London, September 1817
“You’re positively morose, Cade. You’ve got to cheer up.” Rafe leaned back against a cushion as the coach jolted over a pothole on the way to the docks.
Cade scowled, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared out the window. “I’m a pirate without a ship. How do you expect me to be?”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “You’re not a pirate, sir, and you’re not without a ship. Your ship just happens to be in Portugal at the moment.”
“Without me,” Cade grumbled.
“Danny and Sean are more than capable of sailing it, sir, and you had to stay here because you broke your leg.”
“Danny and Sean are no doubt passed out drunk in a Portuguese brothel and please don’t remind me about my leg. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so bloody miserable, not since I was a boy.”
“I’d venture to guess the reason you’re miserable has little to do with your leg, sir.”
“Don’t say it,” Cade ground out. Danielle had been gone for six long weeks and Cade missed her desperately. He was still struggling with the fact that she’d been the Black Fox. “And if you call me sir once more, I may well beat you to death with my cane.” He waved the weapon about menacingly.
Rafe just laughed. “You’ll have to catch me first, and I happen to know I can outrun you at present.”
The coach came to a halt at the docks, right next to where a beautiful single-masted cutter was moored. Now that his leg was mostly healed, Cade wanted to get back out to sea, away from here, away from memories of Danielle. Memories would haunt him aboard, too, but it was worse in Rafe’s house. The library. The foyer. Even his bedchamber where she’d wrapped his hand and teased him about his boots.
“She’s a beauty,” Rafe whispered, nodding at the cutter. “Remember, you promised to let me go out with you on her maiden voyage.”
Cade was barely listening. All he could do was stare at the beautiful ship. They’d started work on her when he’d first come to town and she was finally ready. He’d christened her two days ago. The Danielle. Of course doing so would remind him of her, too, but it seemed fitting.
Cade pushed himself out of the coach and stood admiring the vessel. Rafe hopped down beside him. A shadow peeled away from the side of a nearby warehouse. A man strolled over to them, his hands in his pockets. Impeccably dressed and stoic as usual. Mark Grimaldi.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t two of my favorite employees,” Grimaldi said.
Cade turned to look at the general and curled his lip. “What are you doing here, Grim?”
“Is that any way for you to greet your employer?” Grimaldi asked.
“Former employer,” Rafe clarified.
“And possible future employer,” Grimaldi replied.
“I knew you wanted something,” Cade said. “You never find us to inquire about our health. My leg is mostly healed now, by the by.”
Grimaldi tilted his head to the side. “Glad to hear it.”
“I bet you are,” Cade scoffed.
Grimaldi shrugged. “You are two of my best. Is it my fault if I need your help?”
“Spit it out, Grim. What do you need us to do?” Rafe tipped up the brim of his hat.
A wide smile spread across Grimaldi’s face. “At the moment, I merely need you to board your ship and meet my other two best agents.”
Cade’s throat closed. He clutched his cane so tightly his knuckles turned white. Two months ago, Danielle would have been one of Grim’s other best agents.
Cade led the way across the gangplank, anger making his strides long and aggressive, despite the lingering pain in his leg. “Why in the hell you’ve helped yourself to my ship, Grim, I’ll never know,” he tossed back over his shoulder as he walked.
Rafe and Grimaldi followed him. The three made their way across the main deck and down the steps to the captain’s cabin.
Just as Cade pushed open the door, Grimaldi said, “My apologies. I thought perhaps the woman for whom the ship was named would be welcome on it.”
Cade stopped. All the air in the room had been sucked away. Standing across the cabin, directly in front of him was Danielle. She wore a bright blue day dress that matched her gorgeous eyes, her hair was pulled back in a chignon, and she had a look of supreme uncertainty on her face.
Daphne was there, too, standing in the corner, but Cade barely noticed her.
“What…? What are you doing here?” he breathed, staring at Danielle.
Danielle moved around the table and came to him, a wide smile on her face. “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” She threaded her arms through both Cade’s and Rafe’s. “In the last year I must have participated in half a dozen missions, but the one with you two was by far my favorite.”
