bread, eggs that hadn’t come from a ship’s stores, fruit that must have cost a fortune to import. Pierre’s stomach clenched with hunger, but he made no move toward the tray.

"I need to see my ship."

"Of course, of course! But first, you must eat! A man cannot recover on an empty stomach!" Valerio’s smile was wide and warm and never touched his dark eyes. "I took the liberty of having the kitchen prepare your favorites. Amazing what one can learn from listening to friends chat, eh?"

The implied surveillance made Pierre’s skin crawl. How long had Valerio been watching them? What else had he overheard?

"You’re very kind." The words tasted like ash. "But I really should—"

"Nonsense! You are my guest! My responsibility!" Valerio’s hand landed on Pierre’s shoulder—the same shoulder he’d grabbed on the dock. The pressure was light, almost gentle, but it carried the weight of mountains. "I have arranged for the finest doctor in Porto Veloce to examine you this morning. Then perhaps a tour of our little paradise?"

Little paradise. The words hung in the air like smoke from a burning ship.

An hour later, Pierre found himself in what Valerio called the "guest wing"—a series of rooms connected by corridors lined with artwork that probably cost more than most ships. The shipwright led the way, pointing out amenities with the enthusiasm of a man showing off his prize possessions.

"Your navigator is just through here," Valerio said, gesturing to a door carved with intricate sea motifs. "I had the servants move her charts and instruments to the study. Can’t have an artist separated from her tools, eh?"

They passed another door, this one painted with delicate flowers. "And the young lady—Alyssa, was it? Such lovely quarters for such a lovely girl. I’ve arranged for a seamstress to visit this afternoon. A woman of her obvious breeding deserves clothes befitting her station."

Each word felt like a chain link sliding into place. Valerio wasn’t just offering hospitality—he was cataloguing them, filing them away in their proper places like books on a shelf.

"You’re very thorough."

"I pride myself on attention to detail! It’s what makes Porto Veloce special—we anticipate our guests’ needs before they even realize they have them!" Valerio’s laugh echoed off the corridor walls. "Speaking of which, I’ve taken the liberty of commissioning new clothes for you as well. A captain should look the part, don’t you think?"

They reached a sitting room that probably cost more than Pierre’s bounty. Raven sat in a chair by the window, her distinctive hair catching the morning light as she bent over what looked like navigation charts. She glanced up as they entered, and Pierre caught the tight line of her shoulders, the careful way she held herself.

"Pierre." Her voice was steady, but her blue eyes held a warning he couldn’t quite parse. "You look better."

"I feel better." The lie came easily. "Valerio’s been very... accommodating."

"Has he?" Raven’s smile was sharp as broken glass. "He’s been full of surprises."

Before Valerio could respond, footsteps announced another arrival. Alyssa appeared in the doorway, and Pierre barely recognized her. Gone were her practical sailing clothes, replaced by a dress that probably cost more than the Sparrow’s monthly provisions. The pale green fabric matched her eyes perfectly, cut to showcase her figure while maintaining an air of aristocratic elegance.

She looked beautiful. She also looked trapped.

"Pierre!" Alyssa’s relief was genuine, but something else lurked beneath it—a tension that made her movements too careful, too controlled. "I was so worried. Valerio said you needed rest, but..."

"But you were concerned! Natural for a young woman to worry about her captain!" Valerio’s boom cut through her words like an axe through silk. "I assured her you were receiving the finest care money could buy!"

The way he said ’money’ made Pierre’s teeth ache.

A soft knock interrupted the conversation. A man entered—thin, nervous, carrying a leather bag that marked him as the promised doctor. His clothes were fine enough, but his hands shook slightly as he approached, and when his eyes met Valerio’s, Pierre saw something that made his blood run cold.

Terror. Pure, helpless terror, worn smooth by long practice.

"Ah, Doctor Reyes! Perfect timing!" Valerio’s hand fell on the man’s shoulder, and the doctor flinched like he’d been struck. "Please, examine our guest! Spare no expense in ensuring his complete recovery!"

Doctor Reyes nodded quickly, his movements sharp and birdlike. "Of course, Master Valerio. Of course."