Pleasing the Pirate: A Loveswept Historical Romance (25 page)

“So you spied on us,” he said tightly.

“I’m so sorry.”

“And what did you discover?”

“Nothing. I swear to you I found nothing of consequence. A few letters regarding land but nothing that pertained to Grant and his mission.” She would not mention the letter regarding the necklace he had commissioned for Gabrielle. She would not ruin that for him.

Nevertheless he looked at her closely with hard, blue eyes that seemed to penetrate deep into her and doubt every word she said. She returned his look, willing him to see that she spoke the truth, that she was holding nothing back.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, not knowing what else to say. “I know what I did was wrong and I know you could arrest me for treason.”

Gabrielle patted her arm before letting her hand slip away as if she herself wasn’t certain what her husband would do.

“If it’s any consolation I feel terrible for what I did. Even that night I felt horrible.”

“I know you do, dear,” Gabrielle said.

“And so Grant snatched you off the street to find out what you learned?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“That there was nothing in your desk. I learned nothing.”

“And his reaction?”

“He thought I was lying.” She licked her dry lips, wanting a drink of water desperately but not wanting to ask these people for anything. Besides, her stomach was protesting so much that she feared she wouldn’t keep even water down. “This morning I overheard Grant speaking to some Frenchmen.”

Sebastian stilled. There was something very disconcerting about how still he could keep himself. “And?”

She told him what she’d overheard. The date, the strategy, the way they chased her when
they discovered she’d overheard.

Sebastian drummed his fingers on his desk and contemplated her although she sensed that he wasn’t really seeing her but putting pieces of a puzzle together.

“That’s all you heard?” he asked rather harshly, as if he thought she was holding back on purpose.

“That’s all. I swear to you.”

“And we should believe you after we brought you into our house and treated you as a friend only to have you snoop through my personal belongings?”

Friend. There was that word again only this time it felt as if it tore a hole right through her. They believed her to be a friend. Or they had.

“Sebastian.” There was censure in Gabrielle’s tone, but Mairi held up her hand to stop her.

“No. He’s right. You have no reason to believe me, but I am telling the truth, my lord. Yes, I didn’t think highly of the English. From my experience they take what they want and leave devastation in their wake. I had no love for them and did not want to come here for dinner, but Phin forced me. And while I was here I saw a different side to these people I hated so much and it surprised me to discover that you’re not all monsters. You’re very much like us.

“I left the dinner party and went outside because I was so confused. Nothing was as I thought and I needed to sort it all out in my mind. When Grant approached me I didn’t want to do what he asked, but I need—needed—my brother to return home with me to save our land and our people and to save me from marrying a hateful man who wants me only for the land I can provide him. I wasn’t planning to snoop when I came back inside, but then I overheard you and Phin talking about how Phin was using me to get to Grant and I became angry.”

“Oh, dear,” Gabrielle said, and it seemed as if Sebastian winced a little.

“I can see how that would convince you that all Englishmen are bullies,” he said, maybe with a wee bit of regret.

“It did. And in the heat of my anger I did something I would have never, ever done if I were in my right mind. Not that I’m making excuses. There is no excuse for what I did, but I did snoop through your belongings and I did try to find sensitive information in order to help my brother, and for that you have my heartfelt apologies. Please know that is not who I am.”

He stared at her for the longest time. How could one human being be so
still
?

“What you did was wrong,” he finally said. “But I can understand why you did it. Luckily I never keep sensitive information in plain view or in obvious places. You would have made a terrible spy, Mairi McFadden.”

Her shoulders drooped in a relief so intense she feared she would fall over. “I never want to be a spy. Ever. It’s very stressful business.”

Sebastian laughed and Mairi’s relief doubled, but just as quickly he sobered and contemplated her yet again.

“Do you know why Phin was using you to get to your brother?”

“For the bounty.”

“Is that what he told you?”

She thought back to their heated conversations and realized he’d never really said why. She’d accused him of that and he’d not denied it, but he’d never admitted it, either. “No.”

