Page 21 of His Virgin Vessel

It was obviously killing him, and I couldn't help admiring the man. He had been after me for years, and now he was giving me up for the sake of his daughter. Everyone knew that Brian Dugas was incorruptible, and here he was, making a deal with a criminal to look the other way, all to keep Corinne safe. The girl didn't know how lucky she was. If I'd had a dad like that then ... well, maybe things would have been different.

I walked for the door.

"Covert."

I turned back.

"If you touch her again," said Dugas, his face grave. "It won't be the law that comes for you. It'll be me. You understand?"

I nodded.

# # #

"You what?!" I nearly exploded, thumping the table with my fist.

Joseph looked taken aback, frozen, with my Black Book still in his hand. "I stole your book back, Asa. I thought you'd be pleased."

Joseph was a relatively new War Cry recruit, but he had risen swiftly. I guess that was largely down to me. I liked the kid, and I trusted him. He was a hothead, an idiot, really. He took too many chances, drove too fast, gambled too much, slept with anything in a skirt, and wanted to do all of that yesterday. In other words, he was just like me at his age. I wanted him to survive to my age, to appreciate what a dumb way to live it was.

I took the book and tucked it away in my jacket. "I am, Joseph, I am. Thanks. You risked a lot for me, and I appreciate it."

Joseph grinned. "Well, it got you out, didn't it? That makes it worthwhile to me."

I nodded my thanks. But inside I was seething. I thought I'd put one over on Brian Dugas, but it turned out that he'd put one over on me. He couldn't have held me since he had no evidence, but he pretended he had for long enough to extract a promise out of me not to go near Corinne. Of course, I'd had no intention of going near Corinne anyway, so, in a way, I was the winner. But it still grated.

And of course, there was a very easy way of getting my own back on that devious bastard.

But, no. I didn't care about breaking my word—Dugas had already made that promise null and void through his dishonesty anyway. But my resolve towards Corinne remained the same. I didn't want to hurt her. I didn't want her to end up in a life like mine, with a guy like me.

"How'd you get hold of this book anyway?" I asked. "The Dugas house is pretty tightly locked up."

Joseph shrugged. "Got a bit of help."

I stirred in my seat. She couldn't have. Could she?

"That little redhead you screwed the night of the fight."

"I never screwed her that night," I said defensively.

"Fiona says you did."

"She's getting mixed up. It was the night after."

"It was both!" Fiona called in from the back room.

"Doesn't matter." I drew a line under the matter. "Corinne helped you get the book?"

"Wouldn't have got it without her."

Joseph kept talking, but my mind was elsewhere as a mixture of uncalled for emotions poured into me. I divided women into three groups: want to do them, don't want to do them, done them. And once they were in the third category—xcept in rare cases like Fiona—they ceased to be of interest. But Corinne was firmly in the 'done' group, and yet, I was still thinking about her, and not just about having another go with her. The fact was that this new development indicated that her dad was right. She had a thing for me, and she was willing to break the law to help me. On the one hand, that strongly suggested that I should be doing exactly what Dugas had told me, and what I had planned to do. On the other, the knowledge that she had come through for me like that made me want her even more.

And I owed Brian Dugas payback for his little trick.

"I should really thank her."

Fiona shot a suspicious look at me as she entered carrying a crate of hooch. "When you say thank her ..."

"Just say thank you."

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