Cade continued to stare at her as if she wasn’t real. She was touching him, actually touching him. He could smell her familiar orchid perfume, but still he couldn’t believe it. He glanced at his brother. Rafe looked nothing other than thoroughly amused and simultaneously surprised.
“What are you doing here?” Cade asked, searching Danielle’s heartbreakingly lovely face. She looked as if she’d gained a bit of weight since he’d last seen her. It agreed with her. “You died.”
Danielle looked up at him through her dark lashes. “I didn’t die.”
“But you can’t swim,” Cade breathed.
“I never said I couldn’t swim. I said I didn’t swim. I told you. I’ve been on ships since I was thirteen.”
“But there was so much blood.”
“Bastard got a good clean shot right through my shoulder,” Danielle replied. “Hurt like hell but it’s healed nicely.”
A storm cloud gathered on Cade’s face. “Why didn’t you come back?”
“I had no choice.” She gave Grimaldi an accusing stare. “Care to explain, General?”
“My orders,” Grimaldi replied. “She couldn’t tell you she was alive. Until today.”
Cade turned toward Grimaldi and lunged at him across the table. The man must have been expecting it because he stepped back quickly while Rafe held Cade at bay.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cade shouted through clenched teeth.
Grimaldi had the grace to look away, his mouth twisted in regret. “I had to do it. We couldn’t risk Baptiste finding out she was alive.”
Cade wanted to wrap his cane around Grim’s neck. “Baptiste is in prison, you ass.”
“Yes, but he had spies everywhere,” Grimaldi replied. “We couldn’t risk Danielle getting actually hurt.”
That shut Cade up. For a moment. “You’re a sadistic bastard, you know that, Grim?”
“All in the name of His Majesty,” Grimaldi replied, bowing. “We came to tell you the truth as soon as we could.”
“I swear I didn’t know about this,” Rafe hastened to add.
“On the contrary. I wasn’t about to make your brother keep such a secret,” Grimaldi said.
“Is she safe now?” Cade demanded, studying Danielle’s face. He still couldn’t believe this was real. That she was truly here, standing in front of him.
He turned to look at Daphne, whose pretty gray eyes were swimming with tears. “Believe it, Cade. It’s true. I only found out today myself.”
Some of Cade’s anger dissolved when he saw how upset poor Daphne was.
Grimaldi continued. “We’ve rounded up most of the men who were working with Baptiste. Danielle’s been staying with her mother by the sea for the last several weeks.”
Her mother? She’d got her wish. Cade turned to Danielle. “How is she? Your mother?”
Danielle’s voice was low but sure. “Doing much better. The sea air has worked wonders for her condition and there is a talented doctor near Brighton who has been helping us.”
Cade drank in the sight of her as if she were fresh water in the middle of the ocean. “I’m happy to hear it.”
Danielle searched Cade’s face. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”
As if upon agreement, Rafe, Daphne, and Grimaldi all exchanged looks and quickly left the cabin, closing the door behind them.
“I can’t believe it’s you,” Cade whispered once they were alone.
Danielle reached for him. “I’m here, Cade. I’m real.”
“I’m still planning to kill Grimaldi,” Cade growled.
“Don’t be too angry with him. He was only trying to protect me. I seem to recall a certain captain locking me in his cabin for the same reason.”
Cade was fighting an internal battle. Was he elated or incensed? It wasn’t clear to him any longer. He felt half-mad. “How were you the Black Fox?” he finally asked, focusing on something that might actually make sense if it were explained to him.
Danielle sighed and smoothed her hands down her skirts. “I’d done it for years. To avenge my father’s death.”
“Your father’s death?” What did that have to do with the Black Fox?
“Baptiste killed my father,” she murmured.
“He did? Why?”
Danielle raised her chin. “He and my father became political rivals. My father had been spreading the word through his lectures and writings that Baptiste was corrupt.”
“You’re certain Baptiste killed him?”
“I was standing in the doorway and saw him shoot and kill Pere.”
Cade clenched his jaw. “Danielle, I’m sorry.”
Danielle stared at the table, her eyes unfocused, remembering. “‘This will be our little secret,’ he said. And then my mother was arrested for murder. No one believed a small girl’s word over such an important politician’s, especially not when the accused was English.”
“But the Black Fox did other things, struck other places.”