“Sebastian.” This from Gabrielle again, but Sebastian waved her warning away.

“She has a right to know.”

Mairi’s heart skipped a beat. “What have I a right to know, my lord?”

“Phin isn’t interested in the bounty on Grant’s head. The king has demanded Phin bring Grant to him. You see, Phin has his own bounty on his head and the king has offered to remove the bounty.”

It made sense now. It was about a bounty, just not the bounty Mairi assumed. And now she understood why it was so imperative that Phin capture Grant and why he was using her to do so.

“If Phin does not bring Grant in his life is forfeited.”

Mairi’s mind went blank. All she could do was look at Sebastian in confusion then disbelief. She turned to Gabrielle but saw the truth in her eyes.

“You’re saying … if Phin fails …”

“He hangs.”

She closed her eyes and her world spun in circles. She thought of Annabelle and Susan and even Mr. and Mrs. Horton. What would happen to them if Phin died?

What would happen to
her
?

She couldn’t bear knowing Phin lost his life because of her brother.

“I didn’t know,” she whispered.

“Of course you didn’t,” Gabrielle said softly.

Sebastian stood, his look full of pity and, yes, grief. Sebastian cared for Phin and he didn’t want to see his demise any more than she did.

“We will find Phin,” he said. “In the meantime you look like you could use a good meal and mayhap a bath.” His nose didn’t wrinkle but it looked like it wanted to.

Phin sat slumped in the chair across from a sleeping Mairi and ran his hands down his face.

The tears broke his heart.

When a boy arrived at his house with a note from Sebastian, Phin had raced here. Sebastian and Gabrielle told him that one of Gabrielle’s contacts had found Mairi running through the streets of St. Giles. Running. In St. Giles. It was a wonder that she survived at all.

When he thought of how close he’d come to losing her—to her losing her life—it was unthinkable.

He could only imagine what she thought when she realized Grant was after her not to save her but to harm her.

He wanted to kill the bastard.

She stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and she stretched, raising her arms above her and arching her back in such a way that reminded him of the precious nights they’d spent together. His body stirred, but his thoughts were far too heavy to pay it any attention.

She looked at him and gasped. “Phin.”

“Mairi.” He tried to smile, but his nerves were stretched taut. If he wasn’t sure that he loved her before, then he definitely knew now.

Her entire body seemed to crumple into the settee. “Sebastian told you?”

“He told me that you were found in St. Giles and rescued by Gabrielle’s network. He told me about what you overheard.”

“And?” she asked after a lengthy pause. “That is all?”

He frowned. “Is there more?”

She bit her lip and looked away, clearly distraught.

“What happened, Mairi?” Good God, if that bastard hurt her in any way he would kill him now, regardless of the king’s orders.

“I’m so sorry,” she said softly.

He was certain his heart missed a few beats. “Sorry for what?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes and that was more concerning than anything.

“Just tell me,” he commanded.

She began speaking in hesitant, broken sentences and the story unfolded of a late-night meeting with Grant, an agreement between the siblings, of snooping and spying and trading information.

As she spoke Phin turned cold, then disbelieving, then angry.

“I know you must despise me for what I’ve done. You brought me into your friends’ home and I broke your trust.”

He paced to the fireplace where he straightened a small statue then let his hand fall to his side. He wasn’t certain what to think. His mind was a jumbled mess.

“I apologize that you had to overhear my conversation with Sebastian,” he finally said, admitting the part he played in this. He couldn’t blame her for being angry or for lashing out. It was the way she lashed out that bothered him. “I wish you would have confronted me first.”

“I do too.”

She looked so small and defeated and pale against the dark fabric of the settee.

“Annabelle misses you.” He wasn’t sure why he said that. Except that maybe he wanted her to know there were people in this world who cared for her. Not people who relied on her for food and shelter, not a brother or a lover who used her, but someone who truly cared for her and missed her.

