The Pirate by Harold Robbins Read Free Book Online Page A

darkness except for the light spilling through the open doorway. He saw her huddled form hidden beneath the sheets. Softly, he closed the door and went to the bed and sat down. She didn’t move.
    After a moment, he spoke. “Jordana.”
    There was no sign that she had heard him.
    “Are you awake?” he whispered.
    There was no answer. He leaned forward and placed the jewel case on the pillow beside her head, then got to his feet and started back to the door. As he reached for the knob, the lights suddenly came on. He blinked and looked back.
    She was sitting up in the bed, her long blond hair spilling down over her white shoulders and full rose-tipped breasts. She didn’t speak.
    “I thought you were asleep,” he said.
    “I was,” she answered. “Did you have a good flight?”
    He nodded. “Yes.”
    “The boys will be glad to see you,” she said. “Will you be able to spend some time with them this trip?”
    “I plan to be here until Wednesday,” he said. “Perhaps tomorrow we can take them down to Capri and spend a few days there.”
    “They would like that,” she said. She threw off the sheets and stepped out of the bed. Her robe lay over a chair and she picked it up. In the mirror at the far end of the stateroom, she saw him watching her. “I have to dress for the party,” she said, turning toward him as she slipped into her robe.
    He didn’t answer.
    “You’d better dress too.”
    “I will,” he answered.
    He watched her walk into the bedroom and close the door behind her, then he turned back to the bed. The black velvet case still lay there on the pillow. She hadn’t even noticed it.
    He walked back to the bed and picked it up, then quietly went back into his own stateroom. He pressed the button for Jabir.
    Jabir appeared as if by magic. “Yes, master?”
    Baydr held out the jewel case. “Have the captain place this in the safe. We will return it in the morning.”
    “Yes, master,” he replied, putting the jewel case in his pocket.
    “I have prepared the blue shantung dinner jacket for this evening. Will that be satisfactory?”
    Baydr nodded. “It will be fine.”
    “Thank you,” Jabir said. He bowed and left the stateroom.
    Baydr stared at the door the servant had closed behind him. It was impossible. She could not have failed to see the jewel case on the pillow beside her. She had chosen to ignore it.
    Abruptly, he turned and went back into her room. She was seated at her dressing table, looking into the mirror. She saw his reflection and turned toward him.
    His open palm caught her across the face. She crashed from the chair to the floor, her arm sweeping the perfume and assorted bottles of cosmetics off the dressing table. She stared up at him, her eyes wide, more in surprise than fear. She touched her cheek and could almost feel the imprint of his hand. She made no move to get up. “That was stupid of you,” she said, almost impersonally. “Now I won’t be able to come to my own birthday party.”
    “You’ll come to the party,” he said grimly. “Even if you have to wear a veil like all good Muslim women.”
    Her eyes followed him as he walked back to the door. He paused and looked down at her. “Happy birthday,” he said, and closed the door behind him.
    ***
    Dick stood near the bar looking across the deck at his employer. Baydr was standing with Youssef and several other people, listening in his quietly attentive manner as Youssef told one of his interminable stories. Dick glanced at his watch. It was almost one o’clock. If Baydr was disturbed that Jordana had not yet appeared, he did not show it.
    The music came through the loudspeakers that had been placed above the canopy over the sundeck. Several couples were dancing, their bodies fluid in the lights that had been strung across the ship for the party. Other couples were seated on the banquettes along the railings and at small cocktail tables around the dance floor. The buffet had been set up on the main deck below,