He drops his head into my shoulder, and together we lay there, panting, both of our bodies on overload from a pleasure I imagine we have both never felt before. I lift my hand, tangling it in his thick, damp hair. His body is hard, and heavy, but the feeling of him laying over me, his chest rising and falling, is wonderful. I slide my hands down his cheeks, and make little circles there with my thumbs.

He lifts his head and stares down at me, stroking the hair from my forehead. “Here I was thinking I could teach you something, and yet it was the complete opposite. You taught me something tonight, inocencia.”

“What’s that?” I whisper.

“You taught me how to open my heart.”

I swallow and reach up, stroking his face.

“You know what, pirate?” I murmur, meeting his eyes. “You taught me that too.”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

I hear Senny’s voice and turn to see her standing in the hall with her arms crossed. I haven’t had a lot of trouble from Senny since Hendrix threatened her, but I didn’t imagine it would last long. She stalks toward me, her nose scrunched up, her eyes full of hate. What did I ever do to deserve such hatred from her? When she stops in front of me, she looks me up and down as if I’m no more than a piece of trash.

“Can I help you, Sienna?” I mutter.

“I want a word.”

“I don’t believe we have anything to talk about.”

“We have plenty to talk about.”

I cross my arms, and lean against the wall. “And what would that be?”

“I know he’s chosen you and I don’t honestly care. I’ve fucked him enough times to know what he’s offering, and to be honest, I can do better.”

I snort. She glares.

“What I am here to do is tell you that you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into with Hendrix.”

“I think I can figure those things out on my own, thanks.”

She grins, and it’s mean. “See here’s the thing, princess…you have no idea what his life is like. Has he even told you how he ended up here, or why he owes your dear daddy money?”

I flinch at her using the word daddy.

I haven’t processed that yet.

“I don’t really care. If you think I’m so naive that I don’t know Hendrix has done bad things, along with my father, then you really don’t know me. Now, I know exactly what you’re doing; you’re trying to make me feel insecure because you lost, but honey, nothing you can say will change my mind about him.”

Her grin widens, and that almost frightens me.

“He’s got a kid, you know?”

And there it goes, that blow to the chest that makes you want to fall onto the ground and never get back up.

A kid.

A kid.

My head spins, but I struggle to keep my face straight and unaffected.

“Are you done?” I say, glaring at her.

Her grin drops. The stupid bitch is confused because I’m not on the ground sobbing and crying.

“There’s more…”

“More that I really don’t want to hear about. Now, if you’re finished, I would like to go,” I growl, turning and walking off.

“You’ll regret being with him,” she cries. “You will! Just ask what happened to his ex-wife.”

Another blow, a big one.

Bigger than the kid.

I gasp, but keep walking. When I get around the corner, my legs tremble and I grip the wall for support. A child. A wife. Why didn’t he tell me any of this? How did I not know he was married, and had a child? A child! I close my eyes, trying to gather my calm. Don’t judge until you know the story, don’t judge until you know the story…I repeat this over and over, all while trying to catch my breath and stop the ache in my heart.

“Indi?”

I open my eyes to see Hendrix watching me. He looks concerned, his eyebrows are furrowed.

“You okay?”

“Is it true?” I whisper. “Do you have a kid?

His jaw tenses and he sighs loudly, looking down at the floor.

“Is it?” I say, as calmly as I can.

“It’s a long story, come on.”

He grips my arm and tugs me, and I let him. He leads me up onto the deck and barks at everyone to “fuck off” before he takes us over to an old bench that’s bolted to the deck. We sit down, and he turns to face me.

“I don’t even know where to start, I haven’t told this story for so many years. I know exactly who told you, and believe me when I say I’m not happy about it. She will get her ass kicked for it later, but you know now, so I guess I need to give you some answers. Firstly, he’s not my kid, not biologically.”

I’m just confused now. He sees it in my face, and continues.

“When I was fifteen years old, I was in a bad place. Most fifteen-year-old boys were out with their friends, enjoying life. I was battling to survive. My parents were dead, and I was on the street with no family. One night, I met a girl. She was twenty-one and basically, a prostitute. She took me in one night after seeing me on the street. She must have felt sorry for me, because she let me stay and we got together. She had a five-year-old son. His dad was dead and he had nothing. I fell into a relationship, and eventually, over the years, the boy begun to call me Dad. I was with them until I was twenty-five, so a solid ten years.”

He takes a deep breath and then continues.

“I married Lizzie when I was twenty years old. I was just a kid still, but she was all I had. Her and Dimitri. We managed together, but Lizzie was a heavy drug addict, and she got herself tangled into some serious shit. By this stage, I had started sailing and creating myself a crew of pirates to begin dealing with her problems out at sea. It’s easier out here. Less law. The reason I got into it was an old friend of mine had association with some pirates, and he got me involved, promising it would be the best option for Lizzie and Dimitri. He was right; it was easier. So, basically, I got involved in the pirate world to save a woman that really didn’t care about me or her son.”