Shout out to Vintage Sherry, WindSakura, Marchioness Phantomhive, Rani-Girl, 1, ShadowFox197, Hinotori-hime, and Angy! So many reviews in just thirty-six hours! It makes me so happy! Can't believe how popular this story is! *Executes embarrassing happy dance*

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Lovina stared up at Antonio for a long minute, braced for an explosion of some sort. Shouting, an appearance of the ruthless pirate, anything. She knew he wasn't best pleased with her latest antic, she could see that much, yet he didn't lash out.

After what felt like an eternity, he surprised her by heaving a weary sigh and turning away. "Come along, Lovi. Keep up unless you want to be carried back."

For a heartbeat she seriously considered making a run for it, but quickly discarded the idea. Yes she felt she could match him in a footrace, but he was between her and the other end of this dock. Besides, if her recent journey through Tortuga's streets was any indication, she'd get lost before she made it two blocks. Her third reasoning point was that her escape attempt was basically demolished at this point. Choosing Tortuga to even try had been poor judgment on her part. If she wanted to try and run, it couldn't be at a pirate port.

Keeping a short distance between herself and Antonio, just in case, Lovina reluctantly trudged after him. The pirate led her along the main road that wound around the edges of the docks, striding along at a brisk pace wordlessly. Lovina found she had to half trot to keep pace with him. She took the fact that she hadn't had to try this hard before as another indicator she'd ignited his temper.

The ship was still more or less deserted when they got back to it. Lovina glanced around, feeling a bit relieved when she didn't see Juan. She didn't feel quite the same way when Antonio opened the door to his cabin, holding it open for her.

For the second time Lovina considered making a run for it, only to shove it down when she started to think it through. So rather than run, she asked wearily, "What are you going to do?"

Antonio said nothing, just giving her a hard look.

Reluctantly, she edged past him into the room, going to stand by the large window. Once she was inside the pirate stepped in after her, yanking the door shut with a slam. Lovina twitched when the bar crashed into place, eyeing the pirate.

He leaned back against the door, folding his arms. "I didn't let you off the ship because I trusted you not to run, Lovi. I wanted to, but I'm not stupid. The only reason I agreed to let you off the ship was because I knew you wouldn't get far."

"Then why are you so mad?" demanded Lovina, falling back on her old hide-behind-the-temper tactic. It might not always be smart but it was what she knew best. "I didn't even get on a damn ship."

"I'm not angry you tried to run, Lovi," he said, shrugging off the door. "Disappointed, sì, but not angry." Taking wandering, almost idle steps in her general direction he continued, "I am angry because I caught Juan on his third tankard of brandy."

Lovina went ridged. Merda!

"If you think he likes to talk when he is sober, you really should see him drunk," mused Antonio, though his eyes burned. "Tell me, Lovi, why would he go against orders? Instead of bringing you back, he went drinking. ¿Por qué?"

Lovina gulped. "I told him you let me off. He wouldn't go away so I threatened to-

"Lovina!"

She clamped her mouth shut. It wasn't that he'd snapped at her, it was that he'd actually used her name. Suddenly Lovina found she was genuinely regretting trying anything.

Eyes blazing, he said in a dangerously calm tone, "I decided not to cut off his ear, if it is any concern to you. Now explain to me just what it is you did to convince me to let you off the ship. My memory must be getting malo. I thought we simply made a deal. Was I wrong?"

Lovina swallowed. He'd stopped advancing, but he was barely four feet away. "No."

"Oh? Then why did he ask me if you were fun? That question is only used when you're looking for a good bordello."

"How the hell am I supposed to know? He was drunk and probably in the mood."

The pirate stepped towards her. Before she could do more than lurch back a step he grabbed her shoulders, holding her fast. He wasn't holding her tight enough to hurt, but only just.

Leaning down so his face was inches from hers, he said in a low voice, "Lovina, I have been very patient with you. I have already said I'm not angry about you trying to run. Be honest with me or my patience runs out. Simply because I won't raise a hand to you does not mean I will not punish you, comprendes? Now explain to me why you decided it would be a maravilloso idea to tell a crewmen you would sleep with him if you won't even let me kiss you."

Deciding she would probably make things worse by not by not being honest about it, and unable to look away from the emerald eyes burning into her, Lovina found the truth spilling from her lips before she even realized she was speaking. "I only told him that because it was the only way to get him to leave me alone. I didn't think I'd ever see him again. There's no way I'm going to actually do it, there never was."

Antonio held her gaze for another long minute before releasing her, stepping back. He still didn't look happy, but at least the worst of it seemed to have simmered down. "You still should not have said it, Lovi."

Noting that he was back to the nickname that was no longer quite as irritating as it once was, Lovina slumped slightly in relief. He'd bought it, at least. Now the question was just how mad he still was.

Deciding to not take any chances, she hurriedly said, "I'll tell him I lied, that we just made a deal. As soon as he comes on board I'll tell him the truth."

"No."

