The Duke's Daughter -Wattys2014 Collector's Dream Award Winner-

Chapter Eleven

Arianna awoke alone in the captain's bunk. The curtain had been pulled, but she could hear voices in the main part of the cabin.

"Si, until ten." Alejandro.

"Aye, but are you sure it was one of them?" Derek.

"Who else could it be, captain? Do we truly suspect the passengers or cabin boys?" Alejandro's tone was sarcastic.

She heard Derek exhale heavily, she could imagine him running his fingers through his hair. She wondered if he was still bare chested... She wondered if...

Shaw.

She was dead.

The horrible sight once more rose in her mind, but Arianna pushed it away. She untangled her robe and tied it tight. She glanced around the shadowed bunk, spying a man's long sleeved robe at the foot of it. She slipped it on, over her own, and reminded herself to thank Derek for his thoughtfulness. His scent rose from the fabric and surrounded her. She inhaled deeply and allowed his scent to calm her.

She drew back the curtain, finding both men seated at the table across the room. Damn, she thought upon seeing him again dressed casually as a sea captain. His shirt was covering all his chest, except a triangle coming to a point in the middle of his tan pectoral muscles, where he had left the buttons undone.

"Gentlemen."

They both rose to their feet at the sound of her voice.

"Señorita." Alejandro gave her a half bow, sweeping his arm before him.

She met Derek's eyes and between them there was concern written clearly across his brow.

"I did not mean to wake you, Arianna. If you prefer, we can discuss this elsewhere."

She moved closer. "If you do not mind, captain, I would like to be present for this conversation."

Derek met her eyes. He no longer saw the blank, empty look that frightened him so, nor were there tears threatening her composure. Her lips curved softly under his perusal, he had to admit, that besides looking a bit sleep rumpled she looked calm and collected, like a true lady of society. His robe hung loose around her form, a foot or more of its fabric trailed behind her on the floor. She seemed so small, so fragile. And yet even as the thought crossed his mind her chin lifted to a defiant tilt and he could see the strength inside her.

"As you wish, my lady."

She settled into the center chair, tucking her bare feet up, inside of his robe and underneath her. Derek and Alejandro took their seats as well.

Alejandro looked to his captain, a question written across his face, but Derek ignored it. He knew Alejandro thought this was no discussion for a lady, but Derek wanted to be honest with his future wife. If Alejandro felt the truth was brutal, well, Derek simply could not help that. After all, she had been the one to discover Shaw, maybe she knew, or had heard something more than he or Alejandro had.

"To bring you up to speed, my lady, there was no evidence in the cabin that related to much of anything. The lock had not been broken, simply picked, and there was no evidence of a struggle." Derek shrugged, then continued, "That does not mean much, as almost every man aboard this ship is proficient at picking locks, and Shaw was probably asleep when her murderer entered the cabin. However, we are on a ship in the Atlantic and that means our murderer is still aboard. Alejandro has threatened the crew with dire punishment should they withhold any information from us. He has given them until the tenth hour to come forward."

Arianna sorted through this information, the thought of the hallway being darkened came to her mind.

"The wall sconces in the hallway had been extinguished, just as they had been the night before last." Alejandro tilted his head at her statement, remembering having had them relit, before he moved her to her own cabin. "Yesterday morning," she continued, her eyes shifting to Derek, "when I came to meet with you and the Viscount, I found a miniature of my likeness in the hallway. My father had the portrait commissioned when he... Just after he informed me that he had signed a betrothal contract on my behalf."