“Finally, someone who realizes the dire straits of our situation,” Storm said.
“Sending you into Weighton could mean sending you to your death,” Burke said angrily. He couldn’t help it. He was so frustrated with the circumstances. He couldn’t see how he would find the strength to stand by and let Storm be captured and dragged off to prison. He’d want to kill any man who dared lay a hand on her.
“Your brother faces certain death if we don’t. At least with me going in he has a chance, which is more than he has now.”
Reason certainly was her forte, not that the plan made sense, or made it any easier for him.
Burke suddenly got an idea. “There’s no need for you to go into Weighton. I’ll be going in to ransom my brother and that will put me right where I need to be to help expedite the escape.”
Lady Alaina shook her head. “No, my father does not plan for you to ever reach Weighton. He actually took great pleasure in knowing he’d prevent a reunion between you and Cullen.”
“That’s it. I go in,” Storm said emphatically.
“What can I do to help?” Lady Alaina asked eagerly.
Burke stood silent, though he felt the urge to shout out his anger. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to chance losing the woman he loved to save his brother, and yet he knew without a doubt that Storm would advise him that it wasn’t his choice. It was hers.
“Keep listening,” Storm advised. “Let us know of anything you think is of importance. Philip will remain nearby and stay in contact with you. He will also let you know when it is time to join us. You need to make certain your father believes that you are going away to visit friends or something so that he does not become suspicious.”
“I will make a plausible excuse that he will not doubt since he keeps a watchful eye on me, which is why I must return now before he suspects something. Good luck to you all,” Lady Alaina said and walked over to Burke. “I cannot wait to see the look on Cullen’s face when he lays eyes on his brother for the first time.”
“I daresay the look in his eyes when he knows that you will be going to America with him will far exceed it.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. Thank you for a chance at happiness.”
Once Philip and Alaina were gone, the group continued discussing the plan in relative silence until near dusk, when they stopped for the night. It wasn’t until later, when all but Burke and Storm were asleep, she taking the first guard as usual, that Burke got a chance alone with her.
“You know I don’t like this,” he said, sitting beside her on a slight rise that allowed a good view of the forest from various angles.
“I know,” Storm said, and slipped her arm around his.
He asked a question he knew the answer to, but he had to voice his concern. “Tell me why I should let you do this.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“What if I said I love you too much to chance losing you?”
She hesitated, then answered. “I would think I am lucky to have someone who loves me so much, but it would change nothing.”
He took strong hold of her hand. “I will be relieved when this is over and we are sailing home to America.”
Storm sighed. “Burke, you know I cannot go with you.”
He would settle this dilemma once and for all. Actually, she had settled it once she had made the choice to go into the prison to free Cullen. “Do you love me?”
She glanced at him with the most serene blue eyes he had ever seen, and he knew then and there just how much she loved him, though he wished to hear the words.
“I love you very much, Mr. Longton.”
He smiled. “Then it is settled.”
“Burke, please understand my—”
“No,” he snapped. “You understand that now you have no choice in the matter as I have no choice in deciding if you go into Weighton or not.”
“What do you mean?” Storm asked confused.
“You are the infamous outlaw Storm. What do you think will happen once you pull off a successful escape from Weighton? Not only will you have doubled the earl’s wrath, you will most likely have incurred the king’s wrath, and the bounty on your head will surely double, possibly triple. There will be no safe place for you to hide. You will have no choice but to leave Scotland. You sealed your fate, my love, once you made the decision to enter Weighton.”
