He looked down—the damn thing was in his hand again. Scoffing, he held it up. The late morning sun gleamed upon it, painting a whorl of a hundred pale colours on its iridescent inner surface.

Perhaps he could talk about that—or at least some of it.

“She”—his voice rasped—“the woman—”

“Lady Vice?”

He nodded. “You’ve heard the stories—you know how cunning she is. I had to use unorthodox methods to ensure her safe delivery back here.” They were formal terms, safe terms—this was almost like delivering a report. “I joined her ship for over three months, ostensibly to ensure they obeyed the terms of their letter of marque. In fact, it was to keep an eye on her and bring her to Albion for justice.”

Is nodded, gaze passing between him and the shell.

“She was always going to ha—be ex—be dealt with in this way.” He exhaled. Hanged. Executed. They were impossible words to get over his tongue, bristling in his throat like fish bones. How on earth could they apply to someone so full of life as her?

He shook his head. “But she wasn’t what I expected. Or, rather, she hid her monstrous nature very well indeed …” He told Is about Barnacle and the shopkeepers of Nassau. About Perry’s love of her and the way she spent hours shopping for the crew. About how she’d saved his life more than once. About how she brokered surrenders whenever she could and had eased his anger when tensions ran high. Those terms were suitably vague, protecting Is from the full knowledge of what he was capable of and hiding the true extent of his relationship with her.

“… Vee even makes chasing slavers a priority—not long before I joined the crew, they captured one. She persuaded her captain to give the proceeds of the ship’s sale to the people who’d been enslaved, setting them all free.”

“Vee.” Isabel’s eyebrows rose gently. “You keep calling her that.”

He froze, heart skipping a beat. Gods, he had said that, hadn’t he? Damn it, he was meant to be reciting all her crimes, reminding himself that she deserved her fate.

“You and she”—Is tilted her head, eyes wide with no hint of judgement—“there was more going on between you, wasn’t there? She was your lover.”

His throat closed, and he stared at her. But her look didn’t waver. She gave an encouraging smile.

Exhaling through his nose, he nodded once.

“And this is why it’s bothering you.” She slipped her arms around his waist and stroked his back. “No wonder you’ve spent the whole time you’ve been home brooding.”