She stiffened. "No?" she asked carefully.

"You will not tell him, I will. You are not leaving this cabin, not for a few days at least. You can come out when we're a day's sail from port."

"But-

"Unless you would rather spend it locked in the cargo hold do not push my patience any farther, Lovi."

With that he turned away, walking briskly back to the door. Lovina twitched when he slammed the door shut again, turning the lock. She wanted to feel mad, she knew she should, so why did she only feel guilt?

BREAK/BREAK\BREAK

Some part of her had hoped he would be like Nonno when it came to punishments. Lovina had been sent to her room a lot, banished with the order to 'go without dinner' and 'think about what she'd done'. She never did either of these things. Inevitably Lovina would fume, throw things, and then sulk. Usually within an hour or so after whatever meal she'd been banned from Nonno would knock on her door, tray in hand.

Antonio, on the other hand, was good to his word. Lovina didn't leave the cabin for the rest of the day. The pirate didn't come in even once, not even to bring her a midday meal. By the time the sun was setting and he finally returned, Lovina was starving.

As he barred the door and went about his routine of removing hat and coat, Lovina propped her fists on her hips and glared at him. "I'm hungry, bastardo. And I'm thirsty."

"Mmm? Oh, sì, I forgot."

She felt some satisfaction when Antonio replaced his hat on his head and left, even if he did lock the door behind him. That satisfaction vanished when Antonio came back with only one of the smaller water buckets in hand, ladle and all. He set the bucket on the floor by the desk, and then restarted his routine.

"Where's the food, idiota?" growled Lovina. She'd been hungry when he'd brought her back to the ship, now she was starving. Her stomach had been growling with increasing frequency all afternoon. Her efforts to get something to eat by banging on the door hadn't amounted to anything.

"There is none," he said simply, tossing his coat over the chest.

Lovina stared at him. "What do you mean there is none?" she demanded.

Antonio started unbuckling the various belts that secured weapons to his person, answering casually, "There is none for you. You eat when we leave port. You can leave the cabin when we are a day's sail away."

Lovina stared at him, mouth falling open slightly. "You can't be serious," she spluttered after a moment.

"Sì, I am," he said simply, sitting to start the nightly wrangle with his boots. "I told you, Lovi, I cannot raise a hand to you. If you were anyone else it would simply be a matter of how many lashings to give you. With you, this is the worst I can do I'm afraid. An empty stomach is not as painful as the whip, believe me. Do not worry, we leave port in three days, maybe less if the crew keeps drinking at this rate."

"You expect me to go four days without food?" Lovina demanded incredulously.

"No, three. You had food today."

"That was this morning!"

"Sì, I know. I brought it to you, remember?" he said coolly, getting to his feet. "Get your brush, Lovi."

Lovina's fists clinched at her sides. "No."

Antonio, who had turned to the bed, stopped. He regarded her, lifting his eyebrows. "No?"

The Italian lifted her chin stubbornly. "No. I'm not playing that damned game until you give me something to eat."

The pirate frowned. "Lovi, I do not enjoy this."

"Then why the hell are you doing it?"

"Because it was necessary for me to tell Juan that all you did to get off the ship was agree not to run," he snapped. "He's lucky I don't cut off more than his ear. The only reason he is still in one piece is because he is more useful to me intact. Besides, he's one of the more intelligent men on my crew. You must have played the part well to have convinced him."

"Wait, is all this because you're jealous?" Lovina demanded incredulously. "I panicked and I lied, bastardo. No way in hell am I sleeping with that-

"That is not the point," growled Antonio, eyes icy. "You are mine, Lovina. I made it clear no one was to touch you. You won't let me touch you, fine. But that you offered, real or no, is worse than running. I do not care if you were cornered, surely you could have thought of something else."

"Like what?" demanded Lovina. "It was the first thing I could think of. I was lucky it worked."

She quickly discovered her poor word choice when his eyes narrowed.

"Lucky?" he demanded icily. "Is that what you think?"

"At the time, yes," she shot back stubbornly. "I'm not you, bene? My oversized mouth is all I have when I can't run. I'm sorry it made you mad, but it was all I could think of."

The pirate snorted in derision. "You are lucky you're not one of my men, Lovi. Very lucky."

"Why, because I'm getting starved instead of whipped?" While quite frankly starvation did seem like a slightly more pleasant, if more drawn out, she wasn't about to admit it. "How the hell would you know?"

"Because I've had both," he hissed. "If I was lucky it wasn't at the same time." Antonio closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He let it out slowly, and then calmly pulled his boots back on.

"Where the hell are you going now?"

"Out. Go to bed, Lovi. I won't sleep here tonight."

Before she could protest he was gone, closing the door with a rousing slam before the lock turned. Lovina stared at the door for a long moment, and then stalked over to the bed. She snatched one of the pillows, buried her face in it and screamed.

Merda- shit

¿Por qué? -why?

Malo- bad

bordello- brothel

Bene- alright?

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