Madeline had had enough. She was determined to uncover the truth behind William’s peculiar behavior. He seemed dismayed by his family’s arrival, yet he loved the lot of them, she knew. He’d threatened to hang her to protect them. Now their presence aboard ship had brought about a startling tension. And why had he proposed to her, nay, demanded they wed, when he’d never even suggested the idea before that day?
A rap at the door; it snapped her from her meditation.
She opened the barrier and lifted a brow. “Captain Hawkins.”
“James,” he said. “There can only be one captain aboard a ship.”
“What can I do for you, James?”
He entered the cabin without waiting for an invitation, his ominous presence filling the small space.
She shut the door behind him. “Do come in.”
After prowling the room for a moment, he dropped into a chair. “I have the unenviable task of pleading my brother’s case—for your hand in marriage.”
She folded her hands across her lap. “I don’t see how this concerns you?”
“It concerns you and it concerns my brother, so it concerns me.”
She had forgotten the Hawkins family banded together no matter the circumstances, that they looked out for each other’s happiness—unlike hers. And just the thought of being part of such a family warmed her to the idea of marriage. Not that she was prepared to accept William’s proposal. At least, not until she had some answers . . . and James’ unexpected arrival may just be the boon she was looking for.
She joined him at the table. “I will listen to your case.”
“I’m not a matchmaker,” he groused. “But the affair between you and William must be settled—permanently.”
Another threat? He was no better than his brother at proposals. Did all Hawkins men club their women over the heads and drag them to the altars?
But Madeline maintained her temper. She wanted to know the truth about William.
“Our affair is complicated,” she said.
“Isn’t every affair with a woman?”
He sounded like he spoke from miserable experience.
“William and I have a delicate arrangement.”
“An arrangement, eh?”
“He isn’t interested in marriage; he’s never even broached the matter—until today. Why?”
His blue eyes shifted from one end of the room to the other. “He realized you might be pregnant.”
“Today?”
“Aye, today.”
“I find it hard to believe a man of such foresight and planning failed to consider the matter before today.”
James growled, “He’s not been thinking straight of late.”
“Why? His headaches?”
“You know about the headaches? Anything else?”
“What else is there?”
“Blimey.” He shot out of the chair, startling her. “I should have sent one of the women to convince you to marry him.” And he headed for the door, disgruntled.
“James, tell me!”
He stilled.
She whispered, “Tell me what’s happening?”
He sighed, keeping his back to her. “You need to ask William that question.”
And he left the room.
As soon as the door closed, Madeline fisted her hands. She circled the cabin for a few restless minutes, stirring up her strength, before she squared her shoulders and stalked toward William’s cabin.
The moment she reached the door, her intention to barge into the room withered away. Instead, she quietly opened the door and scanned the space. The broken furniture unnerved her. William’s prostrate body in bed disarmed her.
She dropped her shoulders. A part of her didn’t want to know the truth anymore, sensing it was painful, perhaps too painful to bear. Another part urged her to learn the truth, however painful, and reconcile with it.
Slowly she approached the bed, her footfalls light. His arm was slumped over his brow. If he was asleep, she didn’t want to startle him.
“Hullo, Maddie.”
“You heard me?”
“I can smell your perfume.”
He slipped his forearm from his brow and gazed at her with a heart wrenching mixture of passion and pain.
She realized, then, she didn’t want to hear the truth, after all.
She kneeled beside the bed. “Just tell me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“How does the sentence end?”
He looked at her, confused.
She recited, “I am a damn siren you can’t get out of your head, your blood, your . . . ? Finish the sentence, William, and I will marry you, however it ends.”
He shut his eyes. The muscles in his jaw clenched, squaring his features. At last, he opened his eyes and took an uneven breath.
As he struggled to sit on the edge of the bed, he teetered, and she reached for his arm in support.
After a few more hardy breaths, he cupped her cheeks. “You are a damn siren I can’t get out of my head, my blood, my heart. I love you, Maddie.”
Her eyes welled with tears. She breathed in the magical words that chased away the guilt, the bitterness, the wretched loneliness in her soul, and smiled, quivering, as brilliant light filled her heart.
“But you wish you didn’t love me,” she said softly. “I can hear it in your broken voice. I’m not good enough for you, your family because of my past.”
“No! I just . . . I just wish I had met you sooner.”
His inexplicable response unsettled her, and before she could ask him for an explanation, he resorted to old tactics and kissed her soundly, silencing her.
“Will you marry me?” he whispered.
“Aye,” she said, breathless.