Inside the villa atop the hill, Levi stared absently at the fading glow of the sunset.
“What are you thinking about so seriously? Don’t tell me you don’t like the tea.” Sarah smiled as she lifted the teapot and refilled his cup.
“No. I was just thinking that you look really beautiful when you smile.”
Levi shook his head and took another sip.
A rich, refreshing fragrance filled his senses.
Sarah froze for a moment, a faint blush coloring her pretty face.
If anyone else had said something like that to her, she probably would have answered by putting a few bullets in him.
Yet hearing it from Levi somehow didn’t bother her at all.
Ever since that night, Sarah and Levi had grown considerably closer.
She no longer treated him with the cold expression she showed everyone else, and she smiled around him far more often than before.
“Come out with me for a while. You’ve been busy running around these past few days, and I’ve been getting bored sitting here all the time,” Levi said softly.
“I’ll change first.”
Sarah started to leave so she could get ready.
At the moment, she was wearing a loose dress she normally wore around the house.
“You could make any man fall for you dressed exactly like that.”
Levi smiled as he looked her up and down.
The relaxed, almost lazy elegance of the dress gave her a completely different charm from the crisp confidence of her usual captain’s outfit.
Sarah smiled and nodded.
After giving a few instructions to her men, she slipped her arm through Levi’s and left with him.
At first Levi tried to pull his arm free, but Sarah held on tightly.
He tried several times, only to finally give up when he caught the look in her eyes that seemed to promise murder if he kept struggling.
Sarah’s men stared after their captain in disbelief when they saw how intimately she was clinging to a man.
If their eyes had been any wider, they might have popped right out of their heads.
“Never would’ve guessed the captain was into pretty boys like that,” muttered a tattooed man with a curved saber strapped to his back.
“Seriously. That kid barely has any muscle on him. Think the captain’s keeping him around as her boy toy?” another man complained, sounding distinctly unhappy about the idea.
“What the hell are you two talking about? If the captain hears you, she’ll have you strung up as fish bait.”
First Mate Rafen scolded them in a low voice, although inwardly he was every bit as shocked as the others.
As far as he was concerned, the captain was unquestionably a gorgeous, sexy woman, but she had always been like a rose covered in thorns.
Even in his wildest dreams, he never would have imagined seeing her act like this.
“Man, when did I become a kept man?” Levi sighed after overhearing the comments behind them.
Then again, he was currently living in Miss Fortune’s home, so he didn’t exactly have much of an argument.
“What, you don’t like being my kept man?”
Sarah smiled brightly at him.
The way she stared at Levi sent a chill down his spine.
“Of course I do. When I was eight, some traveling fortune teller told me I wasn’t built for a hard life. Apparently, I was born to have a beautiful woman take care of me.”
Levi gave her an awkward grin.
Sarah nodded in satisfaction and pressed herself even closer against his side.
The two walked along the stone-paved streets while vendors on either side loudly called out to passing customers.
People came and went around them as the sky gradually darkened.
They wandered without any particular hurry, taking in the sights and atmosphere.
Everything about this foreign land fascinated Levi.
Bilgewater was a gathering place for notorious criminals, a refuge for infamous mercenaries, cutthroats, and every other variety of scoundrel.
Along its winding streets, two people could suddenly pull guns and start shooting at each other, and most locals wouldn’t even bother turning their heads.
Something like that barely qualified as an incident here.
As someone born and raised in Bilgewater, Miss Fortune knew every street and alley as well as the back of her hand.
She glanced at Levi’s calm face beside her and felt an unfamiliar sense of security wash over her.
For a moment, she even found herself wishing they could simply keep walking together until sunrise.
After they had wandered for quite some time, the evening breeze grew cooler.
Spotting light spilling out from a building ahead, Levi found a tavern that was still open.
“Want to go inside for a while?” he suggested.
Sarah nodded, and the two entered.
It was around the time when sailors and dockworkers were finishing their day’s work, so the tavern was bustling.
Patrons drank freely from their cups while servers moved constantly through the crowd.
The moment Levi and Sarah walked inside together, the already lively tavern became even louder.
Whistles and crude comments immediately rang out around them.
Sarah frowned slightly and glanced at Levi beside her, but ultimately did nothing.
The bartender was a young man.
The moment he saw Sarah enter, his gaze lingered on her for several seconds longer than it should have.
No matter where she went, a stunning woman as sexy and striking as Sarah naturally attracted men’s attention.
“Ahem.”
Levi cleared his throat.
The young bartender finally snapped out of it, looking a little embarrassed before quickly composing himself.
“What can I get you two?” he asked quietly.
Levi looked toward Sarah.
Sarah sat down on one of the stools at the bar.
“A rum.”
“Same for me,” Levi said.
After two glasses, the liquor had driven away the chill of Bilgewater’s night air.
A faint rosy flush appeared across Sarah’s cheeks, making her look even more captivating.
“Now that’s one hell of a woman. Come have a drink with me, sweetheart.”
A burly bald man staggered toward them with a mug in one hand.
He reeked of alcohol, and even walking in a straight line seemed to be beyond him.
Miss Fortune ignored him completely.
She simply continued drinking while watching Levi quietly sip from his own glass, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Being ignored by a beautiful woman in front of everyone wounded the bald man’s pride.
His expression darkened, and he reached out toward Sarah’s shoulder.
Levi caught his arm before he could touch her.
Raising an eyebrow, Levi said coldly, “If I were you, I’d stop while I was ahead. This particular beauty isn’t someone you want to mess with.”
“You… bastard.”
The bald man’s expression twisted with rage as he glared at the young man stopping him.
He tried to yank his arm free, but Levi’s grip didn’t budge.
Several patrons behind them began laughing and egging him on.
The bald man tried several more times and still couldn’t break free.
His face grew uglier by the second.
With a furious snarl, he hurled his mug to the floor.
It shattered into pieces.
He immediately drew a short knife from his belt and slashed toward Levi’s face.
A cold gun barrel pressed against the underside of his chin.
The bald man froze.
His drunkenness disappeared instantly.
He didn’t even have time to beg.
The gunshot blew his head apart.
“That’s Miss Fortune!”
The spectators watching the commotion went pale.
Most people in Bilgewater recognized that distinctive pistol, and combined with the beautiful woman’s fiery red hair, there was no longer any doubt about her identity.
The whistles, laughter, and curses vanished instantly.
The noisy tavern fell silent.
Before long, two men came over and carried the bald man’s body outside.
After a quick cleanup, the tavern looked as though nothing had happened at all.
“Was I too scary?”
Sarah asked playfully, as though killing someone had been no more noteworthy than swatting a fly.
“Uh, no. I’m just wondering where exactly you were hiding that gun.”
Levi eyed the pistol in Sarah’s hand and teased her.
“Hmph. None of your business.”
Sarah turned her head away and drained the rest of her drink in one gulp.