He’d missed her so fiercely he hadn’t been able to sleep at night. Just a few nights in his bed and she’d worked her way into his entire life, into everything he did and thought.

“I pray she wasn’t too traumatized by what happened.”

“She was distraught, but I think it had more to do with Susan being distraught as well.”

Mairi flinched. “I took Grant to task for the way he acted. It was unacceptable.”

He grinned. She couldn’t have been too upset if she called Grant out on the way he treated her.

“I want you to know that I understand why you’re angry with me. I shouldn’t have done what I did and I feel horrible for it. I’ve apologized endlessly to Sebastian.”

That Sebastian hadn’t said anything to Phin was something in itself. Either Gabrielle told him not to or Sebastian wasn’t too concerned about it. Although what Mairi had done was considered treason in the technical sense and she could be arrested for it.

But to say all was well wouldn’t be truthful, either. He was disappointed in her actions
and even more disappointed that she hadn’t come to him first. Then again she’d just heard he and Sebastian discuss using her to capture her brother. A brother she desperately needed in order to save her land and her people. She’d been in a difficult situation and, really, what would he have done in her position?

He’d hoped he would have done the right thing, but one person’s right is another’s wrong.

“Come here,” he said softly.

She looked up at him with so much hope and grief in her eyes that he couldn’t bear it. He coaxed her forward with a wave of his fingers until she was in his arms, her head buried against his chest.

They’d been apart an entire day and night and still it felt like so much longer. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her tight.

“It was so awful,” she whispered. “He wanted to kill me. My own brother.” She pushed her head further into his chest as if she could burrow away from the truth.

“He’s eaten up inside with hatred,” Phin said, knowing the feeling but wishing Grant had not taken it so far.

She pulled away from him and wiped at the tears on her cheeks. At some point he would get the entire story from her, like where she ran and the conditions she was kept in, but not now. Now she needed to rest and he and Sebastian needed to figure out where to go from here.

“He has to be stopped,” Mairi said. “I know that now. He can’t return to Scotland with me. I don’t
want
him in Scotland with me.”

“With the information you gave us we can stop him and we can protect England better. You’re a heroine, Mairi.” He smiled at her, but it didn’t lift the despair in her eyes.

“Being a heroine doesn’t solve my problems.”

Sebastian and Gabrielle walked in and Mairi pulled away to face Sebastian.

“Did you find him?” she asked.

“We couldn’t locate the exact building you described.”

Her hands fisted at her side. “I wish I’d paid more attention to my surroundings.”

“Difficult to do when you’re running for your life,” Phin said bitterly.

For the next hour both Phin and Sebastian questioned Mairi. She answered consistently. She didn’t break down, she thought carefully before answering and she gleaned enough
information about the conversation she overheard that he felt good about it.

Sebastian didn’t look as confident, but then Sebastian tended to be more cautious.

By the time they finished, it was dark and too late to petition to see the king. They would try the next day to tell him about the plans Mairi had learned of. If anything this might buy Phin more time, especially if her information was correct and they stopped an invasion.

There were dark circles under Mairi’s eyes, and despite her nap she was exhausted.

“Gabrielle has a room prepared for you,” Sebastian said. “There’s nothing else we can do tonight. Get some sleep.”

She shot Phin an anxious glance and he smiled at her. “I’ll be right here.”

“You’re in love with her,” Sebastian said when she left.

“I am. I’ll be sleeping with her tonight. I don’t care what you say.”

“I wouldn’t dream of getting in your way,” Sebastian said with a half smile.

“Do you think the king will believe us?” Phin asked.

It was a tricky thing, speaking to the king. He tended to have a short temper and depending on his mood, he could accept what they told him and act on it. Or he could dismiss what they said and ignore it. If that were the case, then when the attack happened—and Phin had no doubt it would—then the king could turn on them and charge them with treason.

His majesty could also outright charge them with treason for even suggesting that someone was planning an attack on England.