Danielle paced away from him. “I had to keep from seeming as if I was after Baptiste. I never knew the papers would begin following my stories. I never expected to be famous because of it.”
Cade shook his head. “If you were the Black Fox, why did Grim allow me to buy the map?”
“I believe that’s when he began to suspect you were on our side. Until then he didn’t know whether you were one of the turncoats, what with your sudden return to England. He wanted to see what you would do with it.”
“I was never a turncoat,” Cade ground out.
“Of course you weren’t.” She returned to his side. “Cade…” she finally whispered. “I’m waiting.”
His head snapped to the side to face her. “For what?”
“For you to tell me you’re happy to see me, that you…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away.
He searched her face. “Can I trust you, Danielle?”
“You can trust me, Cade. And I finally realize that I can trust you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you. When I jumped from the ship. I heard you say you love me.”
A barely perceptible nod was his only answer.
“Did you mean it?” she asked. “Do you still love me?”
He paced away and scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to love, Danielle.”
She held out a hand toward him. “Neither do I, but I’d like to try … with you.”
The hint of a smile touched his lips. He turned back to face her. “Are you saying you love me?”
“If you’re saying you love me.” She stepped toward him and trailed her fingertip up his chest to tug at his cravat.
He crushed her to him and took her mouth in a fierce kiss. “God, yes. I love you madly and I’m never going to let you go.”
“Good,” she replied as they tore at each other’s clothes. “Because I’m never going to let you go, either.”
Cade pushed his fingers into her hair. “You’re going to have to make a decent man out of me and marry me.”
Her eyes widened. “Marry you? I don’t know how to be a wife.”
“That’s perfect because I’ve no clue how to be a husband. We’ll learn together.” His shirt half off and his breeches unbuttoned, he fell to his good knee. “Will you marry me, Danielle LaCrosse?”
She opened her mouth to reply.
“Wait, before you answer, you should know that I’ve been given this exceedingly annoying title of sir by the prince, and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share it with. Rafe cannot stop teasing me about it.”
Her eyes widened even farther. “If you’re a sir and we marry, that would make me … a lady?”
“My lady.” He stood again and pulled her into his arms.
“What will we live off of?”
“Didn’t Grimaldi tell you I was an official privateer for many years? Privateering is a lucrative business.”
“Is it?”
“Very. I don’t intend to stop my work on his majesty’s behalf. You should join me on the high seas, mademoiselle.”
She opened her mouth to reply when Cade interrupted, “Wait. Your name is Danielle LaCrosse, isn’t it?”
She laughed. “You have to ask?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be the Black Fox, either.”
Danielle nodded. “I suppose you have a point. Yes, my name is truly Danielle LaCrosse.”
He spun her around in his arms. “Then, marry me, Mademoiselle LaCrosse, and make me the happiest man on earth.”
“What will Rafe and Daphne think of having a maid in the family?”
“They’ll be delighted. Daphne will have her hair arranged for life. And you heard Grim. The four of us are his best spies. We can all go on missions together. Who would ever suspect a family of spies?”
“I suppose you have a point.” She laughed. “Daphne was extremely forgiving of my deception. She said she’d grown used to such surprises, having fallen in love with a spy herself. She also told me I may come and visit Mary and Mrs. Huckleberry whenever I like. Apparently, Mary and Trevor are close to announcing their own engagement.”
“Is that a yes?” Cade asked, bending down and kissing her neck.
“Yes, you ridiculously handsome man. I will marry you, but first, let’s study something else.”
He continued kissing her neck. “Like what?”
“Like what husbands and wives do in bed.”
“I’m all for it.” He kissed her ear. “I have something new to show you.”
“Really?” She closed her eyes and pressed herself against him, shuddering a little.
“Yes. Do you trust me?” Cade asked.
“Hmm. I’m not sure.” She giggled. “General Grimaldi gave me some excellent advice once.”
Cade’s lips moved to her ear. “Oh, really, what was that?”
She shivered as her gown fell away from her shoulders down to her waist and he bent his head to kiss her bare skin. “He said to never trust a pirate.”
Cade lowered her to the bed, flinging off the last of her clothing. “Then it’s a good thing I’m not a pirate.”